Cyprus President Vows to ‘Safeguard Shipping’
By Aiswarya Lakshmi
Friday, March 18, 2016
Cypriot president Nicos Anastasiades has expressed his government’s determination to protect and further develop the shipping sector as per report in Financial Mirror.
“Over the past decades Cyprus has built up an exceptional maritime infrastructure and high level of expertise,” he pointed, recalling that “the Cypriot maritime registry is today one of the largest in the EU and the tenth largest worldwide.”
The industry employs 4,500 people on the island and Cyprus-based shipmanagement companies manage about 20% of the world’s third-party fleet.
The industry currently contributes 7% to the island’s GDP, and with the launch of a new maritime strategy, Anastasiades believes maritime will “contribute significantly”, saying that he is devoted to “safeguarding the sector”.
Furthermore, he noted, “our country is considered to be one of the largest third party ship-management centres globally”, adding that “this is largely due to the contribution of companies like Unicom.”
President Anastasiades added that despite the international adverse economic conditions and the financial difficulties that our country faces in the last years, the Cyprus shipping sector managed to maintain its competitiveness and perspectives as a result of combined efforts from the public and private sectors.