From left to right: Eran Cohen, Leon Amiras, Ambassador Salina Shambos, Mr. Sofronis Papageorgiou and Gastón Saidman.

The meeting was attended by the President of the Chamber of Commerce Israel Cyprus, Adv. Leon Amiras, the General Manager of the Chamber of Commerce, Mr. Eran Cohen, the Ambassador of Cyprus in Israel, Ms. Salina Shambos and the Head, Commercial and Economic Affair  Mr. Sofronis Papageorgiou. The meeting was organized by Yediot Ha Knesset, which always supports this type of activities as a journalistic medium, granting a parliamentary information service from an internal base.

The relationship Between Cyprus and Israel encompasses the diplomatic, military, political and commercial areas. Although during the course of history, these relations had moments of tension, especially in the 80s when Israel maintained a stable friendship with Turkey. This bond was never disconnected, on the contrary, it was strengthened thanks to commercial relations especially since natural gas was found offshore Israel, where it was discovered that the same reserves shared the maritime area with Cyprus.

The parliamentary cooperation

The lunch took place at 1:00 PM in the Deputies buffet at the Israeli Parliament. After a brief presentation of the participants, the ambassador expressed her gratitude at being invited to the meeting. She emphasized the following topics that need to be developed: food, tourism and the implementation of a future project that will facilitate the tax system to improve relations in the bilateral market. She also expressed her interest in participating in future conventions that will be able to promote these initiatives together with the lobby of Foreign Trade and the Ministry of Economy.

Israel – Cyprus, the Chamber of Commerce prepares for a year of great work

The Chamber of Commerce Israel-Cyprus was founded in 2003 to promote commercial relations and provide a solution for Israeli businesspersons interested in developing their commercial relations in this Mediterranean country.

Dr. León Amiras President of the Chamber of Commerce Israel Cyprus: “A small market with great potential”

Adv. León Amiras, President of the Israel-Cyprus Chamber of Commerce, added to the meeting the contribution of the Chamber for new ventures and stated the following: “The Chamber has an important list of accessible Israeli companies that are already working in Cyprus.” In this case, he stressed the importance of promoting the tourism area, as it is a market that has expanded in recent years, apart from numerous opportunities that the short distance between the two countries gives us, which allows a comfortable transport to the businesspersons on their business trips.

Adv. Amiras summed up: “This was an excellent meeting with the Parliament where we managed to build commercial bridges between Cyprus and Israel. Cyprus is adjacent to Israel, only 40 minutes away and both countries count on good relations between companies of high magnitude in the financial, banking and tourist areas.

Our goal is to promote important issues for both countries, not only the well-known gas industry, which has already shown results, but mainly in new markets like the examples mentioned above, in addition to medical tourism and legal and financial advice. In a world where the image of the State of Israel is so criticized, the power to consolidate relations with Cyprus will strengthen relations with Greece and the rest of Europe, not only commercial relations but also camaraderie between the two peoples.

Eran Cohen, Gral.Manager of the Israel – Cyprus Chamber of Commerce: “It is a pride to be part of this new initiative”

Eran Cohen expressed his pride at participating in such an important meeting, during which they discussed cooperation between the two countries and the promotion of the tax treaty between the two countries. He also commended MK Oded Forer for his contribution to advancing the objectives of the Israel-Cyprus Chamber of Commerce.