A recent brain storming meeting held by the newly appointed deputy minister of tourism saw more than 90 participants from all over Cyprus meet in Nicosia to discuss problems facing the industry, and how best to tackle them, according to officials.

The year ahead is expected to be challenging as it will be a struggle to attract the same number of tourists as the previous two record years where visitor arrivals reached almost four million, head of the hoteliers’ association Pasyxe Haris Loizides said recently.

The 5th MED-7 Summit which will take place on Tuesday 29th January, in Nicosia, is set to focus on the great challenges the EU is faced with today, including the migration crisis, Brexit, energy security, the next multi-annual fiscal framework, developments in the euro area and climate change.

Further to a relevant decision of the Cyprus Stock Exchange (CSE) regarding its participation in the share capital of the Hellenic Energy Exchange S.A. (HEnEx S.A.), it was announced that the transfer of 10% of the share capital of the above company to the CSE was completed on 18 December 2018 in Athens.

President Nicos Anastasiades and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron discussed Cyprus’ energy programme, security and defence, as well as other bilateral issues during their recent meeting on the side-lines of the fifth Southern EU Countries Summit.

Moody’s rating agency, stated that there was a decline by €5.6 billion in non-performing exposures (NPEs) stemming from the resolution of the co-operative bank (CCB) and the transfer of its NPEs to an asset management company. The rating agency stated that the decline is is a credit positive for the Cypriot banking system because it reduces asset quality risks and supports depositor confidence.

The establishment of Europe’s biggest casino resort is of great importance to Cyprus’ tourism product, deputy minister for tourism Savvas Perdios said.

The deputy ministry for shipping is ready to launch a study into the viability and cost of setting up a ferry line linking Cyprus with Greece, and by extension with Europe and is already in contact with the Greek ministry of shipping, the House Transport Committee heard recently.

Moody’s Investors Service recently said it had upgraded Bank of Cyprus and Hellenic Bank long-term deposit ratings to B3 from Caa1, and their long-term Counterparty Risk Ratings (CRRs) to B1 from B2.

The Natural Gas Public Company (Defa) has – again – extended the deadline for the submission of bids for infrastructures relating to the import of liquefied natural gas for electricity production.