IAN LUDER, Lord Mayor of the City of London yesterday described his visit to Cyprus as “as a tremendous success.”
During his three-day stay on the island, Luder will be meeting with leading local businessmen, financiers and regulators, in a bid to strengthen economic ties between the City and Cyprus.
The UK is Cyprus’ main trading partner and until not so long ago the island’s main source of tourists.
Luder is accompanied by a high-powered delegation, including people from Lloyd’s, the Chartered Standard Bank, Maritime London, HSBC (Maritime Division) and Partnerships UK, specialising in partnerships between the public and private sectors.
The Lord Mayor is the head of the City of London, one of the world’s leading international finance centres. As head of the City of London Corporation, which provides business and local government services to the City, the Lord Mayor of London's principal role is ambassador for all UK-based financial and professional services.
“We are very pleased with how the visit has gone,” Luder told the Cyprus Mail yesterday after a busy day of meetings with the President, the Finance Minister, top Cypriot bankers, chartered accountants and the head of the stock exchange, among others.
Luder said he had a “very productive” discussion with the Cyprus Stock Exchange where they explored the possibility of bolstering links between the CSE and the London bourse.
One such idea is the dual listing of Cypriot companies on the CSE and the LSE, a move that is felt will boost both the liquidity and outlook of Cypriot entrepreneurs.
Cypriot companies, which are generally small and have restricted liquidity, stood to benefit both in terms of greater liquidity and capital if they also traded on the LSE, Luder said.
They could be listed either on the main LSE market or on alternative markets.
“We are acting as facilitators…to forge closer links between the two countries’ business communities,” added Luder.
A hot item on Luder’s agenda was seeing “how we can deal with the economic crisis together” following concerns that Britons may stop visits to the island or stop buying homes here due to the falling sterling.
“In particular, we talked about the tourist industry. As you know, consumer demand has been weakened by the exchange rate movements. Now Cyprus may have to look at its pricing, as well as how it markets itself abroad,” Luder said.
Other issues discussed include public and private finance of infrastructure projects, regulatory issues, and education and training.
The Lord Mayor will be in Limassol today for contacts with the merchant marine and legal communities.
“We have extended an invitation to Finance Minister Charilaos Stavrakis to visit London. Naturally, business contacts between the City and Cyprus will continue in the interim,” he said.
