Cyprus Business Now

The Cyprus Shipping Chamber (Kne) this week announced that it supports the joint statement by European shipping industry stakeholders who call for the sequestration of shipping revenues in the Emission Rights System (ETS) for the decarbonisation of the European shipping sector.

“We express our full support for the joint appeal by the European shipping bodies and in particular, the organisations ECSA, CLECAT, CLIA, ESPO, eFuel Alliance, ENMC, ESC, EWABA, FEPORT and SEA Europe to the EU member states and the European Parliament to commit the revenue generated by the inclusion of European shipping to the ETS system for the shipping sector,” the chamber said.

“It is clear that the decarbonisation of the shipping sector will only be achieved if revenues are committed to closing the price gap on clean fuels, funding research, development and innovation,” the chamber added.

Finally, it explained that these funds can be used to boost and develop clean energy solutions and technologies, both on board and on land, along with accompanying investments in land-based facilities and training, and the retraining of maritime sector workers.

Startup accelerator ARIS, which stands for A Really Inspiring Space, announced this week that, in collaboration with the Cyprus University of Technology (Tepak), will host the International Investment Forum, which will take place on 19 October 2022, at 9 AM, at the Asbis Hi Tech Cluster in Limassol.

The Forum is being organised in the framework of the Gazelle project (orGAniZing accELaration for high-potential innovativE SMEs), an initiative that is being financed by the (INTERREG V-B) Balkan Mediterranean 2014-2020 Programme.

“The forum will bring together, encourage, and support innovative companies, SMEs and Business Angels (BA) in the Balkan Mediterranean countries: Bulgaria, Greece, Cyprus and North Macedonia,” the announcement said.

The participating companies will have the chance to present their activities, business ideas and expectations, to become more competitive in the market and enhance their cooperation with other foreign companies, especially from other Balkan countries.

During the Forum, innovative companies from Greece, Cyprus and Bulgaria will be given a 5-minute pitch time to present their business and/or ideas.

Regarding the Gazelle project, it aims to tackle the major obstacles in the development and growth of Gazelles (innovative companies characterized by their rapid growth pace), such as access to finance through the support of the creation and the valorisation of Business Angels Networks (BANs) and access to external knowledge.

This includes cases where this is knowledge of the market or technical expertise by boosting technology transfer strategies and facilitating the connection between universities and innovative SMEs.

The project’s main objectives are to develop and implement a pilot for a coherent mechanism for accelerating the development process for innovative companies; strengthen organizations that can support the creation of business Angels networks; and facilitate the transfer of knowledge and best practices, including the development of tools for business angels and entrepreneurs.

There was a significant increase in Cyprus’ industrial turnover in 2022, according to a report published on Wednesday by the Cyprus Statistical Service (Cystat).

During the month of July 2022, the Industrial Turnover Index reached 206.3 points (base 2015=100), marking a large increase of 24.9 per cent compared to July 2021.

For the period January-July 2022, the index rose by 22.6 per cent compared to the corresponding period of 2021.

In the manufacturing sector, the index reached 182.4 points in July 2022, an increase of 12.9 per cent compared to July 2021.

Furthermore, there was also an increase in the electricity supply sectors by 83.1 per cent and mines and quarries by 12.2 per cent.

Conversely, the water supply and materials recovery sector declined by 1.2 per cent compared to July 2021.

The Cyprus Stock Exchange (CSE) ended Wednesday, October 5 with losses.

The general Cyprus Stock Market Index was at 74.55 points at 13:04 during the day, reflecting a drop of 0.04 per cent over the previous day of trading.

The FTSE / CySE 20 Index was at 44.74 points, which represents a decrease of 0.04 per cent.

The total value of transactions came up to €13,055.

In terms of the sub-indexes, the main index rose by 0.12 per cent, while the alternative index fell by 0.41 per cent. The hotel and investment firm indexes remained unchanged.

The biggest investment interest was attracted by the Bank of Cyprus (+0.39 per cent), Petrolina Holdings (no change), the Cyprus Cement Public Company (-0.89 per cent), Atlantic Insurance (no change), and Vassiliko Cement Works (-1.54 per cent).