The Bank of Cyprus (BoC) has signed a strategic partnership with Avenga for the co-development of a new digital platform leveraging Agentic AI and the full suite of Microsoft Azure AI services, marking a further step in the bank’s long-term digital transformation journey.

The initiative forms part of the bank’s multi-year cloud strategy, developed in close cooperation with Microsoft, and is aimed at accelerating digital modernisation, strengthening resilience and enabling more intelligent and personalised customer services across all touchpoints.

Within this framework, the BoC officially positions itself once again at the forefront of innovation, officially unveiling its Conversational Banking initiative, a transformative project that will redefine how customers interact with the Bank.

The new platform will allow customers to use natural language to interact directly with the bank via the BoC mobile app. Through conversational, AI-powered interactions, users will be able to perform transactions, access services, receive guidance and obtain support, aligning closely with the bank’s customer-centric strategy.

Cyprus’ economy showed broad-based growth across industry, construction, trade and tourism in the first ten months of 2025, according to the statistical service (Cystat), reflecting continued economic momentum amid external uncertainty.

The statistical service on Wednesday released its bimonthly Monthly Economic Developments bulletin, covering the period from January to October 2025, with the aim of providing an overview of the most recent trends shaping the Cyprus economy.

The bulletin includes the most important economic developments recorded up to October 2025, alongside comparative data for the previous four years, based on information available up to December 16, 2025.

Manufacturing production recorded a notable increase of 3.6 per cent during the period from January to September 2025 compared with the corresponding period of 2024, pointing to sustained strength in industrial activity.

The state budget for 2026 was approved by parliament on Wednesday, with 37 MPs voting in its favour and 19 voting against.

Votes in favour came from MPs from the three parties which officially support the government, Diko, Dipa, and Edek, as well as from Disy, Elam, and independents Andreas Themistocleous, Andreas Apostolou, and Michalis Giakoumi.

Akel, the Ecologists’ Movement, and independents Kostis Efstathiou and Alexandra Attalides, the latter of whom belongs to Volt, voted against the budget.

Cyprus has moved to streamline the way businesses interact with the state through the operation of a new Business Support Centre (BSC), a one-stop shop designed to serve both local and foreign investors seeking to establish or expand activities on the island.

The initiative was first announced by President Nikos Christodoulides in December 2024, with the official inauguration following in May 2025.

The aim, as the President had said at the time, is to ensure faster state responses and to address long-standing bottlenecks linked to business development and licensing procedures.

The effort has been backed by the Employers and Industrialists federation (Oev), which this week, held an information session outlining the services offered by the centre.

Christos Nicolaou, the president of the Cyprus Real Estate Agents Association (Skek) and a candidate for the Cyprus Real Estate Agents Registration Council (Sek), has publicly challenged the long-standing leadership of incumbent president Marinos Kineyirou over allegations of “institutional stagnation” and transparency issues ahead of the upcoming elections.

“Twelve years of continuous presidency and a prospect of 15 years without institutional limits” were cited as primary points of concern by Nicolaou, who serves as the challenger for the elective seat.

“The announcement of elections in December, while the current term is officially set to expire on April 12, 2026,” was questioned by the Skek president as a tactical move.

Moreover, “allegations regarding the non-renewal of professional licences without court decisions, leading to the deprivation of voting rights,” were raised as serious procedural grievances by the candidate.

Tourist arrivals to Cyprus surged in November, according to the state statistical service (Cystat), highlighting the sector’s continued strength and its importance to the island’s economic performance.

Specifically, tourist arrivals reached 234,580 in November 2025, compared with 179,941 in November 2024, recording a 30.4 per cent increase, according to official data released by Cystat.

For the period from January to November 2025, total tourist arrivals amounted to 4,377,114, up from 3,907,137 in the corresponding period of 2024, reflecting a 12 per cent rise year on year.

The United Kingdom remained the largest source of tourism for Cyprus in November, accounting for 22.7 per cent of total arrivals, or 53,267 visitors, reinforcing its long-standing role as the island’s key market.

Alpha Bank Cyprus on Wednesday said that 2025 marked a milestone year that reshaped its position in the local market.

This follows the completion of the transfer of most banking activities of the former AstroBank after securing all supervisory approvals, a move aimed at strengthening its scale and ability to support the Cypriot economy.

The bank described the transaction as a “strategic joining of forces that significantly enhances its market presence and creates a new growth dynamic for its operations in Cyprus”.

As a result of the acquisition, Alpha Bank Cyprus has become the country’s third-largest bank, with total assets exceeding €6.6 billion, a loan portfolio of more than €2 billion and deposits above €5.6 billion.

Mikki Koskinen from Finland has been elected the next president of the European Community Shipowners’ Associations (ECSA).

His term will start on January 1, 2026, and will last for two years. Nikolas Veniamis from Greece will join as the new Vice-President.

Koskinen succeeds Karin Orsel, who has held the position since January 2024.

Commenting on his election, Koskinen referred to the organisation’s long-standing role.

He mentoned that over the past six decades, the ECSA has evolved into an indispensable strategic partner to the European institutions, consistently championing policies that strengthen the competitiveness of European shipping while driving sustainability, innovation and the industry’s energy transition.

Cyprus’ financial watchdog CySEC on Monday announced that it imposed a €100,000 administrative fine on Cyprus Investment Firm Wonderinterest Trading Ltd after identifying repeated breaches of licensing and conduct rules, in a move aimed at protecting investors and market integrity.

The Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission said the decision was taken by its board following findings of non-continuous compliance with operating licence conditions by the firm.

The violations were committed during the period from 2022 to 2024 and concerned provisions of the Investment Services and Activities and Regulated Markets Law of 2017, according to the regulator.

CySEC said €50,000 of the total fine was imposed for breaches of section 22(1) of the law, as the company failed to comply at all times with its authorisation conditions.

Cyprus’ shipping community has increasingly been drawn into global efforts to tackle harassment at sea, as the island’s maritime cluster aligns with international campaigns, regulatory changes and growing expectations around crew welfare and inclusion.

In the mid of 2025, the International Maritime Organisation’s Day of the Seafarer campaign, themed “My Harassment-Free Ship”, was actively promoted across Cyprus’ maritime sector, emphasising the need to eliminate bullying and harassment onboard vessels and to foster a culture of respect and psychological safety at sea.

The campaign, echoed across international maritime media, called on shipping companies, regulators and crews to move beyond pledges and translate awareness into protection, training and reporting mechanisms.

At the same time, Cyprus-based maritime stakeholders have increasingly linked respectful onboard culture with broader safety outcomes.

Speaking earlier this year, Columbia Group executives stressed that an open culture onboard vessels is vital to safer operations, stronger communication and crew wellbeing.

Cyprus recorded one of the highest job vacancy rates in the European Union in the third quarter of 2025, despite a general easing of labour demand across Europe, according to figures released by Eurostat to track labour market conditions.

Eurostat said the job vacancy rate in Cyprus stood at 3.0 per cent in the third quarter of 2025, placing the country fifth among EU member states with comparable data and well above both the euro area and EU averages.

Across the euro area, the job vacancy rate fell to 2.1 per cent in the third quarter of 2025, down from 2.3 per cent in the second quarter of 2025 and from 2.5 per cent in the same quarter of 2024.

Inflation in Cyprus remained low in November, with the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices rising by just 0.1 per cent year-on-year, according to data released by the Statistical Service (Cystat) on Wednesday.

The service also that said the index fell by 1.1 per cent when compared with October 2025.

Recreation and culture recorded the strongest annual increase at 5.1 per cent, followed by restaurants and hotels, which rose by 4.5 per cent. Education also posted a notable rise of 3.2 per cent.

By contrast, clothing and footwear registered the largest annual decline, dropping by 7.5 per cent. Housing, water supply, electricity and gas fell by 2.6 per cent, while transport and communication each declined by 1.5 per cent.