Cypriot and Jordanian firms are attending a two-day business forum organised for the first time in Nicosia, to explore investment opportunities in Jordan and Cyprus respectively, and to promote their collaboration.
The forum, which got underway yesterday and ends on October 12 is being organised by the Employers and Industrialists Federation (OEB).
Cyprus’ investment potentials and its advantages as a business and investment centre were analysed by Invest Cyprus chairman Michalis Michael.
“As a safe, transparent and modern business centre, the island is an ideal base for corporate multinationals as well as an investment gateway to the European Union,” he said.
“Most importantly, our country has been successful in showing the world that is a very resilient country with a strong backbone, offering reliability, credibility and many opportunities to investors. With a well-balanced portfolio our goal is to continue expanding into new sectors,” he noted.
Michael alluded to investment opportunities in the tourism sector, the maritime sector and the property sector. “Hydrocarbon discoveries and the ongoing presence and activity of global energy giants in Cyprus’ exclusive economic zone combined with strong regional cooperation render Cyprus a growing promising energy hub in the Eastern Mediterranean,” he said.
OEB chairman George Petrou in his speech stressed the excellent relations of Cyprus and Jordan and their shared strong business links.
He stressed that Cyprus’ economic outlook is promising, noting also that Cypriot entrepreneurs were eager to open their wings and expand their operations to other countries to collaborate and exchange expertise in areas such as construction and energy, business consulting, financial services, tourism, manufacturing, research and innovation.
Petrou alluded to Cyprus’ comparative advantages such as its strategic location, its EU and eurozone membership and the favorable weather conditions.
OEB chairman analysed investment opportunities Cyprus has to offer, noting among others that new infrastructure will be needed to support energy companies operating in Cyprus’ exclusive economic zone. He also referred to tourism as “one of the most dynamic sectors of the economy”, the construction industry that “is projecting a dynamic presence in the Middle East, Africa, the Asian subcontinent and Europe”, as well as to the services sector that contributes some 80% to the islands GDP.
Cyprus – Jordan business association chairman George Pantelides stressed the importance of further expanding and deepening synergies between Cyprus and Jordan, noting their “strong bond and mature understanding”.
Pantelides said that these bonds have been further enhanced with the signing of four additional bilateral agreements last April in the context of the trilateral meeting between Cyprus, Greece and Jordan, on economic and technical cooperation, mutual academic recognition for higher education qualification as a result of which more than 120.000 Jordanians currently study in Cyprus, health and agriculture.
He added that the finalisation of the double tax treaty between Cyprus and Jordan is still pending and is expected to be done before the end of 2020.
“Even though only two years have lapsed since the first business forum back in April 2017 that was held in Amman, significant progress has been achieved in various fields of cooperation, with our association playing a vital role in creating these new opportunities for bilateral business collaboration and encouraging economic relations and cross – brooding investment between Cyprus and Jordan,” Pantelides noted.
“There are opportunities for growth and investment and commercial and economic collaboration prospects in an array of sectors, including the financial services, tourism, health, real estate, renewable energy, resources, education, agriculture and manufacturing”, he stressed.
(Cyprus News Agency)
