It is indeed a great pleasure for me to be here today in Boston to attend and address this seminar. I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere thanks to our Trade Center in New York and the Cyprus Scientists Network for their wholehearted support and co-operation for the organisation of the visit of the Cyprus delegation to USA and their efforts towards the promotion of high technology industries in Cyprus. I also would like to thank you all participants for your willingness to attend this seminar.

Cyprus is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea with an area about the size of Connecticut, USA. The island's strategic location at the centre of three continents has been a major factor in shaping its history throughout the centuries and, in recent years, its development into a centre for international business.

The island has a record of successful economic performance, reflected in rapid growth, full employment conditions and external and internal stability, almost throughout the post-Independence period. The underdeveloped economy, inherited from Colonial Rule in 1960, has been transformed into a modern economy, with dynamic services, industrial and agricultural sectors and advanced physical and social infrastructure. In terms of per capita income, currently estimated at US $14.000 , Cyprus is classified among the high-income countries.

These achievements appear all the more striking, bearing in mind the severe economic and social dislocation created by the Turkish invasion of 1974 and the continuing occupation of the northern part of the island by Turkey.

The success of Cyprus in the economic sphere is attributed, inter alia, to the adoption of a market oriented economic system, the pursuance of sound macroeconomic policies by the government as well as the existence of a dynamic and flexible entrepreneurship and a highly educated labour force. Moreover, the economy benefited from the close co-operation between the public sector and the social partners.

During the last decade, the Cyprus economy has intensified its links to Europe. The relations with the European Union, the largest trading partner of Cyprus, are currently governed by a Customs Union Agreement, which basically provides for a gradual and mutual dismantling of trade barriers. In July 1990, the government of the Republic of Cyprus submitted an application to become a full member of the European Union. The European Commission, in its opinion on the application of Cyprus, recognised the ability of the Cyprus economy to adapt rapidly to the acquis communautaire. In March 1995, the Council of Ministers of the European Union declared that accession negotiations between the European Union and the Republic of Cyprus will begin six months after the completion of the Intergovernmental Conference, which opened its sessions in March 1996. Substantive accession negotiations between Cyprus and the EU started on the 10th November 1998.

The high level of development of Cyprus has been a significant factor in the decision of the European Union to include Cyprus in the group of the first six countries with which it has started accession negotiations.

Though the sector of manufacturing industry of Cyprus has contributed its share to this development of the economy of Cyprus and it continues to be very important to the economy accounting for about 12% of GDP and 16% employment, yet this has been going through difficult times in recent years, experiencing at times a fall in the growth of production, exports and employment. This development has been the result of an erosion in our competitiveness, both abroad and in the local market, due to rising costs of production and insufficient productivity gains, at a time of increasingly intensified international competition. At the root of these problems lie the structural weaknesses of the sector, the low level of investment in new technology and low capacity utilisation.

Taking into account the forthcoming challenges, stemming from the globalisation of the economies, the liberalisation of trade, the rapid technological changes, as well as the envisaged accession of Cyprus in the EU, the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism has proposed a New Industrial Policy, which was approved by the Council of Ministers last June.

The New Industrial Policy consists of twelve chapters. The first two chapters refer to the promotion of high technology industries in Cyprus through the establishment of incubators and the creation of a Center for carrying out applied research and technological development in high technology fields. The government of Cyprus will provide part financing for projects aiming at the development of new high technology products which will be approved to enter the incubator, up to a period of two years. Applications for such projects may involve the participation of non-Cypriot inventors or scientists.

For the promotion of these new institutions in Cyprus, a Technical Committee has been appointed to study the experiences of other countries that have successfully introduced them and make make recommendations to the government. The Committee members were also directed to organise relevant seminars both in Cyprus and abroad (USA, Moscow, Israel).

This seminar which is addressed to scientists, researchers, entrepreneurs and financial institutions in the United States has the following two objectives:

1. to provide information and exchange views with interested groups in the United States about the content of the New Industrial Policy of Cyprus particularly with regards to the development of high technology industry through the establishment of business incubators and a Center for Research and Technological Development.
2. to discuss possible forms of co-operation and involvement of Cypriot expatriates in the United States in the efforts of the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism of Cyprus in promoting new high technology industries in Cyprus.

I am sure the main speakers of this seminar, namely Mrs. Olympia Stylianou, Director of Commerce and Industry of the Cyprus Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism and Dr. Evangelos C. Eleftheriou, the CSN Secretary will elaborate more on these lines and will give us later the opportunity to discuss in detail the possible forms of involvement of Cypriot expatriates in USA in the effort of the Government of Cyprus to promote these new high tech industries in Cyprus.

I would also like to inform you that within the context of this Industrial Policy, the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism has set up an Investment Centre designed to be a full service "One-Stop Shop" for foreign-based companies interested in investing opportunities in Cyprus. The service, which started operating on 1 December 1999, offers advice to foreign investors and provides assistance during the application procedures and the securing of the required permits. More specifically it provides detailed information to investors on financial, legal and taxation matters as regards implementing a project in Cyprus, as well as guidance and support during all stages of the required administrative procedures. In addition it will offer advice on the most effective way of making use of the package of the various benefits on offer, such a grant schemes and tax incentives.

In concluding, I would like to call upon the members of CSN and Cypriot expatriates in the United States in particular, to support our efforts to promote high technology industries in Cyprus. Your knowledge and experience is considered an essential factor for the success of this undertaking.