As Cyprus is named the best-improved country in the IMD World Competitiveness Centre 2020 report after rising 11 places, George Campanellas, the Chief Executive of Invest Cyprus, the national investment promotion agency, highlighted the country’s successful handling of the coronavirus pandemic and its new strategy to improve its economic competitiveness.
Mr Campanellas said: “Behind Cyprus’s robust economic performance is its ability to attract international investment, long-term growth in employment and the adaptability of government policy. Other factors are improvements in our health infrastructure and education.
“One of the most striking conclusions of the report is that Cyprus is ranked 2nd on the international investments measure, behind only the USA and above Singapore. This stems from the significant improvements Cyprus has made to enhance its financial and regulatory regime, creating a business-friendly environment for new investors and a very attractive location for hosting EU base of international companies and fdi, (particularly from the Middle East and other parts of Europe).”
“As the survey points out, the benefit of small economies in the current crisis is also their ability to fight a pandemic, and Cyprus’s successful handling of the coronavirus means that we are able to provide a safe and stable place to do business. Cyprus was recently ranked among the top 5 safest country worldwide”
Key Outcomes of Report on Cyprus:
Cyprus ranks 30th out of the total 63 countries, compared to 41 in 2019.
The improvement of 11 places is the largest among all of the countries in the survey
Cyprus has managed to surpass many countries in the ranking since last year such as Czech Republic, Japan, France, Lithuania, Slovenia, Lithuania, Spain, Poland and others
More specific examples of sub-rankings:
o Cyprus ranks as 2nd in international investments
o Cyprus ranks as 13th in the tax policy
o Cyprus ranks 19th in the Business and Societal Frameworks
o 24th in the Labour market
Cyprus' position has overall improved in all four categories that make up the ranking (economic performance, government efficiency, business efficiency and infrastructure)
More specifically Cyprus has made improvements in areas such as international investment, long term growth in employment, the government surplus, adaptability of government policy
From a list of 15 indicators, respondents of the Executive Opinion Survey were asked to select 5 that they perceived as the key attractiveness factors of their economy. The top 5 for Cyprus were:
o Business-friendly environment
o Competitive tax regime
o High educational level
o Skilled Workforce
o Effective legal environment
