European Commission forecasts a 4.3% and 3.8% growth in Cyprus for the years 2021 and 2022

European Commission forecasts a 4.3% and 3.8% growth in Cyprus for the years 2021 and 2022, according to its chapter on Cyprus at its Summer Economic Forecast presented today by Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni in Brussels.

More specifically, European Commission notes that “despite the lockdown measures at the beginning of the year, real GDP increased in the first quarter of 2021 (+2% compared to the last quarter of 2020). The rebound in activity, which started in the second half of 2020, has been driven by domestic demand, underpinned by fiscal stimulus, and exports of services other than tourism.”

According to the European Commission “on an annual basis, real GDP growth is expected to increase by 4.3% in 2021. This is higher than projected in spring due to the better than-expected performance in the first quarter and the considerable improvement in economic se

Source: Cyprus News Agency

Government announces €6 million in aid to villages hit by the devastating fire

The Cypriot government announced a financial package amounting to €6 million in aid to the villages hit by the devastating fire that ravaged the mountainous regions of Larnaca and Limassol over the weekend and lead to the death of four Egyptian workers.

Announcing the package, Nicos Nouris, the Minister of the Interior, also said the Cabinet decided to provide financial aid to the families of the four Egyptian workers that perished in the fire. Two of the families will receive €95,000 each in aid and the other two will be given €185,000 and €245,000 respectively, he said.

Source: Cyprus News Agency

Greek PM expresses appreciation for China’s position on Cyprus problem

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis held a telephone conversation on Wednesday, July 7, with the President of the People`s Republic of China Xi Jinping, on the occasion of the 15th anniversary of the upgrading of the strategic cooperation between Greece and China, which was marked by the conclusion of the “Integrated Strategic Cooperation” in 2006.

During their phone conversation, the Greek Prime Minister expressed, among other issues, Greece`s appreciation for China`s unchanged principled position, as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, for a solution to the Cyprus problem on the basis of the Security Council resolutions.

The two leaders also discussed the latest developments in the Greek-Turkish relations, giving emphasis on the need to maintain the de-escalation of the latest period, in order to keep the channels of communication o

Source: Cyprus News Agency

EU Commission President expresses solidarity with villages hit by the devastating fire

Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission President expressed the EU’s solidarity with the people of the villages struck by the devastating fire that ravaged the mountainous region of Larnaca and Limassol over the weekend.

Accompanied by the Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades, von der Leyen who is visiting Cyprus, visited Ora, one of the villages hit by the devastating fire.

She said she is visiting with a “heavy heart” due to the death of four persons in the fire and the devastation of properties and the forest and added she is “full of respect” for the fire fighters of the Fire Service and the Department of Forests fire fighters who worked day and night to contain the fire.

Source: Cyprus News Agency

Commission estimates on Cyprus growth aligned with our projections, FinMin says

The European Commission’s summer forecasts on Cyprus economic growth shows the recovery of the Cypriot economy and are aligned with our projections for a growth rate over 4% in 2021, the Finance Ministry said commenting the Commission’s economic forecasts announced earlier today.

The EU Commission said the Cypriot GDP is estimated to grow by 4.3% in 2021 upgrading its previous projection over a 3.

Source: Cyprus News Agency

Deputy Minister for Shipping wraps up visit to Athens

Vassilis Demetriades, Cyprus’ Deputy Minister for Shipping wrapped up his visit in Athens where he had a series of contact with Greek officials and shipping stake holders.

According to a press release issued by the Deputy Ministry for Shipping, during his stay in the Greek capital, Demetriades met with his Greek counterpart Ioannis Plakiotakis.

The two Deputy Ministers assessed the challenges facing shipping associated with the green transition and exchanged views on how Cyprus and Greece, as two large shipping states, could contribute constructively to the shaping of a regulatory framework in which shipping could contribute to climate change, given the characteristics of shipping’s global nature.

Source: Cyprus News Agency

EMA’s mandate must be strengthened, EU Commissioner Kyriakides tells the EP plenary

A stronger European Medicines Agency (EMA), is a centrepiece of the strong European Health Union we are building and its mandate must be strengthened, as we look to exit the pandemic as a stronger, wiser, more resilient and better-prepared Union, EU Health and Food Safety Commissioner, Stella Kyriakides, said on Wednesday, speaking before the European Parliament plenary in Strasbourg.

Speaking during the debate on reinforcing the mandate of the EMA, Kyriakides said that the necessity of a stronger mandate for EMA became quickly apparent to permanently monitor shortages of critical medicines, to report on the risk of shortages of medical devices during crises, and to catalyse the development and faster approval of medicines .

Source: Cyprus News Agency