Press Releases

It is indeed a great pleasure and honor to address once again the Annual General Assembly of the Cyprus Shipping Chamber.

At the outset, I would like to warmly welcome His Excellency, the Secretary – General of International Maritime Organization (IMO), Mr Ki- tack Lim, whose presence demonstrates the high recognition the Cyprus Shipping Chamber is enjoying among the International Shipping community and the excellent bilateral working relationship and cooperation that Cyprus and IMO have established over the years.

In this respect, I would like to assure you Mr Lim that Cyprus will continue to actively and constructively participate in the work and future evolution of IMO, including on new strategies adopted, such as the global reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from ships.

At the same time, I wish to extend a warm welcome to all of you, and in particular the distinguished delegates of the international maritime and shipping industry, whose presence validates, yet again, their continuous support to Cyprus Shipping, as well as their trust and commitment to the Cyprus Registry.

For almost 30 years the Cyprus Shipping Chamber has been successfully “navigating” Cyprus Shipping and it should be commended for its active and significant contribution in order Cyprus to substantially improve its infrastructure, policies and procedures so as to meet the modern demands of International Shipping.

We are well aware of the fact that the Cyprus shipping sector operates in a continuously evolving and highly competitive global environment, and this, in turn, requires stability and innovative planning which supports long-term planning and investment.

In this regard, further consolidating and enhancing the competitiveness of our flag and our maritime cluster remains one of the most important priorities of the Government.

Within this framework, the Government highly values the Chamber’s efforts, direct involvement and valuable contribution towards establishing a Shipping Deputy Ministry.

It was also very satisfying to observe that this initiative was embraced by the whole political spectrum and the Shipping Industry, illustrating once again that Shipping is a sector for which the Government, the political parties and the private stakeholders share common ideas, objectives and vision.

The Shipping Deputy Ministry has been formed as a pioneering mechanism in order to develop and strengthen much further the Cyprus Shipping Sector. It is therefore envisaged that this mechanism will act as a catalyst to developing a well-structured coordinated strategic plan.

This strategy aims to realign the entire maritime sector so as to meet the existing and future challenges arising from international and regional economic and geopolitical developments and challenges. 

With foresight, hard work and your support, I am confident that the Shipping Deputy Ministry will evolve to an effective and efficient One-Stop-Shipping-Shop, which will develop, implement and promote strategies and policies so as to provide a more business friendly service at all levels. As such, I convey my full political support towards this goal.

In parallel, for the realisation of this potential I have no doubt that the Shipping Deputy Ministry, on the basis of the existing mutually beneficial relationship between the public and private sector will receive the coordinated support and input of the latter.

Developing a State Shipping Policy involves the incorporation of a number of important elements, such as, among others, a competitive shipping taxation framework.

Our Shipping Taxation System has contributed enormously towards the improvement of the competitiveness of the Cyprus Flag, by creating a climate of stability, which ensures to a great extent the future of the Shipping Industry in Cyprus.

In this respect, some examples of recent actions that we have taken towards achieving the above-mentioned include:

• It is now possible for foreign ship-owners whose control and management is exercised from Cyprus to be registered in the Register of the Tax Department in order to be taxed with tonnage tax, without their prior registration with the Registrar of Companies.
• In order to attract businesses and persons with a high income level, the Non-Domicile concept was introduced. The main advantage provided they opt to be tax residents of Cyprus, is the exemption from the Special Contribution on Defense, with respect to interest, dividends and rent.
• For the purpose of attracting foreign personnel, the tax exemption of 50% of income tax has been extended from 5 to 10 years with respect to the income of non-residents of Cyprus, who have a remuneration exceeding 100,000 Euros.

I can assure you that the Government will continue examining ways of introducing further tax and other incentives, within the framework of the European Union regulations, in order to ensure that Cyprus remains competitive as a shipping centre.

In parallel, “Blue Growth” in the fields of Maritime Training and Education, Research and Development, as well as Technology and Innovation, are also important elements that will be further promoted and form part of our State Shipping Policy.

Modern maritime training constitutes an essential element in the further progress and expansion of the Shipping Industry. To this end, the efforts of the private sector, with support by the Government, have created the necessary synergies for the establishment of a number of Maritime Academies in Cyprus over the last few years.

In addition, the Government has given its full support to the Cyprus Shipping Chamber, in close co-operation with a number of other Maritime Cluster stakeholders in Cyprus, for the establishment of a Cyprus “Foundation of the Sea”.

The Foundation is based on a Public Private Partnership structure and it is intended to act as the forum which, through proper research and development, will provide guidance as to the type of research, education and training that is required in the marine and maritime fields in order to promote “Blue Growth” and implement actions arising from the Integrated Maritime Policy of the European Union.

Further, the discovery of hydrocarbons in our Exclusive Economic Zone creates new challenges and opportunities to our Shipping Industry to further evolve and widen its horizons, creating relevant synergies. New and vibrant shipping and energy projects can be launched and the relevant government policies will definitely include this new exciting perspective in mind.

Merchant Shipping is a sector which we are all particularly proud of.  Today, Cyprus constitutes an international shipping actor and one of the most modern, qualitative and complete shipping clusters.

It is very well known, that Cyprus plays an important leading role in the International Shipping scene, with the 11th largest shipping fleet worldwide, the 3rd largest shipping fleet in the European Union and the largest third-party Ship-management Centre in the European Union.

At this point, I would like to emphasise that, the efforts towards the lifting of the illegal restrictive measures imposed by Turkey on Cyprus ships calling Turkish ports will continue and be further intensified.  Of course, our irrevocable objective remains to be the full settlement of the Cyprus political problem, a development which will definitely create new prospects for the further development of Cyprus Shipping, and the Economy in general.

The excellent infrastructure of our country, the accumulated shipping expertise, our strategic location and above all our determination to take necessary reforms, as part of our goal to apply a holistic strategic development plan for the shipping industry, indicate a promising future.

To this end, I am pleased to observe that a number of shipping companies have transferred their Headquarters to Cyprus, whilst in the first five months of 2018 fifty-two new ships were registered in the Cyprus Registry and the companies using Cyprus tonnage tax system increased by twelve.

And as I have already demonstrated, we are committed to further exploiting this positive momentum in order to further enhance the competitiveness of our flag and of our maritime cluster, always in close collaboration with the private sector.

In parallel, we should not forget that the geopolitical situation in our area is changing fast and Cyprus is in the centre of these developments.

The discovery of hydrocarbons in our Exclusive Economic Zone creates new prospects for our country and our economy, widening the horizons of our shipping industry, via, among others, establishing new relevant synergies, particularly as Cyprus has the potential to develop into an important Energy Centre in the Mediterranean and beyond.

In concluding, I would like to express my gratitude to all of you, who, as leading shipping entrepreneurs, continue to trust and support Cyprus its Shipping Industry.

Last but not least, I express my sincere appreciation to the Cyprus Shipping Chamber for its direct and active participation in the shipping affairs of Cyprus, and the expertise and professionalism which always characterises its views and proposals all these years.

I wish you every success in the deliberations that are to follow, which I have no doubt will be useful and constructive, with a productive exchange of views and the identification of new initiatives that will further advance Cyprus’s position in international shipping.

 (RM/ML/II)