President of the Republic, Nikos Christodoulides, will travel to London in May for a meeting with Cypriots working there, aiming to persuade them to return to Cyprus.
Addressing Ministers at the beginning of the Cabinet’s meeting at the Presidential Palace, on Monday, the President referred to a number of Cabinet decisions concerning the economy and employment.
President Christodoulides, spoke about “three issues” that he considers particularly important, taking into account the economic growth rate, which is among the highest in Europe, and the reduction of unemployment to 5%, which is a record low in 15 years, a presidency press release said.
“Today, we are taking two important decisions for the labour market”, he said, and reminded that “we have an employment increase to 80% and an improvement in the average salary by 8.5%.”
The first decision concerns the increase of the minimum wage for 19 professions in the hotel industry, effective from 1/1/2025, he said. President Christodoulides noted that over the past two years, the increase has exceeded 10% in relation to wages, significantly enhancing the salary earnings for thousands of low-wage workers in the hotel industry.
Second, he said, “the continued growth of the economy creates new jobs, creates increased needs in combination with the reduction of unemployment, and it is for this reason that on May 21 I will travel to London to meet with Cypriots working there, to present an attractive package for their return to Cyprus.”
“I will be accompanied by both Cypriot and foreign entrepreneurs who are looking to find personnel. We will go to attempt—and I believe we will be successful—to bring them back to our country and achieve brain gain rather than have brain drain,” he added.
Within this framework of current emerging needs, he added, “we will have the framework for employing foreign workers, so that businesses have adequate staff to operate.”
President Christodoulides also said that last night, during an event, he met with the President of the Pancyprian Volunteerism Coordinative Council, who informed him that after 19 years, the executive authority is laying the foundations for a more flexible, more effective, and methodical operation of the Council.
Concluding, the President said “we are accountable only to Cypriot society and we have to deliver results within the framework of the social contract we signed with it.”
