Former President of the Republic George Vassiliou, who died on 14 January, was also a businessman with activities and success far beyond the narrow confines of Cyprus.
Born in Famagusta on May 20, 1931 and the son of the Left Party official and ophthalmologist Vassos Vassiliou and the dentist Fofo Vassiliou, Vassiliou studied economics at the universities of Geneva, Vienna and Budapest after finishing high school.
Holding a doctorate in economics from the University of Budapest, he specialsed in marketing and market research in London, becoming known as a master of marketing during his active involvement in politics and as a result of the mastery with which he handled situations.
A landmark in his business career was the establishment of the Middle East Market Research Bureau (MEMRB-KEMA), which he founded upon his return from the United Kingdom in 1962, where he worked as an economist/market researcher for the Reed Paper Group.
KEMA, of which he was president and general director until 1988, when he was elected President of the Republic, has evolved in such a way that today it is the largest research and consulting services organisation in the Mediterranean, the Middle East and Africa, with activities of its specialty in many countries (it has offices in 11 countries).
In 1984, George Vassiliou founded the Middle East Center for Management Studies, as well as a similar institution for computer studies in collaboration with similar well-known business schools and the National Computing Centre of the United Kingdom.
He served as vice-president of the Nicosia Chamber of Commerce, a member of the executive committee of the Cyprus Chamber of Commerce & Industry (CCCI), a member of the special committee for the Cost of Living Allowance, a member of the board of the Cyprus State Exhibitions Authority, a member of the board of directors and the executive committee of the Bank of Cyprus, a member of the economic advisory board of the Church of Cyprus, a member of the Advisory Educational Council and founder and honorary secretary of the Cyprus branch of the Institute of Directors.
He was also a visiting professor at the Granfield School of Management in the United Kingdom and a regular lecturer at many international conferences around the world.
Author of the first book on Marketing in the Middle East, he also published many articles in his specialty in international scientific journals, while he collaborated with the Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation for several years, on programs in his specialty on radio and television, presenting financial programs.
Vassiliou also took part in conferences, congresses and seminars on a wide range of topics related to economic, social and political developments.
(Source: InBusinessNews)
