Cyprus Business Now

The Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Keve) on Thursday announced a new initiative to reduce its carbon footprint and further promote the green transition to the local business community.

The chamber noted that in recent years, the development of efficient energy consumption and low carbon footprint systems has been a primary objective of existing European and national policies.

At the same time, the chamber added, digital technologies, including the large volume of data that is being generated, can boost the green energy transition, as they are intrinsically linked to the two main policies of the European Commission. These include the economy’s digital transition, as well as the move to clean energy, in order to achieve the European Commission’s goal of climate neutrality by 2050.

“In the context of the efforts made to launch combined initiatives of green and digital transformation, referred to as the twin transition, at the national and international level, and through the pilot action of the GoGreen project, the Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and Industry leads the way in green entrepreneurship, starting with the transformation of its headquarters into a green building,” the chamber said in a statement.

To achieve its objective of turning its headquarters into a green building, the chamber will implement a number of actions.

These include the digital upgrading of the building with a simultaneous reduction of its carbon footprint, energy consumption and CO2 emissions by installing new and less energy-intensive servers.

This will be combined with the installation of solar panels, two electric vehicle charging stations, smart electricity meters, as well as the use of an air quality monitoring system.

The GoGreen project is co-financed by the European Union’s Interreg Balkan-Med cross-border programme, as well as the Chamber of Commerce itself.

More details about the ‘GoGreen – Computing Power Goes Green’ project can be found here: https://gogreenbalkanmed.eu

Total employment in Cyprus increased by 3 per cent during the fourth quarter of 2022, compared to the corresponding quarter of 2021, according to a report released this week by the Cyprus Statistical Service (Cystat).

According to the report, the total number of workers employed during the fourth quarter of 2022 is estimated to have reached 461,345 people, of which 410,634 are employees and 50,711 are self-employed.

The most significant percentage increases were observed in the areas of information and communication, accommodation and catering services, professional, scientific and technical activities, as well as administrative and support activities.

In terms of the actual hours worked during the fourth quarter of 2022, these have been estimated to have reached 211,235, marking an increase of 3.5 per cent compared to the corresponding quarter of 2021.

The largest percentage increases were observed in the sectors of lodging and dining services, information and communication, professional, scientific and technical activities, as well as administrative and support activities.

The Cyprus Stock Exchange (CSE) ended Thursday, March 9 with profits.

The general Cyprus Stock Market Index was at 110.59 points at 14:08 during the day, reflecting an increase of 0.39 per cent over the previous day of trading.

The FTSE / CySE 20 Index was at 66.87 points, representing a rise of 0.42 per cent.

The total value of transactions came up to €55,000.

In terms of the sub-indexes, the main and alternative indexes rose by 0.4 per cent and 0.01 per cent. The hotel index remained unchanged while the investment firm index fell by 2.54 per cent.

The biggest investment interest was attracted by the Bank of Cyprus (+0.75 per cent), Hellenic Bank (+1.45 per cent), Logicom (+0.94 per cent), Demetra Holdings (-2.65 per cent), and Blue Island PLC (+5 per cent).