In celebration of International Equal Pay Day, the Commissioner for Gender Equality and the Cyprus Chamber of Commerce (Keve) have announced a collaborative effort to advance gender equality in the workplace and entrepreneurship.

According to an announcement released this week by the chamber, the partnership entails several significant actions to be implemented in the near future:

These actions include the formation of a gender equality task force. This force will act as a dedicated working group, comprising representatives from the Commissioner’s Office and business members of Keve, will be established. The primary objective of this task force is to promote gender equality within the workplace.

In addition, the collaboration will involve a thorough examination of the challenges and obstacles faced by women concerning their participation in the Boards of Directors of organisations and businesses and their access to leadership positions. Based on the analysis, practical actions will be designed to eliminate these barriers.

What is more, there will also be an initiative that will see collaboration with ten Keve member enterprises that employ between 50 to 150 workers. The aim is to develop annual action plans for promoting gender equality within these enterprises and explore the possibility of closing the gender pay gap, both horizontally and vertically.

The official signing of a Memorandum of Understanding will solidify this crucial collaboration between the Commissioner for Gender Equality and KEVE, emphasising the commitment to fostering gender equality within Cyprus’s business landscape.

This partnership seeks to address gender disparities in leadership roles, equal pay, and overall workplace equity, aligning with global efforts to create more inclusive and diverse work environments.

The Construction Material Price Index in Cyprus recorded a 0.43 per cent increase in August 2023, when compared to the same month in 2022, according to a report released this week by the Cyprus Statistical Service (Cystat).

In addition, the report noted that there was a marginal decrease of 0.08 per cent to the index, when compared to the previous month.

Moreover, for the period of January to August 2023, the Construction Material Price Index saw a rise of 4.39 per cent, when compared to the same period in 2022.

According to the statistical service, the Construction Material Price Index reached 134.91 units in August 2023, based on the reference year of 2015, where the value starts at a base level of 100 units.

When looking at the data by primary product category, August 2023 witnessed increases in mineral products (15.07 per cent) compared to August 2022, as well as in mineral products (6.68 per cent), wood, insulation materials, chemicals, and plastics (2.26 per cent), and electromechanical products (1.13 per cent).

However, the report noted that there was a decrease in metallic products, which dropped by 9.52 per cent.

The Cyprus Stock Exchange (CSE) ended Tuesday, September 19 with marginal profits.

The general Cyprus Stock Market Index was at 132.21 points at 13:41 during the day, reflecting an increase of 0.02 per cent over the previous day of trading.

The FTSE / CySE 20 Index was at 80.24 points, representing a rise of 0.01 per cent.

The total value of transactions came up to €503,550.

In terms of the sub-indexes, the main index fell by 0.02 per cent while the alternative index rose by 0.09 per cent. The hotel and investment firm indexes remained stable.

The biggest investment interest was attracted by the Bank of Cyprus (no change), Petrolina (no change), KEO (+1.85 per cent), Atlantic Insurance (no change), and Lordos United Public (no change).