Nicosia.- CNA

The upgrading of the economy by rating agencies Standard and Poor`s and Fitch is a reward of the efforts of the government and the society to address the consequences of the financial crisis, President of the Republic of Cyprus Nicos Anastasiades has said.

In a written statement, the President points out that the government will press ahead with the bailout programme and efforts for the recovery of the economy and the reform of the public sector, so that the country may never find itself in the same position as last year.

President Anastasiades notes that the ratings themselves do not mean that the crisis has been overcome. However, recent events indicate that there is a safe basis for the prospects for the recovery of the economy and the return to growth the soonest possible.

He also congratulates the people of Cyprus on their patience, maturity and exemplary manner in which they address the problems, and thanks the political forces and organised groups for their cooperation in efforts to achieve the aims set.

Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades said that we should be reserved as regards prospects of attracting foreign investments in Cyprus.

“I hope that at some point we will have something positive to announce. We will not give up our efforts, either with the country we have visited or the countries we are planning to visit, with a view to achieve inflow of foreign capital into the country,” President Anastasiades told the media in statements on the sidelines of a visit at a military camp here.

Anastasiades said “there is great interest (for investments), but we are still at an exploratory stage. Let us not create illusions to the people. This is not our intention, neither is any false impression beneficial,” he noted, according to an official press release.

Asked about the expectations raised among the people with regard to foreign investments in Cyprus, he said that “we are not raising any expectations; we are constantly working towards attracting investments.”

“No one says you will always be successful even when you try and insist. We want us to be reserved. Each investor is interested to see that its investment will bear fruit. That is that we are exploring and we want, because Cyprus offers opportunities for investments,” he noted.

Cautious optimism for foreign investments, says CIPA

CIPA (Cyprus Investment Promotion Agency) is urging everyone to demonstrate cautious optimism as regards foreign investments in Cyprus, in the light of a visit to the island by investors from Kuwait, who concluded their visit Friday.

The investors had meetings with the government and CIPA, expressing their satisfaction with the meetings they had, pointing out how encouraged they are.

Speaking Friday at Larnaka airport, on the departure of the investors, CIPA President Christodoulos Aggastiniotis said that Cyprus offers many opportunities for investment, having many advantages as an investment destination.

He added that following today`s upgrades of the Cyprus economy by two rating firms, “we are on the right track“. He urged however to be “down to earth“, reaffirming that CIPA will continue its efforts to attract foreign investments and will continue to assist investors in whatever they might need.

Aggastioniotis pointed out once again that foreign investments are the key factor to economic recovery and job creation.

Tariq Abdul Salam, from Kuwait Investment Project Holdings Company, said that during the visit, CIPA provided them with a great outlook about Cyprus, the legislation, the way of investing and available opportunities.

“We really appreciate all the efforts and hopefully we will make a future decision to invest in Cyprus because we really believe in it”, he added.

Replying to a question about specific investments in Cyprus, he said that this is the first time they came here, they have accumulated a lot of information and definitely they will seriously investigate the opportunity to invest here.

Sadoun Ali, member of the group, said that Cyprus will move forward “because of the way it has been managed and promoted”. He expressed his gratitude to both the Government and CIPA for the information they provided them with. He said that they are encouraged very much “to look to different opportunities and study them more and hopefully we will have something in the future between Kuwait and Cyprus”.

Majed Al-Ajeel, party to the Burgan Group in Kuwait, expressed his satisfaction about the meetings with the Government and CIPA, saying that they were very much encouraged by what they heard about development in Cyprus.

A GROUP of investors from Kuwait under the Kuwait Projects Company Holding (KIPCO) were in Cyprus on a fact-finding mission to explore potential business ventures on the island.

An announcement issued Friday from CIPA says that the investors showed interest in tourism projects, land development projects and in projects relating to the energy sector.