By Michele Kambas

When Andreas G Andreou and Emre Serdar founded their window and framing company in Cyprus in 2015, they had a mission: to challenge the island’s divisions by operating the business on both sides of its historic ceasefire line.

SlimLine Frame is one of only a few ventures to use factories on the Greek and Turkish Cypriot sides of the divide. They say their success, despite multiple obstacles, shows what’s possible for pan-Cypriot trade just as the island’s political leadership debates opening additional crossing points to facilitate contact and commerce.

“I am personally doing it to show to my son that it is possible – that these two communities can come together, work together and live together without killing each other,” said SlimLine CEO Andreou, a Greek Cypriot.

“We have a shared vision and a trust,” added his managing partner Serdar, a Turkish Cypriot.

The ceasefire line is not a border, so trade from north to south is governed by the EU’s so-called Green Line Regulation. It specifies which types of goods may cross, ranging from locally produced construction products to a limited selection of foodstuffs.

Cross-line business is challenging. Goods must be cleared by both sides on the same day, and delays at checkpoints are common. Turkish Cypriot companies also lack access to southern banking, making cash the only option.

Still, the appetite for such business has risen. In 2023, goods worth €16 million crossed the line, a near 10 per cent increase on 2022, the latest data show.

Alexander Apostolides, former team leader of the EU One Stop Shop (EU OSS), an initiative funded by the EU to support trade, acknowledges complexities ranging from the type of goods allowed to cross and compliance with EU standards, to lack of infrastructure at crossings for heavy vehicles.

“Ninety per cent of the work of the EU OSS is probably troubleshooting,” he said. “It is very important. Without it, the northern part of the island would be cut off from the rest of the Republic of Cyprus.”

This year SlimLine Frame received financial support from British entrepreneur Stelios Haji-Ioannou, whose family hails from Cyprus and has been sponsoring bicommunal projects for 17 years.

It “will foster understanding, cooperation and friendship, and economic prosperity,” Haji-Ioannou told Reuters.

“Cyprus is too small not to do business with the other side.”

A worker is seen in an aluminium and window frames factory used by a Greek and Turkish Cypriot run partnership in Haspolat/Mia Milia