Winter tourism has expanded by 35 per cent over the past 3 years and is relied upon to develop further. The clergyman was at that point looking ahead to 2017 now that this year was wrapping up with an expected 3.1 million record landings.

In the winter of 2015-2016 Cyprus saw around 300,000 voyagers. This implies the degree for further advancement of winter tourism is tremendous, including that a significant part of the system was being engaged there.

"We gauge to end 2016 with nearby 3.1 million landings".

For 2017, there will be more carrier seats, notwithstanding concurrences with the majority of the significant visit administrators in all vacationer markets of premium. "Our endeavors will be increased both in connection to our customary markets, for example, Russia and the UK, additionally in connection to developing markets, for example, Germany, Greece, Israel and Ukraine. "We are additionally intrigued by the Nordic nations where we have lost ground, which we need to recover."

"The expansion of our visitor item will help us to create other tourism markets where we have an irrelevant offer," he included. Talking about longer-term arranges he specified the greens, marinas and the arranged club resort.

Makronisos Marina Ltd, a unit of the construction of a marina in Agia Napa with a capacity of 600 vessels

over a 30,000 square-metre area worth €220m. Construction work, expected to take five years, is scheduled

to begin on September 30, the company said in an emailed statement on Wednesday.

The construction of which will take about three years. A separate tender for the second stage of the construction

works which will include residential and commercial developments, such as "two towers and villas will follow, the

company said. "Construction works are estimated to create 800 jobs by contractors and subcontractors and further 200 persons will be employed to operate the project.

"The ambitious project is expected to offer new dynamism to the local economy and Cyprus tourism product in general.

Source: Sigma Live

ESA and Transport, Communications and Works Ministry signed on July 6, 2016, a five-year European Cooperating State Agreement (ECS/PECS), which allows Cyprus to actively participate in the ESA activities and programs, paving the way for the development of the Cypriot industry, academic and research community, as well as the development of innovative applications with the use of space technologies. 

Cyprus with Agency programs and activities and to prepare the country in the most efficient manner for possible

future accession to the ESA Convention. 

The total intended envelope of the first call is 1.2 million euro. Such a call will be announced every year for the

whole duration of the agreement. 

The ECS Agreement is expected to result in promoting innovation and research, educating at the same time our

young engineers and scientists, creating new jobs and opportunities. "We also believe that will enable our universities and industry to be more competitive and secure additional funds in space applications.

Source: Sigma Live

Since 2013, the government, in close collaboration with CIPA, has set out an ambitious structural reform agenda across the majority of policy areas affecting the business environment in Cyprus.

"We may have climbed 13 places in relation to last year in the World Bank Doing Business report. We have been included in the top ten performers out of the 189 countries. We may have officially exited a macroeconomic adjustment program last March.

The investment funds legislation and achieved a tripling of funds under management from €1 billion to €3 billion since 2013. 

"Our vision is to provide the Cyprus economy with the necessary attributes that will make it flexible and adaptable to the ever-changing international scene and the growing needs of investors. By doing the best we can to develop and strengthen our competitive and comparative advantages, while implementing, alongside the government, bold structural reforms, we believe that Cyprus can and will be transformed.

Source: Sigma Live

Ban Ki-moon hopes for a Cyprus settlement before the completion of the mandate of the UN Secretary General.

In response to the developments in the Korean peninsula. Ban Ki-moon said he has spent much time and energy

for the reunification of Cyprus, the only other divided country other than Korea.

"The talks between the leaders by the United Nations facilitate progressing smoothly and well and Ban hopes that

an agreement on the reunification of the Mediterranean island may occur before the completion of his term," he said in the interview. 

Energy Minister George Lakkotrypis and the Egyptian Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources,

Tarek el Mola, signed today an extremely important agreement for the transportation of natural gas from Cyprus

Exclusive Economic Zone to Egypt through a direct undersea pipeline. 

This agreement is described as an essential as it is expected to place Cyprus in an a competitive regional gas

export infrastructure and help the island to cooperate with key players in the region such as Egypt.

The Egyptian Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources of Egypt was received by the President, Nikos Anastasiades.

Cyprus government announced that will short list the bids for the creation of a casino resort on the island by February 2016.

There were eight bids submitted during the first stage.

Even though, the names of the bidders have not been published, it has been speculated that the most likely bidders are: Hard Rock and Bouygues. Genting Group, Malaysian group of resorts and casinos, withdrew its interest.

European Commission reviewed the regulations for the operation of the casino resort in Cyprus and is concerned with legislation regarding the protection of personal data and restrictions on free movement of gaming equipment. The ministry will address these issues in the nearest time.

The ministry of commerce started the evaluation of the applications and should have the proposal for the three selected bidders in one month.

The license should be issued during this year and the casino resort is expected to be built in approximately two years' time.

Source: Cyprus Mail

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According to surveys of Bloomberg economists, India will be the only economy in the world to expand more than 7% in 2016.

The other most populous nation, China, will experience the slowest growth in the past 25 years and is forecasted to expand 6.5% this year.

Among the 10 African nations surveyed, Uganda, Nigeria, Kenya and Ghana will experience an impressive growth.

Ireland, the only euro economy to make the list, is expected to have a growth of 4.1% this year.

The world's biggest economy, USA, is forecast to grow only 2.5% in 2016.

The following forecasts are made on the basis of the median estimate from each country's latest survey by Bloomberg conducted between Oct. and Dec. 2015. There were 93 economies surveyed.

Source: Bloomberg

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According to the Bloomberg economist surveys conducted between October and December 2015, the forecast for many countries' economies in 2016 is rather pessimistic. The survey covered analysis of the markets in 93 countries around the world.

The 10 economies that are forecasts to be the world's worst performers this year include Venezuela, Brazil, Russia, Ecuador, Argentina, Japan, Finland, Croatia and Switzerland.

Among the nations with a 50-50 chance of recession over the next 12 months are Brazil, Russia, Ukraine, Argentina and Taiwan.

 Source: Bloomberg

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European Union approves an extra state aid to Greece's Piraeus Bank.

Greece's Piraeus Bank SA, the biggest lender to companies and households, won approval from the European Union for 2.72 billion euros in state aid on the basis of an amended restructuring plan.

According to the European Commission conclusions the measures already implemented as part of the bank's existing restructuring plan of July 2014, in addition to those considered in the amended plan, will enable Piraeus Bank to ensure lending to the Greek economy in line with EU state-aid rules..

After the European Central Bank's Single Supervisory Mechanism identified a capital shortfall of 4.93 billion euros for Piraeus Bank, the bank has succeeded in covering in 1.94 billion euros of the capital needs by private means. The SSM also approved additional capital actions of 271 million euros.

The experts claim that Piraeus Banks' ability to cover a substantial part of capital needs via private investments, show sign of market confidence.

The EU said that the funding will be provided by the European Stability Mechanism in the framework of Greece's adjustment program. The ESM's board of directors is expected to decide on the transfer on Tuesday.

Source: Bloomberg

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Barclays has been charged with £72m fine for failing to appropriately perform anti-money laundering and financial crime checks on a transaction in 2012 on behalf of very wealthy clients.

Even though, no evidence of any crime was found, the Financial Conduct Authority reported that the bank did not perform the appropriate checks to determine the purpose of the £1.88bn transaction, or to confirm the source of the funds from the clients.

The Financial Conduct Authority said that the bank did not want to cause any inconvenience to the wealthy clients and went to "unacceptable lengths" to arrange the transaction.

Barclays applied a lower level of risk assessment than required for other high risk businesses.

It is known, that Barclays agreed to keep details of the transaction confidential, and agreed to compensate the clients up to £37.7m in the event that it failed to comply with these confidentiality restrictions.

This is the largest fine ever imposed by the FCA for failure to comply with anti-money laundering practices.

Source: The Telegraph

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It is expected, that around 50 enterprises will receive support during the next two years through a programme that will be officially launched by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) this week.

The press release of the EBRD said that the Small Businesses Support Programme in Cyprus will help small and medium-sized businesses to develop, become more competitive and grow via cooperation with local consultants and international advisers.

The official launch of the Programme will be held on 18^th November in Nicosia. Libor Krkoska, Head of the EBRD Resident Office in Cyprus and Jaap Sprey, Head of Regional Programme, as well as local business owners will attend the event.

Source: Famagusta Gazette

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Сyprus Parliament has finally approved an essential bill enabling the sale of loans, which had been set as prior action for the conclusion of the eighth review of Cyprus` financial assistance package.

Cyprus` lenders, the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the IMF known as the Troika, consider this bill as a required element for the conclusion of a toolkit of measures to assist the reduction the non-performing loans. The total sum of NPL currently reaches €28 billion or 48% of the total loans in the Cypriot banking system.

The bill, which should have been agreed on earlier in September, is considered to be among the prior actions set by the Troika for the disbursement of the ninth and last tranche of the Cypriot programme, expected to take place in early 2016.

Source: Famagusta Gazette

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The Paris based Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development noted that Cyprus comply with standards of tax transparency and exchange of information.

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development said in its Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes reform that Cyprus's institutional framework that ensures tax transparency and exchange of information is in place, however, there are a minor shortcoming in the network of agreements and gaps in the implementation of the framework in the area of availability of information with respect to ownership and accounting.

Source: Cyprus Business Mail

The two finance agreements of €115 million were signed in Nicosia in a public ceremony, in the presence of EIB President Werner Hoyer, by the Cyprus Minister of Finance Harris Georgiades, EIB Vice President Jonathan Taylor and Hellenic Bank Chairwoman Irena Georgiadou aiming to support key infrastructure investments in Cyprus, SMEs, economic recovery and the creation of new jobs.

The agreements are a €100 million Framework Loan supporting EU Co-Financing Funds for strategic infrastructure projects to be implemented during the 2014-2020 period and a second loan with Hellenic Bank for €15 million.

Source: Famagusta Gazette

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According to the latest press release by the Central Bank of Cyprus, the total bank deposits in September increased by 255,6 million euro compared with a net increase of €440 million in August 2015. The annual growth rate in September was -0,7% in comparison to -3,1% in August 2015. And the outstanding balance of deposits in the previous month reached €46,6 billion.

Total loans in September 2015 showed a net decrease of €163,3 million, compared with a net decrease of €89,5 million in August 2015. The annual growth rate remained unchanged in comparison to the August 2015 indicators and stood at -2,5%. The outstanding amount of loans reached €61,2 billion in September 2015.

Source: Famagusta Gazette

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Fitch Ratings upgraded Cyprus's long-term foreign and local currency issuer default rating by two points to B+ and placed it on positive outlook citing a fiscal "over-performance" an expected declining trend of government debt, the implementation of cash-for-reforms programme including the foreclosure law and faster economic recovery.

The rating company reported that after achieving "an almost balanced budget" in 2014 in comparison to a fiscal shortfall of 8.5 per cent of gross domestic product as proposed by Fitch, the government continued the positive momentum this year too. Cyprus balance remained in surplus up until the end of July.

Source: Cyprus Business Mail

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Chinese businessmen who met with Cypriot officials during President Nicos Anastasiades's visit to China have shown an interest in participating in the process of privatization of state owned operations and in investing in tourism and estates.

The president of the Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Phidhias Pilides, announced that the selection of a private provider to smooth the progress of the issue of visas is an additional encouragement to promote Chinese to invest in Cyprus. During the visit Anastasiades stated that a private provider has been selected through a public contest that will open about 15 visa offices in Chinese cities which will accept visa applications.

Pilides also mentioned that Chinese COSCO containers' company is already participating in an tender contest to take over a part of commercial operations of Limassol port.

Cyprus has began a process of privatizing state owned operations, such as port facilities, telecommunications and electricity production as part of its economic adjustment program agreed with international lenders in March 2013.

Source: Famagusta Gazette

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Possible changes in tax rates in Cyprus.

Finance Minister, Harris Georgiades, said earlier this week that the government considers cut taxes next year provided the economy continued to strengthen. Tax cuts could be a possibility if public finances maintain their robust and no deficits will be recorded. Although, no tax cuts would be announced before the May 2016 elections.

The parliament will also have a final say on the government's intention to give civil servants who were promoted during a pay freeze, the difference in salary a year earlier than planned. Minister said the pay increase would be granted as part of a comprehensive package regulating the state payroll that will be submitted to parliament.

Source: Cyprus Mail

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Nikos Christodoulides, government spokesman, confirmed that Cyprus is preparing for another bond issue before the end of 2015. He added that "such moves will indicate that the economy`s credibility is restored at international levels.
According to Christodoulides the maturity, the amount and the exact time of the issue are yet to be decided.

Finance Minister Harris Georgiades said "Confidence has been restored and market access re-established. Market conditions permitting, we are planning a new bond issuance by the end of the year in line with our annual funding programme, but the exact timing and details have yet to be determined.

Source: Cyprus Mail

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