By Hamza Hendawi
WITH pomp and fanfare, the island’s rich and powerful thronged the ballroom of a five-star Nicosia hotel last night for the annual general meeting of the 70-year-old Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Keve).
But it was not the grey men in expensive dark suits who starred in the glitzy show, but one Glafcos Clerides, who knows a good audience when he sees one.
Greek music composer Vangelis’ sound track for the 1981 film Chariots of Fire blasted out of the speakers as President Clerides entered the giant room packed full with hundreds of businessmen, captains of industry, politicians and diplomats.
A beaming Clerides, whose campaign for re-election got off to a flying start with a well-attended rally on Sunday, shook hands, flashed smiles and later gave a 12-minute speech that resembled a pre-election broadcast.
Clerides was in good company. Keve Chairman and former Cyprus Airways boss Vasilis Rologis is known to be an ardent supporter of the president, whose time at the helm has been seen as generally good for business.
“We shall endeavour to enhance offshore activity and establish Cyprus as a business and economic centre in this vital region,” declared Clerides confidently.
“We have achieved to a satisfactory degree convergence with the Maastricht criteria to eliminate economic obstacles in our course for European integration,” he said. “Our decision to become a member of the EU is irreversible.”
Cyprus is scheduled to open accession talks with the 15-nation European Union early next year.
Clerides, however, struck a less lofty note when he called on Cypriot employers and employees to pull their socks up “to adjust to global and local economic circumstances and adopt a comparable attitude.”
He said he wanted lower costs, increased production, new trading methods and technological advancement.
Rologis, in a highly unusual request, last week urged presidential candidates not to make the economy an issue in their campaigns so as not to undermine the public’s confidence.
Speaking last night, he called for a faster pace of economic modernisation and spoke of the need for golf courses and specialised museums to attract “quality tourism.”
