Tourists arrivals rose an annual 33% in November to 108.093 boosted by a more than doubling of Russians visiting Cyprus and a strong increase in arrivals from other major markets, the statistical service said.

Cyprus has signed updated air transport cooperation memoranda with Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The House voted into laws five bills for the Cooperative Central Bank, providing for the recapitalisation of the bank with €200 million.

Cypriot businesses are being offered exhibition space to promote their goods at the World Commerce Valley – Yanjiao, one of the largest trading centres in China that will spread over ten square kilometres.

Around 50,000 Russiantourists are expected to grace Cyprus from March to November 2016, as the island is now seen as a safer option than Egypt since the fatal crash of a Russian airliner.

There is growing interest from investors for the Limassol port tenders, due to the new challenges of hydrocarbons, Transport Minister Marios Demetriades said recently.

Cyprus hosted over 40 specialist golf travel organisers from eight countries, in a collective effort between the four local golf courses and affiliated hotels and the Cyprus Tourism Organisation (CTO) to promote the island as a tourist golf destination.

The finance minister recently issued a decree for the recapitalisation of the Co-operative Central Bank (CCB), which provides for its gradual privatisation with the goal of listing the CCB on the Cyprus stock exchange in 2017.

The government is currently in the process of hiring consultants to help map out the privatisation of Larnaca port’s commercial operations, transport minister Marios Demetriades announced recently.

After two days of debate in parliament, the plenum recently passed the 2016 state budget.