I. Smyrlis: Dynamic trend in economic and trade relations between Greece and Cyprus

The importance of Cyprus as an important partner both in terms of exports and investments was highlighted by the Secretary General of International Economic Relations and Extroversion (DOSE) and President of Enterprise Greece, Ioannis Smyrlis, at the first business conference “1st Greece-Cyprus Business Summit “, which takes place today in Athens.

Mr. Smyrlis, after emphasizing the excellent relations between Greece and Cyprus in institutional, administrative and economic level, pointed out that Cyprus holds the third place in the countries-destinations of Greek exports, with an increase in 2021 by 39.1% compared to in 2020 and their value is set at 2.5 billion euros.

Regarding investments, he noted that Cyprus is an important partner of Greece with more than 1,500 Greek companies operating in it and underlined the prospect of expanding the Greek business presence in Cyprus, but also the growth of Cypriot investments in Greece. Commenting on bilateral economic and trade relations, he spoke of a “dynamic trend”, while expressing confidence in maintaining it in the future.

Mr. Smyrlis also referred to the reform carried out by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with the creation of a new, flexible and more effective extroversion structure, in particular in the National Strategic Extroversion Plan, which reflects the goals of economic diplomacy and their specific implementation time frame. . In this context, he said that for this year, 17 targeted actions are foreseen for Cyprus out of a total of 670 actions in 47 countries.

Finally, in terms of energy, the DOSE Secretary General stressed that given the key geostrategic position of the two countries, there are a number of business opportunities. “In any case, both countries seek to align the energy sector with the principles of sustainable development and the requirements of energy security,” said Mr. Smyrlis.