The President of the Cyprus Shipping Chamber, Themis Papadopoulos, participated in the deliberations of the Executive Symposium: ‘Shaping the Future of the EU Maritime Transport Cluster’, which was held in Florence, Italy on 4-5 May 2017.

Building permits rose in the first two months of the year an annual 27% in terms of construction area to 182,520 square metres and 31% in terms of value to €200.8m, the statistical service said.

A Danish travel company is organising celebrations at Paphos and Aarhus airports to mark 25 years of flying between the cities, which share 2017 European Capital of Culture status.

The Republic of Cyprus and Barbados signed on May 3, in London, a Convention for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with respect to Taxes on Income.

The Limassol Boat Show opens on Friday May5, 2017 with the participation of 100 exhibitors from five countries.

The number of unemployed persons registered at the District Labour Offices on the last day of April 2017 reached 32,804 persons.

The government estimates its total financing needs for the year at €1.2bn, which it will cover mainly with a €0.5bn international bond issue, the Finance Ministry said.

More than 40 events, discussion panels, press briefings and special meetings will make up the programme of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development's AGM in Nicosia from May 9–11, 2017.

At the height of the eurozone sovereign debt crunch – triggered by the US subprime mortgage crisis – Cyprus became the fifth EU member state to request a financial assistance package from the European Commission, the European Central Bank (ECB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) – collectively known as the Troika.

Cyprus has been hailed an ‘economic miracle’ once before during its long history.