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Cyprus peace talks resume with confidence building measures
Following the resumption of the full-fledged settlement talks in Cyprus under
the auspices of the United Nations, the leaders of the Turkish and Greek Cypriot
Communities, Mustafa Akıncı and Nicos Anastasiades respectively, have announced
new confidence-building measures after their meeting on May 28, 2015.
Interconnectivity of the electricity grids and the mobile phone operators
were among the confidence building measures announced. These are the two projects
initiated by the two Chambers of Commerce in Cyprus to enhance economic
cooperation, overcome inhibition and encourage reconciliation between the two
Communities on the island.
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Cypriot
Chambers of Commerce launch a bi-communal internship programme
The Turkish Cypriot Chamber of Commerce (KTTO) and The Cyprus Chamber of
Commerce and Industry (CCCI) have launched their bi-communal internship programme May
15, 2015, at an event held at the UN buffer zone. Being implemented under the EU
co-funded Leading by Example Project, the programme has as its main objective to give
young Cypriots an outstanding work experience within the other community, gaining
valuable professional skills towards their subsequent working lives while mastering
the working and cultural environment in the other community. The programme will
benefit 12 interns from each community over the period of September 2015- April 2016,
with a 3 month duration for each intern.
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First Vice
President Timmermans Speaks at ESBA Event on Better Regulation
During
the annual event of the European Small Business
Alliance
(ESBA), entitled 'Better Regulation: The Way Forward', European
Commission First Vice-President Frans Timmermans spoke to an audience of Brussels
stakeholders and small business owners. Timmermans reiterated earlier statements that
Better Regulation does not necessarily mean deregulation and that transparency is a
key ingredient for a successful agenda. Mr. Timmermans’ intervention was followed
by a panel discussion with the participation of MEP Pavel Telicka, Ms. Anne Van
Goethem from Luxembourg EU Presidency, Mike Cherry and Hans Biesheuvel, representing
the views of small businesses.
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Intra-island
trade volume remains at low levels
According to 2014 statistics, the Green Line trade still remains at very
limited levels at around 3.5 million years per year and thus, far away from
contributing to create economic interdependence between the two Communities on the
island.
Following the European Commission’s adoption of its
annual report 2014 on the implementation of the Green
Line regulation
, Fikri Toros, President of the Turkish Cypriot Chamber of Commerce, said “
The report
reflects our concerns with regard to the low levels of intra-island trade volume
and shares our view that removal of the persisting obstacles to trade would
significantly contribute to increasing the trade volume across the Line
”. “
We urge the
Greek Cypriot authorities to cooperate for the resolution of the long standing
issues such as crossing of commercial vehicles and processed food across the Green
Line without any further delay and respond positively to the efforts put forward by
the European Commission for that purpose
”. “
Allowing the
commercial vehicles and the processed food to cross, as well as lifting the
prohibition on the trade of animals and animal products across the Line, as long as
they comply with EU rules and standards, would definitely contribute to increasing
the trade volume.”
he added. “
Encouraging
trade can only have a positive effect on bringing the two Communities together and
contribute to our ultimate objective of reunification.”
he emphasized
.
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Visit to Nordic Countries by the Cypriot Chambers
Led by Fikri Toros ve Phidias Pilidis and, Presidents of the Turkish
Cypriot Chamber of Commerce and Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and Industry
resepctively, a joint delegation of Chambers visited Stockholm and Helsinki between
1-3 June 2015, to talk about the economic benefits of a solution and the role of
the Chambers in the peace process. During the program, which was organized jointly
by the Embassies of Sweden and Finland, the Chambers had the chance to learn about
the Nordic start-up and incubation centers in order to better design their similar
common projects in Cyprus.
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Chambers’ Presidents drew attention to the lucrative sectors in the
post-settlement Cyprus during their visit in Germany
The Presidents of the Turkish Cypriot Chamber of Commerce (KTTO) and the
Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KEBE), Fikri Toros and Phidias Pilides
respectively, visited Germany between 15-18 June 2015, to promote the role of the
Chambers in the peace process, to raise awareness about the economic benefits of a
solution and to draw attention to the lucrative sectors of post-settlement Cyprus
for investment. During the visit, Toros also had the opportunity to inform his
counterparts about the economic situation in North Cyprus and raised the urgent
necessity of speeding up the efforts for preparing the Turkish Cypriot community
for EU integration.
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KTTO
Board Member Salih Celiker elected as the Senior Vice President of ESBA
KTTO Board Member Salih Celiker has been elected as the Senior Vice-President
of European Small Business Alliance (ESBA) at the organisation’s Annual General
Meeting held on 30 June 2015 in Brussels. KTTO became a full member of ESBA in
January 2010 and Mr. Celiker has been serving as its Vice-President since June 2012.
Commenting on his re-election, Mr Celiker said “It has been an honour for me
to represent KTTO and the Turkish Cypriot business community in ESBA since 2010. ESBA
has been steadily growing and strengthening its position in the EU arena and I look
forward to contributing to its success as the Senior-Vice President”.
Founded in 1998, ESBA is a non-party political group representing and
advocating the interests of the small business entrepreneurs and the self-employed at
EU-level. The Alliance now represents more than one million small businesses in 36
European countries.
For more information on ESBA: (
http://www.esba-europe.org/
)
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