Nicosia, Cyprus. Nine bi-communal business partnerships received a total of €500,000 at an awards ceremony on Monday that placed cooperation between Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot entrepreneurs at the centre of discussions on trust, coexistence and reunification.
The Stelios Bi-communal Business Partnership Awards were held at the offices of the Stelios Philanthropic Foundation in the presence of President Nikos Christodoulides, UN envoy Maria Angela Holguin, and Khassim Diagne, the UN special representative and head of the peacekeeping force in Cyprus, Unficyp.
Awards ceremony in Nicosia
The event recognised nine business partnerships involving Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot entrepreneurs.
It took place at the offices of the Stelios Philanthropic Foundation in Nicosia.
President’s remarks
Addressing the ceremony, Christodoulides said the awards had become a long-standing institution and that he attends the event each year because he “deeply value and believe in what these awards represent”.
“And if I had to sum it up, it would be this, the essence of the awards lies in the transformative power of cooperation and peaceful coexistence,” he said.
He said the awards “cast light and offer a glimpse into the future that Cyprus deserves, the future we envision, one of reunification and co-creation between all Cypriots, within the big family they belong in, the European Union”.
Christodoulides said the awards go “far beyond the recognition of successful business partnerships” and described them as “a celebration of the spirit of cooperation, mutual trust and shared purpose between Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots”.
“And in this regard, they are a clear demonstration of all that can be achieved when we come together with a common vision for the future,” he said.
He also described the awards as “a symbol of hope and a testament of what we can achieve together, in our joint aspiration for a reunited, prosperous European Cyprus”.
“For us, but more importantly, for our children, and for future generations,” he said, adding that “we owe it to this blessed island we have been fortunate to be born in, and we owe it to those who will come after us.”
Attendance and message from winners
The ceremony was attended by Maria Angela Holguin, the UN envoy, and Khassim Diagne, the UN special representative and head of Unficyp.
The strongest message of the event came from this year’s Gold award winners, Steven Stavrou and Burak Dolai, co-founders of Social Tech Lab and Union Labs, who asked why Cypriots should wait for a settlement before choosing to work together.