Filenews 9 September 2022
The Minister of Finance, Konstantinos Petrides, characterizes the rise of Cyprus from 68th to 18th place in the Greenfield FDI Performance Index, which records the performance of countries in attracting foreign investments, very important, as he says, "for jobs and incomes, especially in the volatile international environment we live in today".
At the same time, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in a written statement, emphasizes that these results are not accidental, but "are the culmination of our policies and the implementation of the new development model 'Vision 2035', which we have designed and adopted in cooperation with the Economy Council".
"Policies that create well-paid jobs or that contain the rise in unemployment in the time of the crisis and policies that increase incomes or even hold them back in the time of crisis," he adds.
According to the Ministry of Finance, Cyprus recorded the largest increase of all countries with foreign direct investment increasing in the 1st half of 2022 in Cyprus by 150% compared to pre-pandemic levels (1st half of 2019).
It also mentions that investments in software (Software) and information technology (IT) increased by an impressive 600% (compared to 2019) which confirms, as he emphasizes, the success of the "Business Attraction Program" and for the promotion of the country as a rising technological hub.
"It confirms that this vision, with the appropriate policies we follow, is rapidly turning into reality", he underlines.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs states that "this is the same period that our country has recorded a growth rate of more than 6%, which is about 30%, that is, higher than the EU average".
It is also the same period, as he adds, "that as a rule there are downgrades in most countries due to the economic crisis, when Cyprus has managed a very significant upgrade of the economy by rating agencies, due to its performance, diversification and resilience".
In addition, in his written statement, the Minister of Finance states that "undoubtedly we are going through yet another international economic crisis, which is testing our endurance as well as that of each country" and adds that "in this crisis we have supported and support with 350 million euros. euro to our fellow citizens due to inflation and the increase in the price of energy".
"And this in addition to the support of 3 billion euros during the pandemic", he says and notes that the Government supported "because we resisted populism and provided for us to be able to support the time of need".
Mr. Petridis further notes that "the answer to the crisis, to the containment of unemployment, especially in times of inflation, is neither voices nor aphorisms", but "serious policies to attract real investment and economic growth" and "to what this indicator records, EU statistics and rating agencies".
"We are committed to these policies so that we do not feel again the recession, unemployment and shrinking incomes that we have experienced in the recent past," he concludes.
