Euromed cooperation: Cyprus’ vision and proposals

Cyprus' vision and proposals for Euromed cooperation was presented by key local stkeholders at the ANIMA Annual Forum in Nicosia.

During a panel discussion, the opinions and assessments of the former Deputy Minister of Research, Innovation, and Digital Policy, Kyriacos Kokkinos, General Director of CYENS Yiorgos Chrysanthou and Stavriana Kofteros, Vice President of the Board of Directors of Research & Innovation Foundation were put forward.

Kokkinos noted that "five years back the government decided to put a framework for the innovation ecosystem. It was a bottom-up and they decided to move from top down." He said that one of the key ingredients is to zoom out and see were the country fits on the global innovation map.

"Each region has different challenges and there are two keywords:They collaborate and the compete," he continued.

Innovation and digitalisation and research are essential to fuel prosperity, he further explained. Cyprus is number 27 in international rating which is good compared to where it has been, Kokkinos commented. He also noted that on the European innovation scoreboard for 2023, Cyprus had reached 10th place.

In conclusion, he underlined the need for further collaboration among countries, especially in the region.

Chrysanthou said there are many attractions to the island, including a good quality of life among other incentives, but also technologically. "Cyprus has taken huge steps in the last years," he said, adding, "We have 12 universities and 7 centres of excellence and they all do solid work."

It shows the strength of the academic ecosystem here in Cyprus, Chrysanthou added. Soon after, he said how start-up hubs had been strengthened along with an international perspective of the island.

Chrysanthou also referred to climate change, noting, "All these problems provide opportunities for experimentations. We see Cyprus as a test bed for different technologies. We have research centres that work on maritime, AI, various agriculture and acts of technologies." He argued that " ICT can help in transport, internet of things etc."

Kofteros said that when we talk about vision we talk about strategy. "You need to have action to back strategy," she explained. "Unless you have doers and bring things and make them happen, nothing will happen," she said, adding, "In Cyprus, we take our weakness and we turn it into our strength."

"We can tackle together in the ecosystem of Cyprus and start internationalising these startups and have an economic impact in our region," Kofteros added.

She also noted that the importance of consistency in completing a target. "Eyes on the target no matter what," she said, adding, "Cyprus is currently an international hub," Kofteros added, and like Kokkinos, emphasised the importance of cooperation across borders.

The panel was moderated by the CEO of Invest Cyprus, Marios Tannousis.

ANIMA Investment Network implements cooperation between private sector support ecosystems to promote an attractive, sustainable and inclusive economy.

The Annual Forum is being carried out with the support of Euromed Clusters Forward and EBSOMED (Enhancing Business Support Organisations and Business Networks in the Southern Neighbourhood) in partnership with Invest Cyprus.

The Gold Sponsor is AstroBank, the Silver Sponsor is Bank of Cyprus and the event is coordinated by IMH. InBusiness and GOLD are media sponsors.