Dear friends,
Since the first edition of the newsletter was published, the world has been shocked by yet another war, one that is radically shifting geopolitical order as we know it. Acts of military aggression against Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, constitute a grave breach of the United Nations Charter and a blatant violation of fundamental principles of international law, peace, and security.
Diplomatic efforts undertaken by the international community to counter Russia’s aggression and to alleviate humanitarian impact on Ukraine, have a strong focus on the deployment of economic tools and means. This undoubtedly demonstrates the importance of economic and commercial diplomacy, regretfully under such dire conditions.
Forging and sustaining mutually beneficial economic ties with reliable partners, whilst committing to international law and global rules of trade must be safeguarded.
Moreover, the criticality of addressing food and energy security has become as evident as ever to nations worldwide.
Through the lens of Eastern Mediterranean & Middle East countries, the ever-growing bilateral and multilateral partnerships formed in the region, have already led to the establishment of several fora for dialogue and coordinated action.
The East Mediterranean Gas Forum (EMGF), the Cyprus Government Initiative for Coordinating Climate Change Actions in the Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East (EMME), the 3+1 cooperation mechanism (Cyprus, Greece, Israel & US), as well as other trilateral and multilateral formats allow for structured dialogue and joint actions to take place.
Furthermore, opportunities for expanding corridors of energy, telecommunications, transport, and trade are further strengthened by the normalization of relations stemming from the Abraham Accords.
The strong multifaceted ties between Cyprus and Israel, leveraged by regional partnerships with like-minded countries in the region, allow for swift and effective coordination on addressing common critical challenges.
Energy
- Advance the commercial exploitation of proven Levant basin natural gas reserves.
- Optimize and fast-track necessary infrastructure development, to provide for the energy needs of the region, the EU and other international demand. This includes gas transportation networks, electricity interconnections as well as renewable energy technologies for generation and storage.
Food
- Boost investment in the FoodTech sector, enable the commercialization of alternative protein and functional ingredients solutions
- Pool resources and build on respective strengths in areas such as aquaculture
- Establish effective foodwaste management systems
- Develop supply chain synergies in securing critical food commodities
- Adoption of AgriTech solutions to increase production yields and reduce land use and water consumption
Trade
- Further develop maritime and land transport networks to improve interconnectivity, reliability, and competitiveness of trade routes
- Introduce policies & implement measures to improve market access for products in scarcity, encourage specialization in specific categories of industrial raw materials and agricultural & processed food products and achieve productivity improvements
The Israel-Cyprus Chamber of Commerce is an important stakeholder in forming and developing commercial relations, improving investment flows, and most importantly promoting people to people contacts between Cyprus and Israel. Private sector engagement is essential for enabling actions in the areas discussed above (and more).
The Cyprus Trade Center in Tel Aviv welcomes recent activities to revitalize and strengthen the Chamber, including and not limited to; the reinforcement of its Board, the expansion of its members base (both in numbers and profile diversity), the initiative demonstrated in presenting recommendations and planning events, as well as the enhancement of its communications strategy.
We look forward to continuing and reinforcing our close collaboration in advancing economic ties, facilitating business, and promoting friendship between Cyprus and Israel.
Sincerely,
Sofronis Papageorgiou
Head – Cyprus Trade Center, Tel Aviv
