The next government as well as the political system should put in place a long-term, decade-long macroeconomic plan that will transform Cyprus into a triple A country, said Finance Minister Constantinos Petrides, addressing the Annual General Meeting of Invest Cyprus, the state organisation for the promotion of investment in the country.
Petrides referred to the importance of a consistent program for the reduction of the public debt, saying that it’s very important to have the trust of the markets and the investors in this new era for global economy.
Furthermore, the Minister said that Cyprus economy in this new era is upgraded, with 11 consecutive upgrades, with one of the highest growth rates in the EU, with unemployment being at historic lows, with real, sustainable investments and with public debt at a sustainable level that continues to have a downward trend.
He added that Cyprus has for the first time a real development model, “Vision 2035”, which is a realistic, detailed, well thought out plan.
He also noted that in this new era, public finances will begin to be much more important than in the previous decade, not only because of the absence of cheap money, but also because of market reactions. Cyprus, he noted, is the only country that got an upgrade in the last year because it reduced the public debt.
He also noted that in this new era, public finances will begin to be much more important than in the previous decade, not only because of the absence of cheap money, but also because of market reactions. Cyprus, he noted, is the only country that got an upgrade in the last year because it reduced the public debt.
Referring to the decade of the current Government, the Minister noted that when the crisis began at the beginning of the decade, the economy of Cyprus was an experiment even for the EU and was considered very likely in the circles of the EU, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund that Cyprus might not be able to stand as a member of the EU or the Eurozone.
He added that during these 10 years, the economy of Cyprus changed, diversified its model, entered a sustainable path and achieved unexpected growth rates.
Referring to the role of Invest Cyprus he stressed that it is now an organization with very good management, expertise, more resources and is called to play the difficult role of attracting investments in the new era.
Chairman of the Invest Cyprus Board of Directors Evgenios Evgeniou said that in this particularly demanding international environment, Cyprus managed to attract significant investments in all three priority sectors of Invest Cyprus.
He also spoke about the importance of the recent decision by the ANIMA Investment Network to create the Euromed Tech Hub in Cyprus, an organization jointly owned by Invest Cyprus and ANIMA, where all efforts will be focused on promoting technology and innovation solutions that will serve the social and ecological transition of the Mediterranean countries.
He noted that according to the Greenfield FDI Performance Index, in 2021 Cyprus made a jump of 50 places, ranking 18th internationally. He added that Cyprus is among the top 10 countries as regards post-pandemic investment recovery with a 150% increase in the first half of 2022 compared to the corresponding period of 2019.
Evgeniou said that according to FDI Intelligence there is a significant 600% increase in investments in the technology sector in the first half of 2022 compared to 2019.
Concluding, he said that in 2021, the contribution of the ICT sector to the economy was 1.9 billion euro, while for 2022 it is estimated that it will reach 3 billion euro.
Meanwhile, in his speech, Invest Cyprus CEO George Campanellas noted that compared to 2020, the number of foreign technology companies increased by 49%, the number of employees by 78%, while the direct and indirect economic impact is 3 billion euro.
Regarding investment funds, he said that there was a 23% increase in funds under management and a 17% increase in the number of companies.
He also said that there are currently six international film productions underway, of a total of 22 million euro.
Source: Cyprus News Agency