On December 5, the "digital citizen" will be available with the possibility to initially issue and store an identity card, driver's license and vehicle suitability certificate, announced the President of the Republic, Nikos Christodoulidis, at the 2nd Greek Cypriot Congress, on Wednesday morning in Nicosia , organized by Boussias Cyprus in collaboration with Invest Cyprus, and is under the patronage of the Republic of Cyprus and Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Greece.
For his part, the Prime Minister of Greece, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, stated in his greeting that "we seek to deepen the footprint of our two states in the international environment, with the aim of establishing a strong, national business pole in Eastern Europe", and added that in this context there are obvious synergies between the two economies, driven by their geostrategic position, interconnection networks, which become a priority for the Europe.
In his greeting, the President of the Republic referred to the Cyprus-Greece synergies, in the context of the second Intergovernmental Summit of the two countries, which is being held on Wednesday in Cyprus, noting that in its context the cooperation of the two countries in labor matters will be expanded, in environmental issues, research and innovation.
As he said, the goal of Inter-Government is the issues of internal governance, which touch on everyday issues of the citizen. He noted that the joint initiative of intergovernmental cooperation has upgraded the cooperation of the two countries, enriching the agenda on a more strategic basis, moving away from the discussion solely on national issues.
He reminded that as a result of the 1st Intergovernmental Meeting, 10 Memorandums of Cooperation have been signed in various fields, which are being implemented in their entirety. "In the context of the 2nd Inter-Governmental Meeting, we are further expanding cooperation in labor matters, the environment, research and innovation", facing common challenges between Greece and Cyprus, he said. "For our Governments, the will to strengthen the cooperation framework is clear, making full use of our potential as two EU member states, and the excellent relations we maintain with neighboring states", he underlined.
He added that entrepreneurship, trade, investments are the basic resources for the development, innovation, prosperity and competitiveness of our countries, noting the need for specific actions, after the discussion of the Draghi report.
President Christodoulidis noted that the excellent cooperation of Cypriot-Greece businessmen is a shining example of what we can achieve when we use our common values and the comparative advantages we have, stating that new ideas and long-term partnerships can be born from today's conference. In this context, he noted, the largest investment in Cyprus was recently made by Greece, with over 1 billion. euros, stating that this is indicative of how we can benefit by joining forces.
"Cyprus and Greece are two healthy and stable economies and pillars of stability in the wider Middle East," added the President, stating that the two countries have a unique combination of advantages to attract investment and quality jobs. Reiterating the intention to make Cyprus one of the best places to live, work and do business, he noted the two directions in which the Government is moving: to create a stable and healthy fiscal framework, and to give the business community the necessary supplies to compete in the international market.
In this context, he said, the three pillars with which the Government stands are fiscal responsibility, a stable and strong financial environment, and continuous and bold reforms.
Referring to the indicators of the Cypriot economy, he noted that in 2024 Cyprus is predicted to have the 3rd highest growth rate in the Eurozone, at approximately 3,8%. The first-half unemployment rate is near full employment at 1% for the first time since 5,2, and is expected to fall below 2009% by 2025.
In addition, he referred to the deceleration of inflation expected for 2024 to 2%, compared to 3,5% in 2023 but also to the significant primary budget surplus of 3,9% for 2024 and the remarkable reduction in public debt, which at the end Q2024 69 saw the biggest drop in the EU compared to the first quarter, at 2026% GDP, aiming to be below 60% of GDP by XNUMX.
He added that the positive course of the economy is reflected in the successive upgrades of the rating agencies, with the most recent being the double upgrade by Moody's, which upgraded Cyprus to the A3 level after 13 years.
"The upgrades are a vote of confidence for the Cypriot economy and the policies we follow," he said, noting that we are proud to have one of the highest growth rates in the EU, while he mentioned that the above is happening between two wars, with one in our region and with the economies of the powerful EU member states facing very serious challenges.
President Christodoulidis pointed out that the upgrade paves the way for important prospects and for the implementation of targeted social policy, in health, education, and social benefits. As he noted, the benefits of the upgrade translate into attracting quality investment, quality jobs, lower interest rates, increased economic stability, job security, better wages and new trade agreements. "The most important thing is to increase the standard of living, creating better conditions for housing, education, health care," he pointed out.
More specifically, he referred to technological and digital upgrading, as a decisive factor for the competitiveness of the economy. As he said, in the area of digitization of government services there was an improvement of 16,3%, above the EU average (3,1%). This, he said, reflects the growing number of digital services to citizens and businesses, and he thanked the Greek Prime Minister for Greece's help in this area.
He noted that the digital citizen application was developed jointly with Greece, following the signing of a relevant agreement. He announced that the application in Cyprus will be available from December 5 for the issuance and storage of identity card, driver's license and vehicle fitness certificate, while additional documents and certificates will be available thereafter. As he said, in the context of the second Intergovernmental Summit, the interconnection of the respective applications in Cyprus and Greece will be promoted, which he characterized as a "tangible result of the cooperation with a positive impact on the daily life of the citizens".
For his part, the Prime Minister of Greece, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, referred to the second Intergovernmental Summit of Greece and Cyprus, characterizing it as a "very important institution" that allows the development of a framework of regular cooperation, which within a year has led to important measurable results to the benefit of both Cyprus and Greece.
He noted that in the past the interest in the relations between the two states was monopolized by the national issues and geopolitical challenges of the two countries. "Now we have developed a cooperation framework worthy of the brotherly relations of the two states," he said, also giving as an example the digital cooperation of the two states.
"The excellent level of Greek-Cypriot relations is also reflected in the economic field", he noted, mentioning, moreover, that Cyprus has always been one of Greece's most important trade and investment partners and vice versa.
Mr. Mitsotakis expressed his admiration for the performance of the Cypriot economy, saying they are "enviable". He noted that Cyprus faced the great financial crisis of the last decade with a greater sense of responsibility and self-awareness than Greece. "Unfortunately, we experimented with populism, lost at least 5 years, paid for an unnecessary 3rd memorandum and only after 2019 did we start implementing a policy that hopefully shows measurable results," he said.
The Greek Prime Minister said that in recent years bilateral trade and direct investments have registered a steady upward trend, while the margins are even bigger and more promising, as he said. "At the same time, we seek to deepen the footprint of our two states in the international environment, with the aim of establishing a strong, national business pole in Eastern Europe", he said, and added that in this context there are obvious synergies between the two economies, with the vehicle of their geostrategic position, the interconnection networks, which are becoming a priority for Europe.
He noted that Cyprus's position on the world map has changed, as its economy is among the fastest growing in the EU. "Everything supports the assessment that entrepreneurship in Cyprus will be many times its size", he underlined.
On a parallel path, he said that Greece is rearranging its own architecture of its economy. "We have regained investment grade, and we are protagonists in European growth rates, we have managed to reduce unemployment to single-digit percentages, we have recorded the largest reduction in public debt in the OECD over time, we are gaining the trust of international markets," he said.
He noted that fiscal responsibility is a non-negotiable priority of the Government's economic policy. "It is precisely this fiscal responsibility that has made Greece credible, and allowed us to attract record amounts of foreign investment and mobilize domestic investment to reduce the investment gap that separated us from the EU average," he said.
"We want Cypriot businesses, we want Cypriot funds participating in this great effort to rebuild the Greek economy. There are all the conditions for Greek dynamism and Cypriot creativity to meet in partnerships that will face important regional as well as global challenges", he added, referring to synergies in the fields of energy, shipping, tourism, manufacturing trade, and technology. where artificial intelligence offers huge opportunities, but also big challenges, he said.
In addition, Mr. Mitsotakis noted that in Greece the strategy for artificial intelligence was recently completed, which identifies the country's priorities, in order to be able to use the benefits, to improve the productivity of the public sector, and the establishment of an ecosystem of businesses with applications of artificial intelligence from the southeast Europe but also the delineation of a normative regulatory framework with incentives and protection of citizens from the negative effects of artificial intelligence.
Finally, he said that Greece and Cyprus can play a leading role in developments in the EU "and not only discuss national priorities. This is a great conquest that we have achieved which strengthens the prestige of Hellenism as a whole", he underlined.
Source: KYPE
