Mr Minister,
Mrs Ambassador,
Distinguished guest speakers
Dear friends,

Welcome to this meeting, which for us at the Cyprus Chamber, is a step towards our firm objectives. We will focus today on aspects of high tech, which open up broad prospects to our economy and our business people.

We firmly believe that our country has special advantages in the field of high technology and if the opportunities which are available are properly utilised we can be sure of benefits and gains for economic growth.

Traditional sectors of our economic activity are facing mounting difficulties as a result of liberalised world trade. Though these sectors are not abandoned, the prospects for their growth even with proper help, are limited. Agriculture and primary industrial production as well as traditional manufacturing are on a worldwide basis facing constantly rising competition. Restrictions of size, limitations on the availability of raw materials and more importantly constantly rising labor costs, are forcing us to turn to new sectors.

In the field of high technology Cyprus has dormant infrastructure which, if properly encouraged, can lead to sure gains. Our highly trained qualified personnel can do a lot and to this end we are pressing for practical steps. The development and production of high-tech products is usually associated with high levels of Research and Development where the content of value added is very much a result of knowledge and innovation rather than of simple manufacturing techniques.

This leads to the production of knowledge-based products or methods which can get a much higher price in the international markets and have less competition.

It is our firm belief that no economy can have a future if it does not exploit the advantages of new high technology. This is more relevant in the case of developed economies where the standards of living are very high, hence overdependence on traditional manufacturing which is oftenly a labour intensive activity, is not any more a viable strategy.

We welcome the vision shown by the Minister of Commerce, Industry and Tourism in promoting high tech through the establishment of business incubators. At the Chamber with our potential from our overall experience in business activity, we are wholeheartedly at the side of these projects. From the start we supported them and with firmness we continue to back every step for expediting the programme.

We are, therefore, happy for organising this meeting and I must express our thanks to the Ministry and to the Embassy of the Czech Republic who are co-organisers. My thanks go especially to the Ambassador Mrs Vera Jerabkova and the distinguished speakers from Czechia Doctor Zdenek Vorlicek and Mr Pavel Komarek for their ready response to come and enlighten us on particular aspects of the high tech subject.

Our business people in Cyprus have a tradition of adjusting to the needs of the times and they will again work miracles if the proper help and support is given to them. Cooperating and co-working have always been major characteristics of the Cypriot people. In this respect I am confident that such co-operations will be established with our Czech counterparts in the field of High-Tech as well.

Concluding, I wish to the meeting every success and look forward to more events of this nature. Thank you.

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