President Calviño inaugurates EIB Group's office in Cyprus

Nadia Calviño inaugurated the EIB Group's office in Cyprus during her first official visit to Cyprus in her capacity as president of the EIB Group on 22^nd November.

Ladies and gentlemen, dear friends, it is a great pleasure to see you all here. It's a very special occasion for me to participate in the opening of this office.

It has been a very intense day. Early this morning, I had a very productive meeting with President Nikos Christodoulides. We exchanged views on current priorities and strategic priorities for Cyprus, for Europe, from the energy transition to efficient water management, from affordable housing to emergency response, and of course strengthening Europe's security and defence capabilities. Then we visited the campus of the University of Cyprus. Very impressive visit. An investment financed by the European Investment Bank. Very proud to have seen this university and the ongoing works that are taking place there. And I had a very productive meeting with my dear minister to exchange views on more detailed priorities and projects going forward.

And now we close this incredible day with the opening of the office here in Nicosia. There are three main words that come to my mind and are in my heart as we celebrate this moment. The first word is Cyprus. I think the opening of this office shows how important Cyprus is for the European Investment Bank. And not only because in relative terms Cyprus is the main beneficiary of the funding coming from the European Investment Bank. No, I think it is also because our partnership goes beyond the individual projects. It goes beyond the financing.

The European Investment Bank was there for the Cypriot people during the financial crisis. We have been there all through. We have worked together and today we count on your partnership to also drive forward the priorities of the European Union. Cyprus is an important member of the European Union. It is a very important partner for the European Investment Bank. And that is why it is important that we are opening this office.

The second words that I have in my heart is pride. I feel great pride for the colleagues who are working here and the passion that they have put in deploying all these projects. I feel pride when I see the works that we have financed here and see the result and the impact on the ground. Projects which may not sound so exciting, like the sewage of the city. But we all know how important it is - drinking water, the sewage system. Projects like the university, projects having to do with sustainable transport, with the energy transition, projects that change the lives of people and support the Cypriot economy and are also contributing to the magnificent success of this country going forward.

The third feeling that I have is one of gratitude. The third word would be thanks. Thanks to you, Makis, dear minister, for our partnership, for our corporation, for our loyal work throughout the years around the Ecofin table and the excellent cooperation with European Investment Bank. We have always found your ministry to be a partner and a friend when it comes to driving our policies forward. A very special thanks to Vice President Kyriacos Kakouris. He's a passionate lover of his country. He is always understanding, listening, trying to see how we can better help.
And he has been instrumental in making it a reality that we open an office here in Nicosia.

Thanks to Antonios Papageorgiou. Antonios will be the head of the office of the European Investment Bank here on the ground, so he is your man. Knock on his door. I hope that you are very busy. We have for the moment just a one-room office. But I am quite sure that the business is going to be flourishing as it has been in the last years. And I'm very grateful that you were willing to move to Cyprus and develop this business.

And then finally, I want to thank wholeheartedly the teams of European Investment Bank Group. Many of the people who have made this possible are not here today. They are invisible people who are usually making sure that we have a budget, that we rent a room, that we can do all the bureaucratic work, the hiring, that we can move Antonios over here from Athens. This is invisible work, but it is a tough job. And I am really happy that, very fast, when I realised that we didn't have an office here in Cyprus, we have been able to make it a reality.

We live in a very challenging time. The geopolitical context is very complex. But that means that we really have to celebrate with all our positive energy when we have a successful situation. And the opening of this office, I know, is just the beginning of a beautiful friendship going forward. Thank you very much.