He also sent a "hopeful message to the whole society", that "Cyprus will gain a strong foundation of competitiveness, with significant economic and social benefits for all Cypriots".
"Cyprus has economic, intellectual and cultural capabilities and, when we use them, we achieve wonderful results for our country", stressed President Christofias, stating that the Exhibition, through a course of 37 years, "has rightly become a very important institution for our economy ”.
"We base our belief that better days are coming," he said, "on the interest shown by foreigners in large-scale investments in Cyprus" and on the medium- and long-term prospects for hydrocarbons in the Cyprus EEZ. has been announced for their exploitation through the second round of licensing ".
He added, "We base our belief that better days are coming on the fact that in Cyprus, unlike many other European countries, the common man has been protected by a number of policies, which are based on social sensitivity and concern, especially for lower and middle classes of the people and we base our optimism on the fact that another wind has started blowing in Europe ”.
"The air of growth, of tackling unemployment and other social problems of the crisis and not the one-dimensional austerity, which is creating a vicious circle of recession," he said, stressing that this "can only make us optimistic about the future."
Welcoming the "guests, officials from abroad, representatives of participating countries and visitors", the President of the Republic stated that the presence of all of them at the inauguration "is another sign of confidence in the Cypriot economy, which, despite adversity conditions created by the unprecedented economic crisis, strongly resists the serious upheavals of the world economic system ".
As he stated, "the State Exhibition Authority, in its 37-year presence, has actively and effectively contributed to the efforts made to further highlight the geographical, economic and other comparative advantages of our country".
"The Cyprus International Fair", he continued, "is rightly characterized as a wider regional and international field of trade and economic transactions between businessmen of different countries".
"The size of the Cypriot economy imposes our extroversion and presence in international trade and the Government's policy in this area," said the President. Cypriot companies to successfully cope with the internationally competitive environment ”.
"The Cypriot small and medium-sized enterprise," he said, "is going through difficult times today, due to the global financial crisis and other key problems we face today, such as the excessive exposure of our banks to the Greek economy."
"We will not leave the businessman unprotected struggling to survive in difficult conditions for the economy," said the President of the Republic.
"Supporting industry and small and medium-sized enterprises, promoting entrepreneurship, encouraging research and innovation, trying to reduce the costs associated with trade and the tax system and attracting foreign investment are among the priorities," he continued. of our policy for economic growth, progress, prosperity and job creation ”.
"Our Presidency, since the first manifestation of the global economic crisis," said President Christofias, "has raised the issue of emphasis on development rather than one-dimensional austerity policies in both the Council of the European Union and other relevant bodies of the Union." ”.
"We are pleased that, gradually, the perception is gaining ground throughout Europe today that without growth and growth-supporting policies, the crisis cannot be overcome," he said.
The President of the Republic of Cyprus expressed regret because, as he said, "all this time, Europe has wasted valuable time implementing one-dimensional austerity policies that have unfortunately victimized millions of European citizens".
"We want to believe," he continued, "that a policy that emphasizes the development and needs of the people will gradually become a dominant policy throughout the European Union."
"The Government, in the context of this policy and especially the period we are going through," he said, "promotes a series of measures and actions aimed at addressing the key problems facing our companies and which are mainly due to reduced demand and competitiveness." .
"Among the measures implemented and promoted by the competent Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism," said the President, "include a series of sponsorship projects funded either by national resources or co-financed by the European Union."
"The aim of these projects", he added, "is, among other things, to encourage investments in equipment of modern technology and know-how that will contribute to the improvement of productivity and the quality of Cypriot products".
At the same time, the President said, "the Government attaches special importance to small and medium enterprises and, for this purpose", he continued, "we have adopted the strategy that aims at the support and development of small and medium enterprises".
"Therefore," he said, "we continue to promote the measures and actions contained in the European Small Business Act" and, "in the difficult circumstances of the global financial crisis, this Government is working hard to reverse the situation."
"Despite the paraphilology that has existed for a long time in Cyprus and which aimed to convince people that both the unprecedented economic crisis and the difficulties of the Cypriot economy are responsible for the Government and its manipulations," said President Christofias. "Today the citizens have a clear picture."
"The whole world is affected by an unprecedented economic crisis, which 'kneels' entire states around the world and, at the same time," he added, "it is now clear that the main problem of the Cypriot economy is the excessive and unjustified exposure of Cypriot banks to Greek government bonds and the Greek economy ”.
"This is due," he said, "to the excessive pursuit of profit and the inability of the competent supervisory authority, the Governor of the Central Bank, to play its supervisory role when it should and should."
"Our primary concern," said the President, "is to support our country's banking system, in a way that stops the problems created by the lack of supervision of the sector and the consequent overexposure to Greek bonds and Greek bonds in general." economy".
As he stated, "our country needs investments from both Cyprus and abroad" and "we are working in this direction, in order to create a new framework for facilitating private and public investment in major development projects."
Already, he added, "great interest in investment has begun to take shape" and "our goal is for Cyprus to seize this opportunity and gradually become a model of development, upgrading the quality of life of all its citizens."
Noting the gradual increase mainly in exports of both industrial products and fresh and processed agricultural products, the President noted "that we are already in the third year, during which our domestic exports are improving."
Specifically, he said, "from 479 million euros in 2009, they amounted to 566 million euros in 2010, while in 2011 they increased to 624 million euros."
At the same time, said President Christofias, "exports of services also continue their upward trend for the same period" and, "from 5,8 billion euros in 2009, amounted to 6.0 billion euros in 2010, while in the first nine months in 2011 amounted to 4,5 billion euros, compared to 4,4 billion euros in the corresponding nine months of 2010 ".
"These figures are encouraging and also a positive development given the international environment and the difficult conditions prevailing in international markets," he said.
He added, "they demonstrate the will and efforts of the Government to strengthen the export trade, both of products and services, with targeted actions and incentives that have been granted to exporters."
"Of course, we should not ignore the initiatives and tireless efforts of the exporters themselves, whom I warmly congratulate," said President Christofias, adding that "by no means do these positive results mean solving problems or creating room for complacency ”.
On the contrary, he stressed, "they must act as an incentive to intensify the great effort we have begun and to take advantage of all the opportunities that open up with the climate of trust that has been created."