Interview with Mr. Mamas Koutsoyiannis, President of the bilateral Chamber of Commerce and Industry Romania – Cyprus.
When have the Bilateral Chamber of Commerce and Industry Romania – Cyprus been established?
The CCIBRC was founded in May 2004 at the initiative of several Cypriots and Romanian businessmen with the purpose of promoting the trade, industry and services of the two countries both on bilateral and international level and of supporting the interests of Romania and Cypriot economic agents.
How many Cypriot companies are registered in Romania at the present moment and what their predominant activity field is?
There are 4,255 registered commercial companies in Romania; according to the foreign equivalent exchange, the Cyprus investment holds the 5th place in Romania with USD 1.6 billion direct investments.
For all as you know, what are the recent figures of the commercial exchanges between Romania and Cyprus?
As above indicated, out of the total foreign investments in Romania, USD 1.6 billion represent the Cypriot direct Share Capital Investment and 2008 is the peak year with USD 650 million.
What future actions has the Chamber envisaged further to promoting bilateral trade, any events to be organized this year?
Among other events in this year, the Bilateral Chamber of Commerce and Industry Romania – Cyprus had the honor to organize a symposium under the auspices of the Embassy of Cyprus in Romania in order to welcome His Excellency, President of the House of Representatives of the Republic of Cyprus, Mr. Marios Garoyian. The event that took place on the 2nd of April at the headquarters of the Bilateral Chamber of Commerce of Romania had as guests of honor, official personalities from financial industry, representatives of Cyprus Embassy and a lot of business people from Cyprus and Romania as well as a lot of political figures from Cyprus and Romania.
On July 2, the Bilateral Chamber of Commerce and Industry Romania-Cyprus participated at a Business Forum, having as subject: “Cyprus – An International Business and Professional Centre” held by the Cyprus and Romanian Chambers of Commerce and Industry. The event was organized under the auspices of H.E. the Minister of Commerce, Industry and Tourism of the Republic of Cyprus, Mr. Antonis Paschalides. The attendees to this Business Forum were from banking, political, auditing, accounting, tax, legal and various industries from both Romania and Cyprus, as well as the international spectrum.
Towards the end of the fourth quarter of the year, we will organize an event about Tourism. The Cyprus economic agents believe that the economic crisis will continue also in 2010 but the negative slope of the recession will be flattened.
On the other hand, the Cypriot economy did not enter into the recession but it remained with low positive indices and this is a reason that leads the Cypriots to keep looking for business opportunities also in Romania.
How do the Cypriot economic agents perceive the present economic crisis and its impact on the Romanian economy? Do they face any negative effects on their business in Romania? What problems do the Cypriot businessmen encounter in general in Romania?
As previously mentioned, Cypriots always seek for business opportunities in Romania. Recession always comes with opportunities and just like the rest of the foreign investors in Romania, Cypriot businessmen face the slow and bureaucratic system that is quite opposite to the Anglo- Saxon system that Cyprus follows.
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