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Cyprus
Leaders met at the World Economic Forum at Davos
Cyprus leaders participated in the “Reunifying Cyprus”
panel at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos held on 20-23
January 2016. The joint appearance at the Forum was unprecedented.
In their joint address to around 2500 high level participants attending
to the Forum’s Annual Meeting, His Excellency Mustafa Akıncı, the
Turkish Cypriot leader, and His Excellency Nicos Anastasiades, the
Greek Cypriot leader, confirmed that they were working hard to achieve
a mutually acceptable solution and that a settlement could be reach in
2016.
“… we are aware that this is the last trial for uniting
our island” emphasized Akıncı.
A united Cyprus could be a symbol of peace and cooperation in a
fragmenting world and would represent significant economic
opportunities was one of the most important messages given at the
panel. “We will continue our
hard work to put an end to the Cyprus problem and pave the way for new
economic opportunities that will bring prosperity to our turbulent
region” said Akıncı, “to that end the
international support shall be needed in terms of financial and
technical assistance” he added. READ
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International media
attention on “working in the other community”
Internships of young Cypriots in the other community continue to
receive attention from local and international media institutions.
Within the framework of the EU-funded Leading By Example Project, which
is implemented jointly by the Turkish Cypriot Chamber of Commerce
(KTTO) and the Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KEBE). The
cross-community internship scheme matched 24 Turkish and Greek Cypriot
young professionals to carry out their internships in the other
community. The internships have already started.
Two journalists from the German ZDF television visited a Turkish
Cypriot host company where a Greek Cypriot young professional continues
to do her 3-month internship since November. Speaking to ZDF, Yiangi
Yiangou, who studied both psychology and sociology said “it is a great
experience for me; not only that I am getting a work experience but I
am also improving my Turkish. I made great friends too”.
Memduh Erişmen, Director of Lipa Consultancy is also happy about
Yiangi’s contributions and progress. “She accommodated
herself from day one” he said. “Our company is
preparing itself for the post-solution era and I think it is very
important to create a multi-cultural, multi-lingual working environment
at Lipa” Erişmen added.
Also speaking to ZDF, Kemal Baykalli, Deputy Secretary General of KTTO
explained that the cooperation of the two Chambers on creating
awareness about the economic benefits of reconciliation is not new.
Baykalli said that the EU funded Leading By Example equipped the
Chambers with creative tools to this end. Commenting on the internship
program, “we
have been receiving very positive feedback both from the interns and
companies, we believe we are the pioneers of what is to follow after a
solution” Baykalli concluded.
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KTTO
organizes its third Entrepreneurship Summit
The Turkish Cypriot Chamber of Commerce (KTTO) organised its third
Entrepreneurship Summit in collaboration with the Turkish Economy Bank
(TEB) on the 18th of November 2015. The summit, which took place at the
KTTO Conference Hall, received a lot of interest and participation from
our members, local authorities and university students. The Summit
hosted experts on entrepreneurship and successful entrepreneurs from
different fields of business in North Cyprus. READ
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UN Secretary General
commends the reconciliation efforts of the Cypriot Chambers of Commerce
The Secretary General urges for the implementation of the private
sector driven confidence building initiatives, mobile phone
interconnectivity among others, without further delay.
In its report on the United Nations (UN) operations in Cyprus dated 6th
of January 2016, the UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon emphasized the
importance of the confidence building measures for the successful
conclusion of the comprehensive settlement process and commended the
Turkish Cypriot Chamber of Commerce (KTTO) and the Cyprus Chamber of
Commerce and Industry (KEBE) for providing a model for cooperation and
advocating actively for a solution to the Cyprus problem. READ
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Cypriot cheese should
unite the Cypriots
“PDO registration
process of Hellim/Halloumi should be dealt with a vision
and prospect of a “United Federal Cyprus” and to the
economic benefit of both Communities” said Fikri
Toros, President of the Turkish Cypriot Chamber of Commerce. He urged
for the common understanding reached between the two Cypriot leaders on
the issue to be respected and for the adoption of the Commission
proposal at the EU Council without further delay.
Following the application of the South Cyprus to register
Hellim/Halloumi as a Protected Designation of Origin (PDO)
in the EU, a
Common Understanding on
a temporary solution for Hellim/Halloumi, to be implemented pending the
reunification of Cyprus, has been reached between the two leaders under
the guidance of President Juncker on 16 July 2015.
In line with the Common Understanding, on 28 July 2015, the
PDO application was published in the EU Official Journal (OJ) to
register the names Hellim/Halloumi for the whole territory of Cyprus
and parallel to this, the Commission has adopted a
proposal to
modify the Green Line Regulation (GLR) in order to facilitate trade and
to establish the manner in which the control mechanism for goods
covered by a name registered under the EU Regulation No 1151/2012 would
be applied in the North.
“The adoption of
the proposal by the Commission was the first step. However, for
the Common Understanding to be fully respected, the adoption of the
proposal by the Council of the EU is necessary” said
Toros. “As
it is with this essential step that the political understanding between
the two leaders will be fully transposed into law and provide the legal
basis for the operation of the PDO in the North” he
emphasized.
Following the publication of the PDO application in the OJ, the
objection procedure which had started, was finalized on 28 December
2016. However, the Commission’s proposal to amend the GLR has not
yet been put on the Council’s agenda for adoption.
Calling for the proposal’s adoption by the Council without
further delay, Toros said “ It is of utmost
importance that all sides concerned work towards ensuring the
successful registration of Hellim/Halloumi as a PDO to the economic
benefit of both Communities. Any approach that would undermine this
would pose a serious threat to the confidence building efforts between
the two Communities on the island and would affect the settlement talks
adversely” stated Toros.
Hoping that the issue would be resolved soon, Toros also said it would
be one of their priorities to cooperate with South Cyprus as well as
the European Commission to develop an action plan for the eradication
of animal diseases and to increase the sheep and goats milk production
in order to meet the specifications required for the PDO at the end of
the 10 year transitionary period.
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