Cyprus Business Now

President-elect Nicos Christodoulides this week said that he is ready to work closely with the Employers and Industrialists Federation (OEV) in order to mutually tackle the challenges facing the Cypriot business community.

In statements made during a visit to the federation’s offices, Christodoulides said that his presence reaffirmed the value and recognition that the federation has accrued throughout the years in how it contributes to the economy and the state in general.

“I am here to show in practice this appreciation and at the same time, to express my readiness to work together,” Christodoulides said.

Moreover, the newly elected president said that he believes that both himself and the federation have common goals, and common aspirations “for our homeland, for the future of our country”, and assured that, with his presence there, there will be a continuous dialogue, to face together any challenges.

He noted that these are challenges for the state but also for the business community and for all Cypriot people.

“I am sure that working together, cooperating in this effort, we will clearly have better results,” he said.

Oev president Antonis Antoniou thanked Christodoulides for his presence, while he later stated that the new president had a chance to meet with the federation’s leadership during a regular session of its executive committee.

“Oev president Antoniou underlined the outstanding symbolic value of the meeting of the new president with the federation before he has even assumed official duties and assured him that the federation will be by his side to contribute to the achievement of the government’s objectives for the benefit of both businesses and employees,” an Oev statement said.

The statement added that Christodoulides expressed “his deep appreciation for the decisive and positive role that the federation responsibly plays in the economic, business, labour and all other issues that concern the country, and assured that he will seek a relationship of close cooperation, immediately upon assuming his duties on March 1, 2023”.

The Cyprus Deputy Ministry of Shipping announced this week that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the United Kingdom, seeking to facilitate mutually beneficial cooperation in this sector, as well as working to holistically tackle the challenges facing the maritime industry.

According to an announcement by the Deputy Ministry, the signing took place at the Deputy Ministry of Shipping in Cyprus, where the memorandum was signed by Deputy Minister Vassilios Demetriade and the British High Commissioner to Cyprus, Irfan Siddiq, representing the Minister responsible for maritime affairs of the United Kingdom, Baroness Charlotte Vere of Norbiton.

In his statement, Demetriades stated that the signing of the memorandum with the United Kingdom is an important development that was deemed necessary, especially after Brexit.

Moreover, he stressed that Cyprus and the United Kingdom are two important maritime nations with an enormous wealth of expertise in the sector.

The memorandum, he added, lays a solid foundation for further expansion of bilateral cooperation between the two states in all important aspects of shipping and aims to facilitate “working together within the framework of our participation in the International Maritime Organisation, in order to tackle the most important challenges facing the sector”.

The signing of the memorandum was preceded by a bilateral online meeting of a formal nature between the Deputy Minister of Shipping and his counterpart, Baroness Charlotte Vere of Norbiton, during which matters of common interest reflected in the memorandum were discussed.

According to the announcement, the memorandum includes, among other things, the exchange of best practices, the holding of workshops and training seminars between the maritime administrations of the two states, as well as the encouragement of cooperation between the maritime industry of the two sides in various matters.

These include maritime safety and protection, the decarbonisation of the shipping industry, protecting the marine environment, further improving the working conditions of seafarers, promoting research and innovation and the digital transformation of shipping, addressing cyber risks and implementing sanctions affecting the maritime transport sector.

The Cyprus Stock Exchange (CSE) ended Wednesday, February 22 with minor losses.

The general Cyprus Stock Market Index was at 114.47 points at 13:34 during the day, reflecting a decrease of 0.02 per cent over the previous day of trading.

The FTSE / CySE 20 Index was at 69.24 points, representing a drop of 0.04 per cent.

The total value of transactions came up to €212,579.

In terms of the sub-indexes, the main, alternative, and investment firm indexes fell by 0.11 per cent, 0.35 per cent and 0.79 per cent respectively. The hotel index remained stable.

The biggest investment interest was attracted by the Bank of Cyprus (+1.1 per cent), Hellenic Bank (+0.53 per cent), Logicom (-4.55 per cent), Demetra (-0.84 per cent), KEO PLC (no change), Salamis Tours (-2.15 per cent), Louis (+2.27 per cent), and Atlantic Insurance (-2.45 per cent).