How to do business in Cyprus

Although many nearby Mediterranean countries have been affected by the worldwide recession, one country that has battled through successfully is Cyprus. The island has, in fact, seen steady economical growth over the last few years. The majority of the population is employed in the services industry, with the remaining workforce employed in the tourism, agricultural and industry sectors. Here are a few things you need to know before doing business in Cyprus.

The most important steps to complete first are the legal requirements and administrative procedures required by EU and Cypriot law in order for you to do business in Cyprus. But even once these have been completed correctly, there are a number of working practices and examples of business etiquette you must remember when doing business on the island.

Offshore gas search worsens tension between Cyprus and Turkey

This year a pocket of natural gas has been discovered to exist just off the shore of the divided Mediterranean country of Cyprus. This pocket is though to be so huge, that whoever lays claim to it, will be in control of the natural gas market in Europe for many years. So the economic and political stakes are very high, so it is not surprising that nations have begun to act aggressively towards each other in order to secure some of the benefit of this find.

Tensions between Turkey and Cyprus are particularly heightened because of the fact that half of the island of Cyprus is of Turkish dissent. It is also only Turkey that recognises northern Cyprus. But Cyprus is asserting itself and leaning on its rights as a sovereign nation to tap into these resources themselves. The crisis started when Cyprus gave the order for an American company, Noble Energy, to drill in order to access the natural gas.

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