Source: in-cyprus.philenews.com
Senior Amazon executives arrived in Cyprus on Tuesday as the tech giant considers establishing research facilities and infrastructure on the island, Deputy Minister for Research Nicodemos Damianou said.
Cypriot officials are also preparing to host representatives from Plug and Play, Tenstorrent, Microsoft, OpenAI, Oracle and Google in the coming weeks following a recent government delegation to Silicon Valley.
The high-level meetings aim to attract technology investment to Cyprus, with discussions focusing on research centres, data infrastructure and partnerships to address issues ranging from fire prevention to traffic management.
“These companies operate in a continuous cycle of development and innovation and can provide us with relevant expertise on such issues,” Deputy Minister Nicodemos Damianou told the Council of Ministers on Wednesday.
The visit follows discussions between President Christodoulides and government representatives with technology companies in the United States. The Amazon executives met with Damianou and the Chief Scientist to begin examining potential collaborations.
Discussions with Amazon cover several areas, including “the possibility of operating in Cyprus, perhaps with a specialised research and development centre or some collaboration with ecosystem partners,” Damianou said.
Other potential projects include partnerships to enhance digital skills, particularly in artificial intelligence, and infrastructure development such as data centres, aligned with the Deputy Ministry’s “Cloud First” policy and the selection process for a strategic partner for the government cloud.
Representatives from Plug and Play and Tenstorrent are expected to visit Cyprus during the week of May 5 to explore potential operations in the country and familiarise themselves with Cyprus’s ecosystem, research activities, technology sectors and startup network.
Contacts with Microsoft and other companies seen during the U.S. visit have already begun this week, with initial discussions with OpenAI, Oracle and Google expected in the next two weeks.
“The next two weeks will include meetings and the start of discussions with all the companies the delegation met,” Damianou said, adding that the government is “ready to make the most of this dynamic.”
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