Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of Energy and Industry on official visit to the Republic of Cyprus

The Minister of Foreign Affairs Ditmir Bushati and the Minister of Energy and Industry Damian Gjiknuri headed a delegation, with representatives from both institutions, in an official visit to the Republic of Cyprus.

During the visit, Ministers Bushati and Gjiknuri met with the highest state authorities of the Republic of Cyprus, such as the President of the Republic Nicos Anastasiades, the President of the House of Representatives Yiannakis Omirou, their counterparts, Minister of Foreign Affairs Ioannis Kasoilides and Minister of Energy, Trade, Industry and Tourism Yiorgos Lakkotrypis, as well as with representatives of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry and of the Cyprus Investment Promotion Agency.

Intensification of bilateral relations and finding possible ways for the improvement and strengthening of cooperation in different fields were the topics discussed during the meeting with the Minister of Foreign Affairs Kasoulides. The parties agreed on the need to activate potentials in both countries in order to deepen cooperation.  

Confident that relations between the two countries will enter a new and vigorous phase of bilatereal and multilateral cooperation, Ministers Bushati and Kasoulides stressed their common interest for the deepening of political dialogue and broadening of economic cooperation, especially in those fields where the potential and experience of Cypriote economy excel, such as energy, tourism, maritime transport, finance, etc.

During the meeting with his Cypriote counterpart, Minister Bushati praised the support that Cyprus has provided during the European integration process of Albania and was assured that this support will continue during the process of accession negotiation. In this context, taking into account Cyprus’ experience in the EU accession process and in compliance with the Memorandum of Cooperation between our countries on issues related to the integration process, Minister Bushati expressed the interest of the Albanian party to hold bilateral talks. At the joint press conference with Minister Kasoulides, Minister Bushati said that Albania “encourages Cyprus to have a more flexible approach with regards to Kosovo”. During this meeting Ministers Busahti and Kasoulides signed the Agreement for cooperation in the field of health between Albania and Cyprus.

 In the meetings with the President of the Republic Anastasiades and the President of the House of Representatives Omirous, the parties underlined their joint commitment for the broadening of the legal bilateral cooperation framework by accelerating work on agreements that are in process, proposing new agreements through the commitment of both parties for the implementation of already signed agreements. Another important topic was the intensification of cooperation in multilateral relations, in the framework of UN, the Union for the Mediterranean, etc. The Albanian Ministers stressed that Albania is committed to playing an active role, as a model of interreligious harmony, an aspect that is of particular importance nowadays, in light of the latest regional and global threats and crisis.

During the meeting with the Cypriote Minister of Energy, Trade, Industry and Commerce, Minister Gjiknuri talked about the reforms Albania is going through, which are giving the first results with regards to economic growth and the creation of a more favourable business climate. Mr. Gjiknuri underlined that Albania can make use of Cyprus’ experience with regards to the management of economic areas. “Albania has a great number of natural resources which could be of interest for foreign investors. We are encouraging foreign companies to invest in Albania, thus contributing to the enforcement of energy security”, said Minister Gjiknuri

Talking about the Trans Adriatic Pipeline project, Mr. Gjiknur highlighted the importance of cooperation and diversification of, by taking advantage of the opportunities that this massive project offers. Minister Gjiknuri invitied his counterpart Lakkotrypis as well as the Cypriote business to participate in the Oil and Gas 2015 Forum, to be held in Tirana in March of this year.

During the meetings with representatives of local businesses and institutions Ministers Bushati and Gjiknuri called on Cypriote businesses to invest in Albania and answered to their interest by introducing them to the economic policies of the Albanian government, which aim at creating a welcoming environment for foreign investors.