American University Beirut to open Paphos campus this year

The American University Beirut will open a campus in Paphos as of September 2023, Paphos mayor Phedon Phedonos said on Friday.

He added that the foundation stone will be laid by President Nikos Christodoulides on Wednesday.

Phedonos together with the President of the University Fadlo Khuri visited the construction site of the new campus on Friday, which is being built in the former building complex Charopoumylous (carob mills).

In his statements to the journalists Phedonos said that the works have been carried out for eight months and are at an advanced stage.

The projects, he said, progressed at a very fast pace. He expressed his satisfaction with the progress of the works, adding that it is expected that next October the facilities of phase A of the university will essentially be completed.

The Paphos mayor said that the university will operate temporarily for a few months in the facilities that the municipality granted to the Paphos Innovation Centre and will welcome the first students there in September. Soon after, he added, “students will move into the very promising buildings that are designed to function as university facilities.”

He also said that in the future the facilities of the American University of Beirut (AUB) – Mediterraneo, will be expanded.

Former President Nicos Anastasiades, the President of the Board of Commissioners of AUB Philip. S. Khoury and other members of the Council, the President of the University Fadlo R. Khuri, ministers, the Paphos mayor, MPs, former mayors of Paphos, the Rector of AUB – Mediterraneo Dr Wassim El Hajj, senior members of the teaching and administrative staff of AUB, and other officials will attend the ceremony next Wednesday.

According to Phedonos, the program of the ceremony will include greetings from the President of AUB, the President of the Board of Commissioners of AUB Philip Khoury and himself, as well as a speech from President Christodoulides.

A reception will follow the laying of the foundation stone.

Phedonos invited people to participate in the laying of the foundation stone, “because it is a very important event for our country.”

“For the first time an internationally recognised prestigious university with 160 years of history is being established in our country,” he said.

He mentioned that there are eight other universities of significant contribution operating in Cyprus, adding that “this particular one, however, is the first of its kind to be established in our country having operated somewhere else for more than 160 years.”

The total cost of its construction, he added, amounts to €32 million for Phase I, while when all facilities and three phases are completed, it is expected to exceed €100 million and house three thousand students.