TechIsland Summit panel considers ‘Reclaiming Talent: Cyprus’ Strategic Brain Gain’

Keeping in mind that reversing the brain drain is key to unlocking Cyprus’ full tech potential, a panel of experts at the TechIsland Summit in Limassol explored how the country can attract back Cypriot professionals who left for better career opportunities abroad.

The panel was made up of Irene Piki, Deputy Minister to the President, Tasoula Hadjitofi, Entrepreneur, Cultural Activist, Author, and Petr Valov, Co-founder & CEO of Exness, Board Member of TechIsland and moderated by Valentinos Polykarpou, Chairperson of TechIsland.

From tax incentives and competitive salaries to quality of life and remote work, the discussion highlighted the policy levers and cultural shifts needed to transform brain drain into brain gain.

Opening the discussion, Polykarpou noted, The tech sector in Cyprus is one of the fastest-growing parts of our economy. New companies are setting up, existing companies are expanding, and there’s a real sense of momentum. But with this growth comes a serious challenge: we need talent to sustain it.”

“Up until now,” he continued, “to meet this demand, we’ve been focusing on attracting highly skilled professionals from abroad—and that’s worked well. With important incentives such as 50% tax deduction for first employment, the work permit for spouses, the modernised naturalisation scheme, the EU Blue Cards, and so on. These international talents along with local talents have created a strong pool of professionals.”

However, Polykarpou went on to note, “But at the same time, we have thousands of highly educated and experienced Cypriots who left the country to study and never came back. Why? Because back then when they left they found better opportunities abroad—big international companies, high salaries, clear career progression.”

“But today,” he went on to underline, “Cyprus can offer all of that. We have a growing tech ecosystem, big international companies, competitive salaries, and a strong quality of life. So the question is: how do we bring those Cypriots back?”

Piki noted the growth of the tech sector and TechIsland’s role and outlined the government vision and policy measures, including the government's strategic focus on brain gain as a national priority.

Piki noted that efforts starting from 2022 included a strategy that encouraged more international companies to come to Cyprus. It was further updated in 2024, “and we decided now is the right time to attract all these brilliant overseas Cypriots to come back.”

She underlined that now fields beyond the more traditional professional services sectors were also included.

She presented the new tax incentives, including people who had spent fewer years overseas than the legislature previously called for, bringing the figure down from 15 to seven years for salaries of 50,000 euros and above. The limit would ensure the applicants had gained professional experience and not just having completed their studies.

She noted how they aim to encourage skilled Cypriots to return and explained how these measures fit into a broader economic and human capital development strategy.

Tools towards facilitating return include the creation of a dedicated platform to assist with the process, with more to follow including navigating housing, education and military service.

On her part, Hadjitofi talked about what Cypriots abroad want, sharing feedback, and discussing what motivates them to stay abroad which include factors such as career development, salaries, company culture, and more.

Vastly experienced in bringing skilled workers to Cyprus, Hadjitofi also highlighted what changes would make overseas Cypriots seriously consider returning with clear job offers, competitive compensation, and family support some of the suggested factors.

She noted that Cypriots abroad were currently enjoying benefits including far higher salaries than they may expect in Cyprus and that this was something that should be taken into account when the state formed its policies.

She went on to talk about Cyprus’ competitiveness and best practices from abroad, outlining what countries like the Netherlands and UK are doing well in talent retention.
She explained what they offer and how Cyprus can compete making mention of relocation support, family integration and long-term career prospects among other factors.
Hadjitofi also offered suggestions for how Cyprus can realistically compete—not just through incentives, but through ecosystem maturity and positioning.

Hadjitofi made particular mention of a new UK government scheme encouraging skilled tech professionals to apply for a Global Talent Visa.

Comparing the UK, the Netherlands and Cyprus, she suggested that Cyprus take measures including abolishing the company stamp and reducing bureaucracy while also making the most of niche tech and other unique selling points.

Hadjitofi also suggested that making private sector employment as attractive as public sector employment could go a long way towards making Cyprus more attractive to skilled overseas Cypriots.

She noted that, given the right incentives, even with a well-established company overseas, she would consider returning to Cyprus.

In turn, Petr Valov shared his insight on the business perspective for hiring Cypriots from abroad.

He explained the measurable business value of hiring and repatriating highly skilled Cypriots which include cultural fit, faster adaptation and fewer relocation frictions. Valov also compared costs/benefits versus hiring internationally.
He also shared his experience in trying to attract or hire Cypriot professionals from abroad and clarified what kind of practical support/incentives would encourage companies to prioritise Cypriot returnees.

He noted that Cyprus had not been able to add salaries on the same level as other European countries which provided skilled workers, including Cypriots, with fewer incentives to return.

“If you spend some money now, you will gain much more in the future,” he suggested, underlining that he was in favour of international-level salaries being paid in Cyprus.

He said that, in his experience, overseas Cypriots were willing to return, sometimes for reasons as simple as nostalgia, even if they were third-generation Cypriots.

Valov also noted that it was, by default, cheaper for companies here to employ locally and that this was why it would be good for the state to offer incentives, including tax incentives to encourage more companies to do this.

“We need to motivate all companies, international and local, to look around and encourage people to come here,” he said, adding, “if companies, for example, employed a Cypriot with a certain salary threshold, they should have tax incentives in return.”
Valov also shared an endorsement of the national brain gain strategy, emphasising the importance of private sector collaboration and engagement with the diaspora network. He also reaffirmed the tech sector’s readiness to support the government to make the brain gain agenda a success, including the participation of Wargaming, Exness, ASBIS and payabl. at the Brain Gain event in London.

Piki also mentioned the upcoming effort in the UK on 21 May explaining the goal and expectations of the Brain Gain Event in London, also outlining what message the government wants to send to Cypriots abroad.

She said that some 20 companies, including TechIsland, would be at the event.

She said that more than 700 people had indicated they wanted to attend the event and that there would also be a live link for people at other locations to learn about the effort.

Piki also revealed that this would be part of a series of events, and while not a job fair as such, would provide participants to have an initial contact with the companies.

Piki noted that many of the aspects included in the new UK scheme were already in effect in Cyprus and underlined that the incentives did not include maximum salary thresholds.

“We have a really dynamic, smaller, ecosystem that is growing,” she also noted, referring to the tech sector.

Piki pointed out that the interest already expressed by US companies following President Nikos Christodoulides’ recent visit to the US.

She said that the state was also already looking into ways to provide incentives to companies to hire more Cypriots, including overseas Cypriots while, in parallel, changing the education model to assist pupils to better prepare for careers in sectors such as tech.

Valov said he was looking forward to seeing the results of the UK event and, again underlined, that Cypriots were interested in working in Cyprus. He noted that factors including AI would soon create huge changes to the global labour market, including in Cyprus.