As you are probably aware , Cyprus is an established location for the Shipping industry and it ' s being used as a base for the operations and in some cases the headquartering of shipping companies or other industries , especially in the Forex domain . As a major global maritime hub , Cyprus is considered as one of the most reliable and competitive shipping centers normally in terms of services , and I would like to re-emphasize our commitment for the quality of our services , not just our tax incentives that we sometimes overemphasize . Cyprus is a very attractive place and this can be used as a base for international businesses . Cyber-security is high on our agenda , not just for protecting at a local level the systems and the operations but also for exporting jointly together . Global business can benefit from knowledge and implementations that can make a business safe and secure . Through Cyprus you have access to the European markets , to more than 40 EU trade agreements and it is a business friendly country with a hig quality of life . Cyprus is also the largest third-party shipmanagement center in the European Union , the second worldwide and the 3rd largest merchant fleet in the EU . So these are all good reasons why you should be in Cyprus .
I will now , introduce an initiative , that we are about to roll out in the beginning of September 2020 . Our initial plan was to kick this off in March but unfortunately due to the pandemic our priorities forced us to reshuffle our activities . It is called the International Maritime Ecosystem for Cybersecurity , the IMEC initiative . Where , we are working together with the Commissioner and our agencies in Cyprus and the Ministry for developing effective collaboration between the country and industry . What is this all about ? The first aspect is the Innovation and Technology , bringing together business partners and startups to produce innovative cybersecurity solutions in the maritime sector . The second aspect is the Policies and Regulatory Framework that goes beyond the generic framework and is industry specific . This includes legal policy regulatory aspects according to NIS Directive , as well as other requirements necessary to create a certification program . Following , Training & Education , a very important aspect , which focuses on the transfer of cyber security knowledge to industry professionals and to the young people through education programs by promoting Certification , and The fourth pillar is based on Information Sharing and analysis . How we build and how we share knowledge between your industry ecosystem at private to private but also private to public sector . Our plan is to encourage through specific programs , that we will announce , research on how we can apply AI and analytics and data sciences on the development of this information systems that are focusing on knowledge sharing and analytical tools .
Therefore , we are inviting all startup companies that want to focus on maritime cyber-security businesses , research development centers to join us . We are also encouraging Venture Capital Funds and Private Funds to invest in these companies . The government will provide the seed funding and we will announce programs in this domain . Additionally , we also aim to attract technology companies specialising on the cyber-security domain . What are the recipients of the IMEC output ? Ports and Terminal , Shipping Lines , Ship agencies and Ship Owners , academia , will play a very important role in this initiative , through local and global collaboration . There is a Center of excellence in Cyprus , in the shipping industry , that has been co-funded by the European Commission and national funds and cyber security will be one of its main domains of interest .
To summarise our commitment as a country is , to further support the Shipping industry on cyber-security matters . The Deputy Ministry is ready to discuss any ideas , suggestions or needs that you may have . I place the Ministry and myself at your disposal , for future collaboration and discussion .
Thank you very much .
3 / 3