Eurobank on Thursday opened a representative office in Mumbai, becoming the first bank from southeastern Europe to operate such a service in India.

A ceremony was held to mark the occasion at the city’s Taj Mahal Palace hotel, with Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides saying that it is “particularly fitting that this inauguration takes place here in Mumbai – a city that reflects India’s strength, global outlook and spirit of creativity”.

“It is therefore no coincidence that Eurobank has chosen Mumbai for this very important step. The opening of the office here is a reflection of the confidence and the strategic vision in the growing potential of the partnership between India, Cyprus and Greece,” he said.

He added that “at the same time, it is a tangible step forward in the steadily growing economic partnership between the three countries”.

TechIsland chairman Valentinos Polykarpou said Cyprus’ transformation into a technology hub is no longer an aspiration but “a fact”, as he called for a broader investment in people to ensure the country does not leave parts of society behind in the AI era.

During his opening address at the TechIsland Summit in Limassol, Polykarpou linked Cyprus’ progress as a tech destination with the challenge of making science, technology, engineering and mathematics accessible beyond the traditional boundaries of the sector.

“A decade ago, if you told someone that Cyprus would become a global technology hub, a place where international companies come to build, where top talent chooses to relocate, where the ICT sector would drive national growth, many would have smiled politely,” he said.

Today, however, he said that “the vision of a tech island is no longer a vision. It is a fact”. For TechIsland, he added, “this is a major achievement”.

Polykarpou said the association was founded in 2021 by people from the private sector who shared the ambition of helping turn Cyprus into a tech island. Five years later, he said, TechIsland has grown into an organisation of more than 400 companies, with 52 per cent local Cypriot firms and 48 per cent international businesses, ranging from startups and SMEs to multinational corporations.

KPMG Cyprus partner Christophoros Anayiotos said Cyprus’ technology sector has moved from the margins of the economy to one of its strongest engines of growth, contributing €5.9 billion, 16.2 per cent of GDP, in 2025.

Speaking during his keynote address at the TechIsland Summit on Thursday, titled ‘The Impact of Tech and Innovation in Cyprus’, Anayiotos presented KPMG’s 2025 economic impact assessment of the sector, setting out its contribution to GDP, employment, investment and Cyprus’ wider competitiveness.

The figures, he said, show a sector that is no longer emerging, but already central to the country’s economic model.

According to the assessment, “The Tech sector’s total Gross Value Added (GVA) in Cyprus for 2025 was €5.5 bln, representing 17 per cent of country’s total GVA.”

Cyprus’ growing technology sector may be struggling to find skilled workers, but one of its largest untapped talent pools is already inside the system, speakers said during a panel discussion on women in STEM and technology.

The panel, titled ‘The Untapped Talent’, was held at the Doers Summit in Limassol, as part of the ‘STEM for All’ initiative, organised by TechIsland and Women in Tech Cyprus.

Moderated by Anna Gurina, Revenue and Partnerships Leader in Tech and Partnerships Director at Women in Tech Cyprus, the discussion brought together Gender Equality Commissioner Josie Christodoulou, Women in Tech Global Founder and CEO Ayumi Moore Aoki, and IMR / University of Nicosia CEO Christina Kokkalou. 

Opening the discussion, Gurina said the debate was taking place at a time when two very different conversations are happening at once. On the one hand, there are growing fears that artificial intelligence will take jobs. On the other, companies building teams say they cannot find enough skilled people to fill the roles already being created. 

“There is a talent shortage. A real one,” Gurina said. 

That contradiction, she said, is where the discussion begins. For Cyprus, it points to a pool of women who have already gone through the education system and entered the workforce, but who often leave before reaching senior roles or long-term growth opportunities. 

“This isn’t just a ‘what a shame’ story,” she said, adding that “unrealised potential has a price tag”.

Cyprus has moved beyond talking about becoming a technology hub, but its next challenge is harder: turning new AI infrastructure, global partnerships and university-led research into companies that can compete internationally.

That was the central message of a panel discussion titled ‘Cyprus’ Innovation Bet’, held as part of STEM for All by TechIsland and Women in Tech Cyprus at the Pentagon Stage of the Doers Summit.

The panel, moderated by Tanya Romanyukha, General Manager of TechIsland, brought together Konstantinos Kleovoulou, Director of Research and Innovation at the Deputy Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digital Policy, Antonis Polemitis, CEO of the University of Nicosia, and Alfredo Gomez Soria, Regional Director EMEA at Plug and Play.

Opening the discussion, Romanyukha said Cyprus is no longer discussing the possibility of becoming a tech hub, but the reality now being built on the island.

Europe’s regulatory approach to technology came under scrutiny in Limassol this week, as policymakers and industry figures warned that the bloc risks falling further behind the United States and Asia unless it simplifies rules and helps companies scale faster.

The discussion took place during the panel ‘Regulate or Accelerate? Europe’s Approach to Innovation’, held as part of STEM for All by TechIsland and Women in Tech Cyprus at the Pentagon Stage of the Doers Summit at Kolla Culture Factory.

Moderated by Peter Kofler, chairman of Danish Entrepreneurs, the panel brought together Kyriaki Pantziarou, director of the Directorate of Digital Policy and Communications at the Deputy Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digital Policy, Eugenia Bozou, head of government affairs and public policy for Greece, Cyprus and Malta at Google, and Nikolas Chatziavraam, CEO of Zygos.

Opening the discussion, Kofler said Europe was at a critical point, with around 80 per cent of digital regulation affecting countries such as Denmark and Cyprus coming from Brussels. For the past decade, he said, Europe had operated under the belief that regulation would create a safe and predictable environment for innovation.

Keith Witek, Chief Operating Officer of Tenstorrent, said sovereignty in the age of artificial intelligence is no longer only a political or regulatory question, but a practical question of which technology capabilities a country can control, operate, secure and use to create differentiated value.

Speaking during a keynote speech titled ‘Sovereignty in the Age of AI’ at the Doers Summit in Limassol, Witek said AI is forcing countries to rethink what sovereignty means in a world increasingly shaped by infrastructure, chips, platforms, computing power and global technology supply chains.

Every major computing revolution, from the mainframe to the cloud, expanded access to more people, he said.

AI, however, may be different.

Witek warned that it could become the first computing revolution to reverse that trend by concentrating power in the hands of those who own the infrastructure.

The European Commission on Thursday released a report forecasting a slowdown in Cyprus’ economic growth alongside rising inflation, as the Middle East conflict triggers a fresh energy shock.

In its Spring 2026 Economic Forecast, the commission said that Cyprus entered the crisis on a strong footing, supported by solid economic performance in 2025, but warned that the conflict’s impact is expected to be felt in the short term through higher inflation and increased uncertainty.

Headline inflation in Cyprus is projected to rise to 3.6 per cent in 2026, before easing to 2.2 per cent in 2027, reflecting a surge in energy prices followed by gradual normalisation.

Economic growth is expected to moderate, with real GDP forecast to expand by 2.3 per cent in 2026 and 2.7 per cent in 2027, down from 3.8 per cent growth recorded in 2025.

Cyprus is to open a trade centre in Mumbai, President Nikos Christodoulides announced on Thursday, with the centre set to open its doors in September.

“As part of our ongoing efforts to deepen economic and business ties between Cyprus and India, I am delighted to announced today our decision for the establishment of a Cyprus trade centre in Mumbai,” he told the day’s Cyprus-India business forum.

He said that the centre “is designed to function as a hub for business connectivity”, and as such will assist Indian companies in “exploring opportunities in Cyprus and across Europe”.

This, he said, will “encourage partnerships with Cypriot enterprises and facilitate access to the European Union through a stable, transparent, and fully EU-compliant business environment”.

The Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) on Thursday announced that it completed the fifth cycle of its school financial literacy lectures, recording strong participation and growing interest from students and educators across Cyprus, according to a press release issued in Nicosia.

The initiative, which ran between March and May 2026, saw CySEC officers deliver 18 lectures in schools across all districts, reaching a total of 3,450 students from primary, lower secondary and upper secondary education.

CySEC said the programme has gained steady momentum year-on-year, with demand this year increasingly driven not only by schools but also directly by students themselves.

Cyprus-based entrepreneur Yannik Schmidt-Grimm, founder of dreamfactory Hospitality and guest automation platform Foyera, has outlined how building from Paphos shaped his company’s strategy, scaling approach and technological focus, as the group expands across Europe.

Speaking to the Cyprus Mail, the ambitious founder said that relocating to Paphos provided a rare operating environment that allowed him to focus on execution rather than external pressures.

“Paphos gave me something most startup environments don’t, clarity,” he said.

“No distractions, no investor pressure, no networking noise, you just build,” he added.

He explained that Cyprus’ legal and tax framework, combined with EU membership, offered a stable base for operating across multiple European markets.

“The legal framework is solid, the tax environment is serious, and EU membership means every contract operates on familiar ground,” he said.

Global banking conglomerate HSBC this week released an investment report estimating that Greek banks remain among the primary beneficiaries of a more stringent monetary policy framework from the European Central Bank (ECB).

According to a report from Greek business outlet Insider, the financial institution has integrated into its macroeconomic models a total of three upcoming interest rate hikes amounting to a 75 basis point cumulative increase during the second half of 2026, which will precede a gradual monetary policy reversal in 2027.

Market strategists note that the high sensitivity of Greek bank balance sheets to changing benchmarks continues to significantly shore up net interest income across the Mediterranean country.

The underlying strength stems from the fact that between 45 per cent to 60 per cent of all interest-bearing assets are funded by low-cost sight and savings deposits, while the vast majority of local loan portfolios are structured on variable floating rates.

Cyprus recorded a year-on-year inflation rate of 3 per cent in April 2026, according to a report from Eurostat, as price pressures accelerated across the euro area and European Union.

The figure marks a sharp increase from 1.5 per cent in March 2026 and 1.4 per cent in April 2025, highlighting a clear upward trend in consumer prices on the island.

Across the euro area, annual inflation rose to 3.0 per cent in April 2026, up from 2.6 per cent in March, while standing significantly above the 2.2 per cent recorded a year earlier.

For the wider EU, inflation reached 3.2 per cent in April 2026, increasing from 2.8 per cent in March and compared with 2.4 per cent in April 2025, underlining a broad-based rise in price levels across the bloc.

Cyprus recorded a 51 per cent uptake of e-business applications in 2025, placing it close to the European Union average, according to a report from Eurostat.

Across the EU, just over half of enterprises, 53 per cent, used specialised e-business software, including enterprise resource planning, customer relationship management and business intelligence tools.

The figures highlight Cyprus’ alignment with broader European digitalisation trends, although adoption still trails leading countries.

Among member states, the highest adoption rates were recorded in Denmark and Finland at 73 per cent, followed by Belgium and the Netherlands at 70 per cent, and Spain at 66 per cent.

By contrast, the lowest levels were seen in Bulgaria at 31 per cent, Romania at 32 per cent and Slovakia at 34 per cent, illustrating a wide digital divide across the bloc.