Anastasiades was speaking at the 24th Annual General Meeting of the Cyprus Shipping Chamber in Limassol where he said the industry had not been affected overall by the banking crisis. “The shipping sector now constitutes a crucial part of the ‘spinal column’ on which the Cyprus economy will depend in its road to recovery,” he said. Shipping contributes around 5.0% to GDP.

“Foresight, proper planning and hard work are therefore virtues which are now indispensable in our mission to preserve Cyprus’ leading edge. For this precise reason the government is determined to introduce those mechanisms necessary to protect this important sector, as well as reinforce it further,” said Anastasiades.

“Under these circumstances the creation of an ‘Under-Secretary for Shipping’ position is a must,” he said, adding that a bill for the creation of such a post was submitted in parliament within the first week of the government taking office. “We are ready and willing to proceed very speedilywith the relevant parliamentary process in order for the bill to be approved within the coming weeks,” said Anastasiades. He called on all political parties to support “this pioneering and very necessary institutional change”.

“Merchant shipping is perhaps the only sector in Cyprus that operates on a global scale and whose size and international importance go far beyond the size of Cyprus as a country. This on its own is a perfectly good reason advocating for the creation of this position,” he added.

Anastasiades said that shipping still faced the trade prohibitions imposed by Turkey on Cyprus ships calling at Turkish ports anc called for efforts to have the situation reversed.

The Cyprus registry is now classified as the 10th largest merchant fleet globally and the 3rd largest fleet in the European Union, while Limassol remains the largest third party shipmanagement centres in the bloc, and one of the largest in the world,” Anastasiades said.

“Shipping is an invaluable asset for Cyprus with significant political, economic and social advantages. Cyprus has established itself as a quality registry and with an effective implementation of the internationally applicable safety, security and environmental protection standards it has built its reputation as a respectful maritime flag and as a base for international shipping operations,” said the President.

He said Cyprus had  all the experience and potential, in terms of both material and human resources, not only to continue to offer high quality shipping services, but also to raise its position even higher as a shipping centre of exceptional importance, with a fully developed infrastructure.

Source:Cyprus Mail