A more flexible and extroverted Stock Exchange will be able to better utilise technological developments, develop new financial products, attract strategic partnerships and strengthen Cyprus’ role as a regional financial hub, President Nikos Christodoulides has said, adding that the government would proceed with the announcement of the competition for the strategic investor soon.
President Christodoulides was addressing an event to mark CSE's 30th anniversary on the evening of 12 May, in the presence of Ministers of Finance and Labour, members of the outgoing Parliament, other political and state officials, representatives of the local economic and business community and representatives of the Athens Stock Exchange.
The official operation of the CSE took place on 29 March, 1996, at the Silvex Building on Tefkrou Street and Griva Digenis Avenue in Nicosia. In 2001, CSE operations were transferred to the IMC Building and in 2008 the CSE moved to private premises on Lord Byron Avenue.
In his speech, the President praised the role of the CSE in its 30 years of operation and noted that Cyprus economy has proven in recent years its resilience and ability to respond to internal and external shocks and to transform challenges into opportunities, in an international environment of successive crises, which further highlights both the resilience and the responsibility of our economic policy.
Strengthening competitiveness and attractiveness
President Christodoulides noted that strengthening the competitiveness and attractiveness of the Cyprus capital market is not only a priority but a strategic priority.
He referred to the legislative regulation for the reform of the CSE that was recently passed by the Parliament, saying that in the immediate future we will proceed with the announcement of the competition for the strategic investor, which will give new momentum to the CSE.
He referred to the new digitalised environment, saying that our investment in technology and the simplification of procedures is the catalyst that will bring the new, privatized Stock Exchange to operate quickly and safely, offering modern services to investors.
In his greeting, the President noted that the strengthening of the capital market is directly linked to the broader European goal for the Capital Markets Union, a goal that we are also discussing at the level of the European Council and ECOFIN.
He stressed that our goal is to contribute substantially to the creation of a single capital market that will allow our businesses to draw resources easily and safely from across Europe.
Attracting quality capital to invest in the real economy
The President also said that the goal is to attract quality capital to invest in the real economy, referring to his visits, soon, to India and Kazakhstan as well as to the US.
He also expressed his certainty that the Cyprus Stock Exchange can play an even more essential role in financing development and strengthening the competitiveness of our economy.
In his speech, Finance Minister Makis Keravnos said that during the CSE's 30 years of operation, the Cyprus economy has successfully faced significant challenges and exploited opportunities through its flexibility and adaptability, adding that the Stock Exchange has supported every stage of this process, contributing to the gradual maturation and development of the capital markets in our country.
Privatisation is an important strategic choice
The Minister of Finance noted that the need to modernise and upgrade our capital market institutions is more urgent than ever, noting that privatisation is an important strategic choice to enhance the sustainability and extroversion of the institution with the aim of creating a more flexible, more competitive Stock Exchange, with the ability to develop.
The Minister also stressed that a strong and competitive Stock Exchange is a critical factor for the economic resilience of a small and open economy, such as ours.
A reliable ally of businesses
CSE's acting General Manager Nicos Trypatsas, in his speech, said that it is imperative that the CSE be placed in a new dimension with the privatisation and the arrival of a strategic investor and become a reliable ally of businesses, offering them tools for their development, with the aim of the corporate and economic development of the country.
Trypatsas said that the CSE must achieve an increase in liquidity in the market, the attraction of new imports from key development sectors of the economy such as tourism, large infrastructure projects, private hospitals and universities.
He also referred to the need to introduce new Government and Corporate Bonds, Green Bonds as well as Bonds of semi-governmental organisations, adding at the same time that the CSE must become even more actively involved in the important energy sector and expand the development of international collaborations, also participating in projects of European scope.
Raise capital, modernise, develop and innovate
CSE Chairman Marinos Christodoulides said that in these 30 years of operation the Stock Exchange has given businesses the opportunity to raise capital, modernise, develop and innovate, and at the same time offered investors a reliable framework for participating in the country's economic progress.
Christodoulides said that the CSE had been particularly tested during the 2013 financial crisis with all the consequences, followed by the Covid health crisis, Russia's invasion of Ukraine and regional geopolitical developments.
In his speech, he referred to the important collaborations and initiatives developed by the CSE to improve its markets, products and services, most notably the Common Platform with the Athens Stock Exchange (Euronext Athens), an institutional collaboration that brought benefits to both Stock Exchanges in infrastructure, investments and trading activity.
He recalled that since last October, the CSE has been providing financial settlement services and a cover agency to the Cyprus Transmission System Operator for the Competitive Electricity Market and that it has recently entered into cooperation with India's Stock Exchange.
The Chairman of the CSE stressed that the future of the Stock Exchange is also part of the strategic direction of the European Union for the integration of capital markets, which highlights the central role of stock markets in the competitiveness of European businesses.
He also referred to the new environment of digitalization, automation and new forms of financing, assuring that the vision is for the CSE to be at the forefront of this transition, to enhance the speed, security and accessibility of transactions and to become an even more modern and flexible financial institution.
(Source: CNA)
