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- Ελληνικά
It is indeed with great pleasure and great satisfaction that I am here today in the Community of Koli, together with the Minister of Interior, to inaugurate the Regional Agricultural Vocational Training Centre. My presence here and the inauguration of the Centre is an indication of the importance we give to our countryside, to the agricultural sector, a sector for which clearly much more needs to be done.
Yesterday at a meeting with the five farmer organisations I reviewed some requests that have arisen from some problems created either due to external factors or weather conditions. What we agreed on is to set up a working group, a representative from each farmer organization and officials from the Ministry of Agriculture, who will work with a timeline of March 1, 2024, so that we have a strategy. Because it is unfortunate that the contribution of the agricultural sector to the GDP of our country is less than 2%. In a country where there is a huge potential in this sector, we do not have that holistic approach, the strategy to increase this contribution, which will significantly help to achieve the revitalization of our countryside, which is one of our most important objectives.
As in every country, the countryside is a vital cell of geographical, cultural and economic balance and we should, as a State, approach it through this multi-level holistic dimension. Wherever we turn our gaze to the countryside we will see beauty, landscapes - works of art with nature itself as the unique and eternal artist. I am today in one of the most beautiful communities of Paphos District, it may be my first visit as President of the Republic, but it is not my first visit to the community.
One only needs to take a look at the Martyr's Gorge to see the artifact of Koli, as it is called, a creation of the eternal flow of the Mavrokolympos torrent, as well as the winter waterfall called "Sfama". "If nature wasn't beautiful, it wouldn't be worth getting to know it. And if it were not worth knowing nature, it would not be worth living," said the French mathematician Henri Poincaré very aptly.
At the same time, we cannot overlook the fact that the natural beauty of our country, and of the region where I am today, is enhanced by the man-made environment, the environment of vineyards, terracotta and other cultivated plants, which are at the same time a field of employment and living in the countryside.
To this environment, to all that I have mentioned above, the Regional Training Centre for Agricultural Vocations in Koli has a positive contribution to make. Its purpose is to strengthen the human factor in the region, to contribute to the improvement of life in the countryside, to create more conditions for staying and working in the region. We expect that the Centre will, at the same time, have a direct impact on the protection and preservation of the environment, but also on the promotion and exploitation of the tradition and culture of our region. The Centre that we are inaugurating today was implemented through the Paphos District Administration and co-financed with the amount of 1.863.000 euros from Measure 7 "Basic Services and Village Renewal" of the Rural Development Programme for the period 2014-2020.
Let me welcome, let me acknowledge the role of the previous Government in the implementation of this project, as it is important to acknowledge the work that is being done.
The Government will provide the amount of 15 thousand euros for the implementation of some of the projects mentioned by the Head of the Commune.
We, as a state, need to create that infrastructure and what young couples need to move to the countryside and by extension address one of the biggest challenges, housing, which affects many sectors.
The Centre is a supra-local project of the entire wider region, which includes 11 villages, Koli, Lhasa, Drymou, Drinia, Agios Dimitriano, Psathi, Strubi, Chada, Kallepia, Letymbou, Chulu and Polemi. A multi-purpose space with multiple use options, the like of which does not exist in the Paphos District. It can be used not only by the 11 communities of the area, but also by other communities of the Province, to organize, among many other things, educational activities on agricultural issues, while it also has workshops where demonstrations of traditional products can be made.
It also includes an exhibition area, which, as I was informed, has already been used for wine and zivania exhibitions, as well as a playground and a large green area. The Centre, with the many and varied possibilities it offers, will make a decisive contribution to the development of small and medium-sized enterprises - which were and are the backbone of the economy, and by extension of society - in the region and to the creation of jobs, thus creating conditions for families involved in agriculture to earn additional income.
Your initiative to create this Centre is worthy of congratulations and you should feel proud. Not only because the Centre we are inaugurating today is a credit to the region, but also because it will boost its multifaceted development. But the achievement of our goals for our countryside, the full exploitation of its potential will be achieved through a number of actions, policies that will also lead to population growth.
In the communities of Paphos we see an increase rather than a decrease in population. And in order to achieve this, we, as a state, have an obligation to create those data, whether it concerns education, health, road network and others. And in this direction you can take for granted the support and help of the state and its services. Because, among our primary concerns is the development of the rural economy and the countryside. Rest assured that we are working with our Communities in mind and we seek to create conditions for a better quality of life for rural residents.
In conclusion, I would like to express once again my certainty that the Koli Regional Training Centre for Rural Vocations, as well as a number of other projects implemented or planned in the Community, totalling three million euros, such as the regeneration of the core of the Community, as well as the improvement of roads, together with the creativity
