The importance of Cypriot and Greek shipping for the EU is crucial, President of the Republic Nicos Christodoulides said tonight.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a dinner with shipowners at the Capital Link Cyprus Shipping Forum in Limassol, the President of the Republic said that "we are proud of Cypriot shipping", thanking shipowners operating in Cyprus as shipping constitutes "7% of the country's GDP".
He added that "tonight I will have the opportunity to discuss the Government's plans, especially for the first six months, some actions that need to be taken by the executive, precisely to strengthen even more the Cypriot shipping industry, to address some difficulties, some problems that exist.
I said during the election campaign that we will do so. And now that we are in government, there will be a continuous dialogue with our shipowners as well, so that we can address the challenges. I believe that we have common goals and common objectives and it is only through cooperation that we can face the challenges that we have before us.
There is another dimension that I believe that as the Republic of Cyprus we need to highlight more. It is the importance of Cypriot and Greek shipping in the EU. When we talk about European shipping, we are actually talking about Cypriot and Greek shipping.
And it is an issue that I will discuss with the Greek Prime Minister, when I am in Athens next week, how through joint actions Cyprus and Greece can further enhance the importance with which the EU approaches shipping issues, because there are challenges, not only national challenges, but also challenges at European level.
We see how developments are taking shape that also affect the shipping sector, and Athens and Nicosia together, together, will raise some issues with the EU, because the importance of Cypriot and Greek shipping for the EU, for Europe, is crucial."
(PM/IC)
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