EDITOUR PETplanet Insider Vol. 23 No. 04/22 www.petpla.net 26 The European Road Show in Cyprus Off the tourist track by Kay Barton The island of Cyprus lies in the eastern Mediterranean, just 70 km south of the Turkish mainland and 95 km west of Syria. The former British crown colony is divided into a northern, Turkish part, the internationally unrecognised Turkish Republic of Cyprus, and a southern part, the Republic of Cyprus. In addition, the two British military bases of Akrotiri and Dhekelia on the south coast are British Overseas Territories. Cyprus has been an EU member since 2004 and, with an area of 9,251 km², is the third largest Mediterranean island after Sicily and Sardinia in the western Mediterranean. The northern part of the island is inhabited by Turkish Cypriots, the southern part by Greek Cypriots. The division of the island also runs through the capital city, Nicosia. Today, it is the only divided capital in the world. A total of 1.2 million people live on the island, of which three quarters live in the southern part, where a total of more than 65% of cities and urban areas are situated. At 0.8%, population growth is stable, the average age is 38 and life expectancy is over 82 years. With regard to the economy, a financial crisis in 2012-2013 was partly triggered by strong economic ties with Greece and the crisis there. Since this was overcome, the economy has grown continuously with low taxes and high interest rates for foreign investors. In 2020, GDP was almost US$ 24 billion, around US$ 26,623 per capita. With imports to Cyprus of 21.6% and exports from Cyprus of 8.5%, Greece was first among all import and export countries in 2020. In 2020, the services sector formed the backbone at 75%, followed by industry at 13% and agriculture at 2%. At least until the pandemic caused a slump in tourism, which is so important for the country and contributes around 20% to the GDP, Cyprus had been recovering and this year remains on course. Industry experts estimate that the plastics market shows continual growth of around 5-10% annually since 2013. Currently, the field of pharmaceutical packaging in particular is said to be making bold strides forward. Overall, the local plastics processing industry is divided into around one third PET and two thirds PE and PP, where the trend in PET especially is on food packaging such as cans and containers. True figures are unfortunately hard to come by but we are told that the estimates reflect the local market. For the European Road Show we met both a machinery engineer and a user, and we investigated technology, procedures and activities. Macro-economic data Cyprus 2018 2019 2020 Population (millions) 1.2 1.2 1.2 Population growth p.a. 0.8% 0.8% 0.7% GDP (current prices, billions) US$ 25.3 US$ 25.0 US$ 23.8 GDP growth rate (real) 5.2% 3.1% -5.1% GDP per capita (current prices) US$ 29,334 US$ 29,206 US$ 27,528 Import (billions) US$ 18.8 US$ 19.4 US$ 19.3 Export (billions) US$ 19.2 US$ 19.5 US$ 18.7 National debt of GDP 98,4% 91,1% 115,3% Unemployment rate 8.4% 7.1% 7.6% Inflation 1.4% 0.3% -0.6% Kamara Tou Koraka Natural Bridge in Aiya Napa Left-hand driving in Cyprus Tourist hotspot Ayia Napa Tour Sponsors:
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