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Minister of Energy, Trade and Industry, Ms. Natasa Pilides, presented today the “Fast Track Business Activation Mechanism” that had been approved by the Government on September 3, 2020 and was activated in October, already attracting the interest of foreign companies, to businessmen and other interested parties.  The presentation was made electronically due to the restrictive measures against the pandemic.

Key points from the presentation:
The Mechanism aims at the fast and efficient service of requests received from existing or new companies of foreign interests, for installation in Cyprus.

The services it provides concern support in:
• Setting up a business from a single point for company registration, name approval,
• registration in the Social Insurance register, employer register and VAT and Income
• Tax register.
• Providing information and guidance to secure the necessary business licenses.
• Facilitating the issuance of residence and employment permits to persons from
• third countries, who will be employed by the companies that will be part of the Mechanism.

According to the regulations, all the necessary procedures for setting up companies in Cyprus that make use of the “Fast Track Business Activation Mechanism”, are completed within 7 working days from the day the company joins. This, Ms. Pilides pointed out, is not the only incentive for someone interested in joining the Mechanism, since “there are facilities in relation to the procedures for issuing residence and employment permits that these companies must follow to transfer human resources involving 3rd-country nationals”.

Specifically, as the Minister explained, the time required for the issuance of residence and employment permits is between 4 and 6 weeks, depending on the number of permits requested, adding that another incentive is the possibility of employing more foreigners from third countries in certain professions. and skills, for which the greatest shortage of supply has been observed nationally, with the majority being related to digital skills.

In addition, Ms. Pilides noted that the new policy for issuing residence permits concerns not only foreign companies that will use the Mechanism, but also Cypriot companies that fall into the Uelds of shipping, high technology and innovation, pharmaceuticals, biogenetics and of biotechnology, and wish to employ staff from third countries with biogenetics and of biotechnology, and wish to employ staff from third countries with skills for which there has been a shortage in our country.

The Ministry of Energy, Trade and Industry is responsible for approving or rejecting the application for membership in the Mechanism, based on specific criteria. Specifically, in order to join the mechanism, the interested companies must meet qualitative and quantitative criteria and their investments must have a positive impact on economic growth.
The criteria are available electronically to anyone interested in the new website of the Ministry of Energy, Trade and Industry “Business in Cyprus” www.businessincyprus.gov.cy and, among other things, require a physical presence in Cyprus with the operation of independent offices, minimum turnover €500,000 per year for 3 of the last 5 years for existing businesses and a five-year business plan for start-ups.