HE Cypriot Minister of Energy, Commerce and Industry of the Republic of Cyprus George Papanastasiou explained to QNA that there is room for strengthening business cooperation and promoting trade in services and goods between our two countries. To achieve this goal, business delegations and forums can bring together the vibrant business communities of Cyprus and Qatar, greatly facilitating B2B partnerships.
Cyprus envisions a robust future for the bilateral cooperation between it and Qatar, working hard to ensure that it is realized, in part through the exchange of good practices and the transfer of knowledge and expertise. Cyprus, for example, has good experience in distributed electricity generation from small photovoltaic systems for net-metering, net-billing, and self-consumption, as well as in the field of energy performance of buildings, HE Cypriot Minister said.
Cyprus is also among the world’s top countries, per capita, in the utilization of Solar Water Heaters, which are used by more than 90 percent
of households and 55 percent of buildings for their hot water needs, as well as for space heating, he pointed out.
In this regard, His Excellency added, “we can collaborate with the competent authorities of Qatar on (a) energy efficiency and the promotion of the use of renewable energy sources, especially solar energy like photovoltaic systems and solar thermal systems, wind power, energy storage, heat pumps, electric vehicles, green hydrogen, etc., and (b) use of biofuels in transport.” Moreover, he pointed out the possibility of Qatar and Cyprus developing partnerships in areas such as smart manufacturing, “whereby by leveraging high-tech systems and collaborating with the Qatar National Research Fund, we can enhance our research and innovation ecosystem.” At the end of his remarks, HE Cypriot Minister of Energy, Commerce and Industry recalled the 2008 Bilateral Agreement for the Reciprocal Promotion and Protection of Investments signed between Cyprus and Qatar, which came into force on Nov. 6, 2009.
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over, in 2014, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the Ministry of Energy, Commerce and Industry of the Republic of Cyprus and the Ministry of Energy and Industry of the State of Qatar, on cooperation in the energy sector.
The memorandum stipulates cooperation in the field of energy Infrastructures and networks, monetization technologies and facilities in hydrocarbon exploration and exploitation, and safety and environmental protection in the exploration and exploitation of hydrocarbons.
Source: Qatar News Agency