Brainstorming meeting with strategic partners and working dinner with Yiorgos Lakkotrypis, Cyprus Minister of Energy, Commerce, Industry and Tourism held in London recently.

The Board of the UKCEC recently convened a strategy brainstorming session with top representatives of the Council's strategic partners in Cyprus. The purpose of the meeting, which was held in the City of London, was to discuss the strategic partnership framework within which the UKCEC and its partners will collaborate in the future and to set the Council's priorities over the next two to three years.

In addition to the Council's Board, the three hour session was attended by the President of the Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Phidias Pilides, the Chairman and Director-General of the Cyprus Investment Promotion Agency, Christodoulos Angastiniotis and Charis Papacharalambous respectively and Angelos Loizou, Chairman of the Cyprus Tourism Organisation.

The meeting was followed by a working dinner which was also attended by guest of honour Minister Yiorgos Lakkotrypis and two of the Council's honorary patrons, the Cyprus High Commissioner to the UK, Euripides Evriviades, and Tasso Leventis, Director of Leventis Group and Chairman of the A G Leventis Foundation.

Peter Droussiotis, Chairman of the UKCEC Board, said: "The brainstorming session and the working dinner which followed exceeded our expectations in every way. We have all resolved that our common purpose is to work together in order to achieve tangible outcomes. There can be no miracle answers to Cyprus's economic challenges but our strategic priority will be to focus on concrete initiatives in the UK designed to attract inward investment and, in particular, to support SMEs which are the lifeblood of every economy but which are currently starved of vital credit.

"We were delighted with the opportunity we had to explore ideas not only with our strategic partners but also with the key Cypriot Minister responsible for all of the areas of our focus. We were impressed with the Minister's forward-looking and positive agenda and will work with him and our partners to help Cyprus return to growth and development."

The Board and its strategic partners have agreed to maintain a regular dialogue with a view to organising a launch as well as tourism and energy-related events in the coming months.

Economist Vicky Pryce Joins UKCEC Board as a Non-Executive Director

In the meantime, the Council is pleased to announce that prominent UK economist Vicky Pryce has joined the Board as its ninth member.

Vicky is Chief Economic Adviser at the Centre for Economic and Business Research (CEBR). She was previously Senior Managing Director at FTI Consulting (2010-2013), Director General for Economics at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) (2002-2010), as well as Joint Head of the UK Government Economic Service (2007-2010). Before that she was Partner at London Economics and Partner and Chief Economist at KPMG after holding senior economic positions in banking and the oil sector. A full profile can be seen on the Council's website at www.ukcec.co.uk

Stelio Stefanou, Vice-Chairman of the Board, said: "We are privileged to have somebody of Vicky's calibre on the team. Her depth of knowledge, economic expertise and wealth of contacts will be a major asset to the Council as it seeks to realise its mission."

Vicky Pryce said: "I am delighted to be joining the Council as a Non-Executive Director at a crucial time in Cyprus's history and honoured to have been asked to assist in furthering its aims by providing economic input to its deliberations."