Address
by the
President of the Republic of Cyprus,
Mr
Nicos Anastasiades,
at the Windsor Silver Anniversary
Dear Nicolas Abuitah and dear Issa and Johny,
Esteemed Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Dear Friends,
It is with great pleasure that I have
accepted your invitation to join you in celebrating Windsor’s Silver
Anniversary, its 25th year anniversary since it was first
established.
This anniversary is very unique to me
since I have the privilege of being a personal friend with the founder of
Windsor, Mr Nicolas Abuitah, as well as his family, for over 30 years. I
consider this to be a privilege since Mr Abuitah’s family is a true
and genuine friend of Cyprus and has a long-standing valuable contribution both
at a societal and an economic level.
At the same time, our friendship
extended to the professional field, since I had the honour to be the lawyer of
Windsor when back in 1988 it established
a financial services firm in Cyprus. I consider this to be an honour since Windsor
was the first ever company to establish a financial services firm in Cyprus.
The Abuaitahs were the first to realize the
dynamics of the financial services industry in Cyprus and the competitive
advantages Cyprus offered to foreign investors; such as, its diversified open-market
economy, its highly-educated workforce, its strategic location at the
crossroads of the three continents of Europe, Asia and Africa, its well-developed
infrastructure and its favourable tax regime.
Still today, even after so many years,
Cyprus retains unique characteristics of expertise and advantages in the
service industry, which, in addition to the above-mentioned attributes, have
been enhanced by its EU membership, its fully internationally harmonized tax
and legal system, the conclusion of almost 50 double tax treaties and its most
competitive corporate tax rate at 12.5%.
With this opportunity, I
would like to stress that at the heart of the Government's
strategy for economic recovery during the current
economic challenges that Cyprus is facing, is the pursuance of Foreign
Direct Investment. To this end, all steps are being taken to ensure that a more
effective and business-friendly environment is facilitated.
In this respect, I am pleased to note
that a thousand new companies were actually registered in Cyprus in November,
reinforcing the expectations of stakeholders in the international services
sector that the situation is improving and that Cyprus is capable of addressing
its current challenges as thoroughly, as effectively and as promptly as possible.
Dear Friends,
You need to have plenty of passion and ambition to set up
a business. You also need to have the energy, dynamism and determination to
succeed. The Abuaitah’s certainly had all this and more. Through Windsor’s
evolution, they have proven that they can succeed and overcome any obstacles
and challenges along the way.
From being the pioneers who have established the first financial
services firm on the island, to raising the bar for the investment firms in
Cyprus and enticing many others to follow suit and to introducing innovations
that have driven transformations across the financial services industry in
Cyprus.
Indeed, from what we have also seen from the video clips
tonight, Windsor’s growth and impact on the financial industry in Cyprus has
exceeded expectations. I am truly
impressed with Windsor Brokers' evolution and how a foreign company has grown
steadily over the past 25 years to become a successful international firm based
in Cyprus. I have no doubt that the next 25 years to follow will be marked by
even greater success and growth.
While we reflect upon Windsor’s many achievements and
milestones, I am sure that these could not have been made possible without
Windsor’s loyal and committed workforce. The Windsor team members are indeed
very lucky to be part of this family and to be following its strong principles
and moral values.
Most importantly, Windsor is renowned and recognized for
its ethics and integrity.
Dear Friends,
Before concluding, I would like to praise Windsor’s long-standing
tireless efforts, hard work and contribution to our collective efforts for
economic growth, through, amongst others, promoting Cyprus as a
highly-competitive destination for foreign investors and attracting
international business interests.
We greatly appreciate and value your support and I have
no doubt that we will deepen even further our on-going and mutually reinforcing
cooperation, for the future prosperity of Cyprus, its economy and its people.
Concluding, I thank you once again for inviting me to
this event and I wish to you all health, happiness and prosperity.
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