Christodoulides to Visit London to Persuade UK-Based Cypriots to Return

“On May 21, I will travel to London to meet Cypriots working there, to present an attractive package for their return to Cyprus. I will also be accompanied by Cypriot and foreign businessmen who are looking to find staff,” he said before the day’s cabinet meeting.

He added, “we will go to attempt to bring these people back to our country and have a brain gain rather than a brain drain, and I believe that we will be successful”. 

He pointed out the Cypriot economy’s recent success, saying Cyprus’ rate of growth is “one of the highest in Europe” and that the country’s unemployment rate has now dropped to five per cent – the lowest it has been in 15 years.

He added that with the aim of continuing to grow the island’s economy, he will create a new framework concerning the employment of third country nationals, “so that there are the necessary numbers in terms of personnel so that businesses can operate”.

Additionally, he said the government would at the cabinet meeting raise the minimum wage for 19 professions in the hotel industry and backdate that decision to January 1.

He said this “has amounted to more than 10 per cent over the last two years”, and that this has “significantly strengthened the wages of thousands of low-paid workers in the hotel industry”.

The Cypriot high commission in London estimates that there are around 300,000 Cypriots living in the UK.

However, the number of young Cypriots choosing to study in the UK has dropped drastically since the UK left the European Union in 2020, with just 4,780 Cypriot students currently enrolled at British universities.

This figure is just half of the number who were enrolled in British universities in 2017.

Source: Cyprus Mail