Various issues pertaining to the economy of Limassol, as well as to how the Limassol Chamber views the current state of the Cyprus economy were discussed in the context of a recent visit to the Chamber of the USA Ambassador to Cyprus Kathleen Doherty.
On her first visit to the Limassol Chamber since she took over as head of the American embassy in Nicosia in October last year, Ms. Doherty, who was accompanied by the Depury Head of the Economic Department of the Embassy Veronica Torres, met with a delegation of the Chamber Board, consisting of President Costas Galatariotis, Vice President / Industry Charalambos Pattihis and Board members Akis Charalambous, Chysis Petoussis and Demosthenis Mavrellis.
The Chamber President briefed the Ambassador on the current state of the Limassol economy, noting the relative pick-up observed of late in the construction industry. Mr. Galatariotis also referred to the new prospects arising for the Cyprus shipping industry port in the wake of the commercialization of Limassol port and the assigning of its management to upstanding international organizations in cooperation with local companies.
As far as upcoming projects are concerned, the Chamber President referred to the Pentakomo Scientific-Technological Park, pointing out the Chamber contribution towards the decision to implement the project to begin with, as well as nowadays where the objective is to find the right investor/operator. With regard to the casino-resort where Limassol is said to be a likely preferred destination, Mr. Galatariotis said this was a highly significant project which could be expected to contribute, amongst others, to the easing of the seasonality problem that has long troubled the Cyprus tourist industry.
The Limassol Chamber President also touched upon the recently signed Memorandum of Understanding between the Chambers of Limassol and Tel-Aviv and to the hosting in Limassol of B2B meetings of entrepreneurs from the two cities and similar contacts that are expected to follow in Tel-Aviv in the near future.
On her part, the American ambassador said that as regards the Techno Park all info will be related, in the context of standard practice, to the Department of Commerce in Washington D.C. which is the venue for details to reach potentially interested US investors. Ms. Doherty noted that whereas one could find in the surrounding region several world-renowned international hi-tech companies, in Cyprus such were rather scarce. As for the prospects of attracting American visitors to Cyprus, she noted that one element that counted in favour of Cyprus was the fact of the English language being widely understood on the island. Yet, she continued, Cyprus needs to build a case on how its tourist product differs from that of other destinations that are geographically closer to the United States.
The two sides also discussed other issues of mutual interest, including the ongoing discussions between America and Europe on the proposed Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP).
