Opening Remarks by the High Commissioner  Mr. Manish

B2B Sessions | India–Cyprus Business & Investment Summit 2026 [2 March 2026] | Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Nicosia

Mr. Philokypros Roussounides, Secretary General of the Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Mr. Chrysilios Pelakanos, President of Cyprus India Busines Association, distinguished representatives of Cypriot industry, and my dear friends from the Indian business delegation, good morning, and a very warm welcome to these B2B sessions.

Tomorrow, at Hilton Nicosia, we will gather for the India–Cyprus Business & Investment Summit 2026, a full day of strategic dialogue across technology, trade, energy, human capital, and defence, with Ministers, innovators, and business leaders from both nations. But I have always believed that the real work of diplomacy, and of business, happens across the table. And that is precisely where you are today.

These B2B sessions are are the foundation of our Summit. We had originally registered over 70 Indian participants for this event, a remarkable testament to the appetite for India–Cyprus partnership. Today, 17 to 18 companies are here in person. With major airspace across the Middle East, Dubai, Bahrain, and beyond, closed due to the ongoing hostilities in the region, reaching Cyprus has required extraordinary effort, rerouting, and resolve. And yet, they came. I would ask you to see that for what it truly is: not a diminished delegation, but a determined one. When businesspeople reroute flights and rearrange schedules to honour a commitment, that is conviction. These enterprises represent some of India’s most dynamic sectors: technology, skilled manpower, defence, manufacturing and more. They are here because they believe in Cyprus as a strategic partner and a gateway into Europe, and no closed airspace could change that.

On the other side of the table are the Cypriot companies, which represent an economy that punches well above its weight. Cyprus brings regulatory sophistication, European market access, sectoral depth in shipping, finance, and energy, and an openness to international partnership that is genuinely rare. You are exactly the kind of partners our Indian enterprises are looking for.

The India–Cyprus Action Plan 2025–2029, and the momentum generated by Prime Minister Modi's visit last June, have created an exceptional window of opportunity. What we need now is exactly what you will do in this room today, translate strategic intent into concrete business relationships.

My only ask is this: come to these meetings with openness and with ambition. Exchange not just business cards, but ideas, challenges, and possibilities. The partnerships forged in rooms like this one today will give tomorrow's Summit its real meaning because the conversations you begin here are what transform strategic intent into economic reality.

I thank the Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and Industry for hosting these sessions and for your commitment to deepening India–Cyprus commercial ties. Your support has been indispensable.

I wish every one of you productive, fruitful, and, I hope, deal-making conversations today.

Thank you. Efkaristo.