Lack of schools listed as main deterrent in moving business to Cyprus

Cyprus needs to invest in infrastructure, especially schools, in order to keep up the momentum that has been observed in attracting foreign companies to open offices on the island.

This was the main conclusion of a round-table discussion that took place during the 17th Real Estate & Construction Conference & Exhibition on Wednesday in Nicosia, entitled: “Cyprus as a destination for international businesses and the implications for the Real Estate sector”.

The panellists – Yiangos Zinonos, Property & Public Affairs Manager at Exness, Yannis Matsis, Managing Director, Head of Cyprus at MUFG Investor Services and Yiannis Misirlis, Founding Director of Imperio Group – discussed the massive influx of ICT companies that have moved their headquarters to or opened offices in Cyprus in recent years; and how this ties in with the local real estate sector. The discussion was coordinated by Michalis Hadjipanayiotou, Chairman of the Cyprus Land and Building Developers Association and CEO at Cybarco Development Ltd.

Matsis, who has also served as the Chairman of Invest Cyprus, said there has been a massive increase in the number of ICT companies choosing Cyprus to relocate or open up an office. This has contributed to the economy’s growth and particularly to its great performance last year against all the odds.

“The problem I see from the expatriates coming to Cyprus, is the country’s infrastructure,” said Matsis. “They find rent prices are too high, there are not enough schools to absorb the demand and even rent prices in commercial real estate is a deterrent.”

Yiannis Misirlis highlighted another important obstacle in attracting more companies, which was the huge divide in demand and supply. He said that while demand has increased, supply is lagging, which has led to distortions.

Yiangos Zinonos called for a proper government policy on affordable housing as it wasn’t just high net worth individuals who relocated to Cyprus when a company moves but also its more regular income staff.