Tourism Minister Giorgos Lakkotrypis said recently that 2018 is expected to be the third consecutive record year for tourism arrivals.

The cabinet is set to approve in its next meeting the opening of an embassy of Saudi Arabia in Cyprus, it was reported recently.

The Integrated Resorts Cyprus Consortium has launched the official website of the City of Dreams Mediterranean casino resort, which is expected to be up and running in 2021.

Cyprus-based TUS Airways said recently it was expanding its operations offering direct flights from Larnaca to Thessaloniki.

Cyprus’ trade deficit widened in 2017 an annual 17%, or €727.3m, to €5.1bn, the highest since 2010 mainly on increased imports, the statistical service said.

As part of an effort to develop the next generation of supercomputers Cyprus became the fifteenth country to sign a European declaration on high-performance computing (HPC) this week, the European Commission said in a statement recently.

Company registrations in January rose by 13% to 1,198 compared with the same month in 2017, the Department of the Registrar of Companies and Official Receiver said recently.

The Treasury said the government’s actual revenues last year rose to €6.5bn from €5.9bn the previous year, against over €6bn provided in the 2017 budget.

Italy’s energy giant Eni said that it made a lean gas discovery off the coast of Cyprus after drilling an exploratory well at Calypso, the target of exploration in block 6 of the island’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

Some 3,000 new tourist beds are expected to operate this year in Ayia Napa and Protaras, ahead of the peak summer season.