Time for foreign investments in Cyprus?

Website design By BotEap.comDue to the economic recession in most countries, every country is looking for foreign and local investors to help regenerate its economy and create jobs.

Website design By BotEap.comCyprus is one of these countries with numerous schemes to attract this category of large-scale investors, but then what kind of investment can a potential investor make in Cyprus to make it worthwhile?

Website design By BotEap.comReal estate is off the table at the moment for known reasons, unless investors have access to potential buyers and can participate in the marina and golf projects. But even these (the last one in particular) there are so many projects around that it makes their attraction difficult to sustain. An (existing) golf project in Paphos is already expanding with another 18 hole golf offering on top of the existing unsold one (first golf project) of around 300 units, another 400 units for the new phase/expansion and all this in addition to the numerous resales This is one and there are 4 other golf projects with permits. The Limassol marina is going well, but then it is the first and only one, it is in Limassol and its results cannot be projected in a similar way to the other two marinas and the slope (in Paphos).

Website design By BotEap.comIn our quest to determine some kind of suitable investment opportunities in Cyprus, the only ones that came to mind are tourism based projects and health and education care/venues.

Website design By BotEap.comTourism is on the rise, while future expectations are positive for high-quality beach hotels. This new generation of hotels should be combined with large-scale spa, entertainment and conference rooms with a capacity of around 1,000 people. These hotels are more suitable for Limassol and Paphos unlike other areas as conference attendees combine a conference with entertainment and thus places like Polis, Paralimni etc. they do not have priority. Even hotels with some sort of golf hookup/facilities don’t work as well as you might expect with the golf hookup.

Website design By BotEap.comWater parks and theme parks is another option, but looking at water parks later, one has managed to survive, plus two others whose economic results are not so clear. Another 2 that operated for a while closed. Theme parks need a lot of land in suitable areas that are not easily found in tourist locations.

Website design By BotEap.comPrivate health hospitals are another option, especially for those that can provide the best brains and medical equipment, to attract our Arab neighbors. A connection with, say, an Israeli hospital is one way and can attract some of the more than 200 thousand. Arab residents, as well as from other countries. However, the cost of equivalent care must be verified. A highly successful local cardiac hospital, for example, charges about the same as a specialized German hospital. So is there a future for this (let alone free government hospitals, be they very flawed)?

Website design By BotEap.comHigher education is another option, usually a branch of a European university should also be considered not so much to cover local needs but also those of the Middle East and Far Eastern countries. The degrees awarded must be equivalent and the fees charged must be much lower for it to be competitive.

Website design By BotEap.comSports centers are another option to take advantage of the good weather. A sports facility that will also include football, tennis, swimming, gymnastics, etc., to cooperate with local authorities and use existing dams for sailing, canoeing and other water sports could be a year-round operation, attracting foreign teams for training. The recent success of a Russian company establishing a sailing school in Paphos is a start, as are the expected (and will be) dive investments across the island.

Website design By BotEap.comUsing the old Larnaca airport or the underutilized Paphos airport for training/light aircraft pilots could be another, depending on local costs relative to foreign costs.

Website design By BotEap.comThere must be others, but regardless of what is decided to be adopted, financing is the main problem, since local financing is not available and incoming foreign investors must have their financing. Another problem is the bureaucracy that takes too long. Despite the fact that the Government has established a “fast track” procedure, time remains an issue: see the Qatar deal, the Larnaca shopping centre, the Russian conference room in Alamanos and so many others that left due to lack of weather. We have a somewhat problematic attitude, as people, we are afraid. A more recent example is the old port of Limassol which is being converted into a “fishing/entertainment” port, but due to a couple of buildings blocking the view of the sea (from where?) there is much discussion of demolishing them and putting thus the whole project in question. We hope that now that we are “poor”, we put some kind of sense in our heads and can forget some of our peculiar behaviors.

Website design By BotEap.comHopefully, the end of this administration’s term will open the door to casino and other investment and a more liberal approach to such matters. Time is not with us we are afraid and other countries in more or less the same economic situation as ours are looking and talking to the limited international investors that have left.