Nicosia: The operation of the Business Support Center is ‘an important step’ in the great effort made for a Cyprus with less bureaucracy, with digitalised procedures, faster and better service, focusing on the needs of businesses, President Christodoulides said on Monday in his speech at the inauguration ceremony of the Center, in Nicosia.
According to Cyprus News Agency, the primary goal of the Business Support Center, said President Christodoulides, ‘is the state’s quick response and addressing a long-standing distortion in relation to business developments in our country.’ He noted that it will be a one-stop shop for Cypriot and foreign investors who wish to operate or expand their activities in the country, while the role of the project manager is also introduced, to manage projects of strategic importance and substantial added value for the country.
The project manager will, among other things, be responsible for coordinating and communicating with all competent authorities as a single point of contact between the investor and the State, securing this way, that the necessary permit approvals will be carried out at a central level through the licensing mechanism, the President said.
He noted that the Business Support Center was yet ‘another decisive step’ for the implementation of his Government’s strategic goals, namely supporting entrepreneurship, strengthening the resilience, competitiveness of the economy through rapid licensing, strengthening the extroversion of the Cypriot economy and, attracting quality investments of high added value ‘that also entail well-paid jobs’.
He also said that the Business Support Center ‘constitutes an important step in the great effort we are making for a Cyprus with less bureaucracy, a Cyprus with digitalised procedures, faster and better service, focusing on the needs of businesses, investments with all the positive consequences for the economy of our country.’
He said that the Center will co-house representatives of government departments and services, as well as of Invest Cyprus, ‘which has an important role to play, aiming at the effective and coordinated service of Cypriots and foreign investors.’ ‘By bringing all the competent services together under one roof, we are making use of the expertise and experience of our staff, with the aim of providing more efficient, coordinated and faster service, as well as providing information and, this is very important, personalised guidance to entrepreneurs and investors based on their investment needs and business planning,’ he added.
Another important goal, he said, was the interoperability between government systems for better cooperation and better coordination and ‘to be more effective.’ He noted that they have tried it in other cases and seen results, and specifically, in addressing the issue of immigration with the decision of the Interior and Labour Ministers on the interoperability of the systems of the two Ministries, which, as he said, did not exist before ‘and since we achieved it, it helped us a lot in dealing with the problems that arose’.
President Christodoulides said that simplifying procedures was also a European goal, and that decisions were expected soon at the European Union level.
He also pointed out that ‘our goal is clear and specific’, to increase productivity and efficiency for the benefit of the business community and by extension the Cypriot economy.
‘So, we systematically invest in simplifying, modernising and accelerating procedures, with the aim of developing an attractive business environment, which responds to the modern demands of entrepreneurs, but also to the intense and constantly increasing competitive environment’, he said.
The President referred to his recent visit to the United States, which included meetings and contacts with leading companies in the technology, energy and other sectors, as well as his visit last week to the United Kingdom ‘aimed at encouraging our compatriots who are excelling abroad to return’ noting they were part of the Government’s broader strategy ‘to change our country.’ ‘And I can proudly tell you today that Cyprus may be small in size, but it is big in potential and if we work methodically, if we work with a spirit of cooperation and a shared vision, I have absolutely no doubt that, we can achieve much more than we perhaps imagine,’ he said.