CHINESE investors aim to pour one-and-a-half billion euros into Cyprus, the President was told yesterday.
President Nicos Anastasiades received a delegation of the Hong Kong-based company ‘China Glory National Investment’ which is investing in the Venus Rock Golf Resort project in Ha Potami, in the district of Paphos.
The delegation was headed by Chinese investor Charles Zhang and businessman Theodoros Aristodemou of Aristo Developers Ltd, one of the largest developers in Cyprus.
Earlier this month Aristo Developers and Venus Rock Estates Ltd, subsidiaries of real estate investment firm Dolphin Capital Investors, sold their interest in the golf resort to the Hong Kong investors for €290 million.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Aristodemou said the Chinese investors have confidence in Cyprus and want to invest in other projects as well, though he declined to give further details.
“The whole investment will reach about one-and-a-half billion euros and instantly have multiple benefits, both with regard to employment on completion of the project and in direct revenue in terms of taxes, direct and indirect,” he said.
“At this stage it may be around €40 million but by project completion it may reach €400 million.”
Aristodemou said the investment is extremely important to Cyprus because it sends a message abroad that the country can still attract foreign investments despite the financial crisis.
For his part, Charles Zhang said the company sees great potential in Cyprus:
“After we studied Cyprus, we realised that there are very good prospects for investment.”
He added that the President gave his full support to the investment, noting that “for the project in which we are investing we are using a local workforce as much as we can.”
The project will include two golf courses, a five-star hotel, two community sports centres, a commercial and leisure component – as well as luxury private homes.
The sale to the Hong Kong investors comprises all the plots and land, all permits and licenses granted, all related machinery and stock, and all the contracts and other agreements relating to the project’s development.
The agreed purchase price for the sale of the sellers’ interest in Venus Rock amounts in aggregate to €290 million and comprises a fixed consideration of €241.5 million and a conditional deferred consideration of €48.5 million.
The €290 million price tag represents around 22 per cent discount to its latest valuation of €370 million as at December 31, 2012.
Oh. The Chinese are coming again are they?
How many times have we heard this only for it to fall on stony ground. Its all starting to wear a bit thin. Reading the other report attached its now the Russians, Chinese and the Church that are teaming up. A partnership everybody needs to keep clear of.
I do wish the headlines and stories would stop using the confusing blanket term ‘Chinese’. Like Dolphin, these are Hong Kong Chinese and not representing the People’s Republic of China! Big difference.
I’m not suggesting that there is anything wrong with investment by HK companies but I am sure that when these stories scream ‘Chinese’ the average Cypriot imagines that it’s the 1.4bn putonghua speakers of the PRC on the mainland and not the 7m Cantonese speakers in the HK SAR. Thus far, these potential investments are all sourced in HK.