Cyprus, one of the smallest countries in the European Union, says it is
keen to attract investments from Asia including Asean for its growing offshore
natural gas exploration and production industry.
“There have been some companies
from this region such as Petronas which has been investing in this sector and
more could participate in the near future,” Foreign Minister Erato
Kozakou-Marcoullis told Asia Focus.
Cyprus, which traditionally has
relied on its strength of its shipping industry, is gradually diversifying its
economy by tapping into the growth of demand for energy across the world, and
especially the surge of demand in Asia.
“We have 13 [gas exploration]
blocks, out of which we gave one to a Texas-based company and we are in
discussion for another four blocks, with some conclusion likely by the end of
this year,” the minister said, stressing that Asian companies should look at
possibilities in exploration and production in the future for the remaining
blocks.
“To put it in perspective, it is
estimated that the whole region has about 350 trillion cubic feet of natural
gas that can be tapped,” she said.
The reserves, if all proved,
would be 30 times larger than the best estimates of reserves in Myanmar, which
is the key supplier of natural gas to Thailand.
“There is a huge prospect for
those who invest,” she stressed while on a short stopover at Suvarnabhumi
airport after the Asean Europe meeting in Laos.
Ms Kozakou-Marcoullis said it was
time for the cooperation between Asia and Europe to be strengthened further,
adding that the EU could learn lessons from how Asia emerged stronger after its
crisis in the late 1990s.
During the ASEM meeting in
Vientiane there was open and frank discussion on the issues facing the EU and
also on ways of promoting investment and trade between the regions, she said.
However, she acknowledged that it would take some time before a more intense
and deeper relationship between the regions takes shape.
“This is a very young
organisation of 16 years, and there is still time for it to develop into deeper
cooperation,” she said.
Ms Kozakou-Marcoullis added that
one promising area for cooperation in the near future could be greater mobility
of the two regions’ highly qualified professionals which would help promote
innovation and research on both sides.
“There are some economies in this
part of the world that went through rough times but today are large trading
partners with the EU,” she said.
One of the biggest problems with
the EU currently is the weakened financial system, which is being rectified
under the current presidency of Cyprus, she said.
The EU currently needs fiscal
discipline to keep countries from going further into recession although some have
balanced budgets which have helped them keep their heads above water she added.
Umesh Pandey
Business & Investment Opportunities
YourVietnamExpert is a division of Saigon Business Corporation Pte Ltd, Incorporated in Singapore since 1994. As Your Business Companion, we propose a range of services in Strategy, Investment and Management, focusing Healthcare and Life Science with expertise in ASEAN. Since we are currently changing the platform of www.yourvietnamexpert.com, you may contact us at: sbc.pte@gmail.com, provisionally. Many thanks.
No comments:
Post a Comment