Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades assured on Monday that “we will continue to encourage and support the close ties between Russia and Cyprus, allowing them to become even stronger.”
“We shall strive to promote new measures to ensure that the attractiveness of the investment environment is constantly upgraded. Our goal is to offer Russian companies seeking growth in international markets, a reliable and competitive partner,” Anastasiades stressed addressing a Cyprus-Russia business dinner organised in Moscow by the Cyprus Investment Promotion Agency (CIPA)
Anastasiades who is paying a two-day working visit to Moscow, at Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invitation, said that “opportunities in the areas of innovation, technology and health, are extremely promising for both countries.”
“A combination of the many competitive advantages that we each have to offer can create a truly unique and unrivalled offering. For this reason, we have embarked on a number of specific initiatives in these sectors, such as a growing collaboration between Skolkovo and stakeholders from Cyprus involved in research and innovation,” he noted.
Anastasiades said that “Russia and its economy continue to act as a catalyst for growth for the Cyprus economy, while Cyprus plays an important role as a gateway for Russia to Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Doing business with Russia is therefore of utmost importance to our countries today, just as it has been for decades,” he noted.
He also said that “while Cyprus provides an excellent platform for conducting and managing business activities from Russia to Europe and vice versa, the level of collaboration has been and can be enhanced to much more than that.”
He noted that the presence of so many esteemed guests at the dinner “is a testament to the long-standing excellent relations between Cyprus and Russia, which are undoubtedly stronger than ever; not just at the political level, but also at the business and people-to people level. “
Stating that “to say that Russia and Cyprus have close relations is an understatement”, he said that “our two countries and peoples historically enjoy deep political, cultural and religious links, which have proven to be resilient through time and numerous challenges.”
“One of the most distinctive and important characteristics of the relationship between the two countries is that it has never remained static, and it has never been allowed to weaken, but instead, it has evolved through the years and has always remained as significant and as relevant as ever,” Anastasiades said.
He noted that today people to people contacts are unprecedented. “Everywhere in Cyprus, Russians contribute to every aspect of our lives: to business, to tourism, to enriching our culture and lifestyle, and most importantly, to the building of know-how and expertise in areas such as business, technology and innovation,” he said.
He went on to say that tourism from Russia to Cyprus has reached staggering numbers, amounting to almost the population of Cyprus and that over 800,000 Russian tourists visited Cyprus in 2017.
Anastasiades expressed certainty that his working visit will be as fruitful as his official visit to the country in 2015, while referring to the meeting he earlier had with Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev, he said that they held in an exceptionally warm climate productive discussions, adding that he will be meeting President Putin tomorrow for consultations, and we will be signing a number of important agreements in an array of fields. In doing so we will enhance even further our bilateral relations and cooperation, he noted.
Anastasiades said that “tonight’s exceptional event is a great opportunity for me, for all of us here, to express our deepest appreciation to all of you for your ongoing support to Cyprus, and to your friends and business associates in Cyprus, both through times of prosperity and through times of hardship.”
He said that there very few friendships that one can truly count on and that the friendship between Russia and Cyprus is one such example.
He noted that the fact that Cyprus has forged a position as an international business hub would not have been possible without Russia’s contribution to our FDI inflows, as well as the know-how and expertise of our professional services sector, which has gained a lot through the experience of collaborating with Russian investors”.
Stressing that Cyprus is entering a new period of stability and growth, Anastasiades said that “there are major opportunities for growth in various sectors, such as shipping, tourism, large infrastructure projects, the filming industry, education, health, research and development and, of course, energy.”
He also said that “at a time of political instability and uncertainty in the Middle East and North Africa, the Russian business community can rely on Cyprus as a reliable and trustworthy partner, both in political and business terms.”
Speaking at the event, CIPA Chairman Christodoulos Angastiniotis said that “today, we are thankful to have a large number of Russian entrepreneurs and companies that use Cyprus as a base for business and investment activities.”
Moving forward, we trust and believe that we can further develop and strengthen the economic partnership and business ties between Russia and Cyprus, he said.
He said that Cyprus is a home away from home for thousands of Russian business people and their families and we are very happy to note a steady increase of tourism from Russia, which reached more than 780 thousand visitors in 2016.
He also noted that the country offers attractive benefits as a business and investment centre, and as such has been a reliable partner to many Russian companies, which have chosen Cyprus as their preferred EU location with which to do business.
“Our goal is to further boost the country’s global competitiveness by introducing modern business reforms, and to establish Cyprus as a `Centre of Excellence` for international business activities,” he said.
He stressed that “our aim is to become one of the best global foreign direct investment locations to start and grow a business.”
In a presentation she made during the dinner, CIPA Director General Natasa Pilides elaborated on the long-standing diplomatic and economic ties between the two countries, Cyprus’ favourable environment for foreign investments and to the new opportunities for cooperation between Russia and Cyprus in the fields of research and innovation, ICT, health and digital health, as well s energy.