10/07/2020 15:52
Vassilis Demetriades assumed duties as Cyprus new Deputy Minister to the President for Shipping replacing Natasa Pilides who took up her new post as Minister of Energy, Commerce and Industry.
“Today is a special day for me,” Demetriades said, recalling that 22 years ago he passed the doorstep of then Department of Merchant Shipping (DMS), as an employ with one and unwavering aim, the growth of the Cyprus shipping sector.
He assured that the Deputy Ministry will work as a one team as we share the same passion and love for the sector which will endeavour to grow and develop further
“We will transform this passion to hard work to take Cypriot shipping even higher and to create and to put the sector on solid foundations so that we will have a quality cluster of maritime activities that will constitute a long-standing source of growth for our country’s economy,” he said.
Shipping is a vibrant sector of the Cypriot economy, estimated to contribute 7% of the island’s GDP.
On her part, Pilides, Cyprus’s first Deputy Ministry for shipping, said she is certain that the Deputy Ministry is in “excellent hands,” adding that she leaves proud “because I believe we achieved the targets we set 2.5 years ago when the Deputy Ministry began operations.”
She said that in collaboration with the Cyprus Shipping Chamber and the Union of Shipowners they work to achieve their aims “resulting in the increase of shipping companies registered in the Cyprus maritime cluster to 242 from 168 and the increase of the Cyprus fleet to over 24 million tons.”
Pilides also said that the newly-formed Deputy Ministry modernised its procedures to reduce red tape with a basic aim to improve the services provided to its customers.