International campaign to attract foreign investors

Cyprus is to embark on an international campaign to promote the island as an international business services centre and to attract foreign direct investment, Commerce Minister Antonis Pachalides said yesterday.

The campaign will cover 21 countries, in Europe, the Balkanks, the Middle East, the Gulf, Eurasian countries, as well as developing Asian countries.

This year’s campaign starts on a positive per cent, despite a decline in tourist arrivals, while the registration of foreign companies rose by 23 per cent compared to 2009.

Both Paschalides and the President of the Chamber of Commerce Industry and Tourism Manthos Mavrommatis said that Cyprus could become an international services centre and an attractive country of foreign direct investment.

They also said that this year’s campaign was intensified following the financial crisis and would exceed last year’s record campaign in 19 countries.

“The crisis has shown our dependence on the outside world,” Mavrommatis said, adding that unlike bigger countries, the Cypriot open economy could not base its recovery on its small internal market.

“We rely on the outside world and the services sector, the most important of the commercial activity, is our priority,” he added.

Mavrommatis referred to “some positive figures” regarding the increase of 23 per cent in the registration of foreign companies in Cyprus in the first two months of 2010.

“These figures make us optimistic that we can at least in this sector of the economy achieve recovery,” he said.

In his statements, Paschalides highlighted the importance of the services sector, noting that the contribution of the sector in Cyprus GDP today stands at 79 per cent compared to 75 per cent during the past decade.

He added that apart from the traditional services such as auditing and shipping, the Ministry was focusing on new fields such as education and medical services.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.