Cyprus is expected to have around pound 3.5 billion available for projects over the next seven years, including pound 2.5 billion from the EU and pound 1 billion in national resources, President Nikos Christodoulides said on Friday, following his meeting with European Council President Antonio Costa.
Speaking at the inauguration of the upgraded Cultural Centre in Dymes, Christodoulides said the EU’s 2028-2034 budget was among the issues he discussed extensively with Costa.
‘At this moment, our country is allocated approximately pound 2.5 billion for projects over the next seven years, plus pound 1 billion that we will contribute from national resources. That is, for projects worth pound 3.5 billion, for which the Cabinet will decide no later than September 2027,’ he said.
Christodoulides also announced that on September 13 there would be new announcements, in cooperation with the private sector, concerning all communities, focusing on health, education, the welfare state and community nursing.
‘Our goal is to create the conditions so that people can remain in their communities, young people can return to their communities, having reasons and opportunities to build their future here, and families can enjoy services and quality of life that meet modern needs, on an equal footing with residents of urban centres,’ he said.
The President stressed that support for rural and mountainous areas was a matter of substance for the Government and not a fragmented policy of individual projects and actions, describing it as part of the effort to maintain life in communities and ensure the country’s sustainable development.
He added the country’s economic growth, which he described as among the highest in Europe, ‘cannot be limited to the major urban centres’.
‘The progress of our country acquires real meaning when it reaches every corner of our homeland and creates prospects for all citizens, regardless of where they have chosen to live,’ he said.
He also pointed out that the Government’s aim was to provide equal services in health, education and welfare to citizens wherever they live.