Gold Magazine February - March 2013, Issue 23

COVER STORY MARIA IACOVIDOU Vice President, Barclays Bank Plc- Cyprus Intermediaries & International Banking CHRYSI MEMTSA Head of Treasury, Cooperative Central Bank Good professionals of either sex should be given every opportunity to develop, grow and contribute. CHANGE: It is very important to improve Cyprus’s reputation as an international business centre and first we should reduce bureaucracy and enforce transparency in the public sector. and mothers too. We are multi-task individuals by nature but I believe that the key is for women and men to work together and thus complement each other. CHANGE: We need to change the international perception that Cyprus is a tax haven through better international communication. MARIA A. PAPACOSTA SUSANA POYIADJIS BOARD MEMBER, KPMG LTD In the past, men were the majority in our profession but this is changing, as evidenced by the numbers of women in key positions in the sector and new recruits. However, I believe that gender is irrelevant. The important thing is to provide best quality services and solutions to clients. Because women see things from a different perspective they complement men to form very strong teams. CHANGE: We must improve collaboration between the public and private sectors to increase efficiency regarding services provided to the public. ELENA DEMETRIOU DIRECTOR, KYPRIANIDES, NICOLAOU & ECONOMIDES LTD - CHARTERED ACCOUNTANTS More and more women are qualifying as chartered accountants and either stay in the profession or pursue other careers based on their education, knowledge and experience gained through the profession. Women have proved that they can be successful professionals PARTNER, NEXIA POYIADJIS, CHARTERED ACCOUNTANTS Despite large numbers of women within the workforce, disproportionately few reach senior levels but there is good reason to be optimistic. EU legislation is currently being discussed that aims to have women representing at least 40% of corporate boards by 2020. Since women and men have different and complementary experiences, knowledge and skills, gender diversity inevitably boosts creativity and innovation. CHANGE: The most important thing at present is to ‘brand’ and market Cyprus internationally as a reputable and respected international business centre, using foreign ‘ambassadors’. ANDROULLA PITTAS PARTNER, HEAD OF FINANCIAL ASSURANCE SERVICES, NICOSIA OFFICE, PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS LTD The ac countancy profession has traditionally been male-dominated at MARIA DIONYSSIADES General Manager/ Executive Director, Emporiki Bank Cyprus Ltd, Credit Agricole Group partner level but, as a whole, it is fairly equally balanced between men and women. Research supports the view that the more successful corporations have mixed gender boards and senior management and I believe that we will also see increased participation by women at the more senior levels. CHANGE: We should give incentives to reputable international organisations to move to Cyprus. That would be the best acknowledgement of the benefits and advantages that Cyprus has to offer over other jurisdictions. BANKING MARIA IACOVIDOU VICE PRESIDENT, BARCLAYS BANK PLC-CYPRUS INTERMEDIARIES & INTERNATIONAL BANKING The banking /financial services sector is dominated by men and very few women hold top management positions or have Executive Director positions. I am happy, however, to see that the situation is changing, albeit more slowly than I would like. Women are more perceptive, they have intuition, they are proficient at multi-tasking and often perform better under pressure. CHANGE: The State and the private sector should jointly create a task force to formulate a strategy to put Cyprus on the global map of international business/financial centres. 24 Gold THE INTERNATIONAL INVESTMENT, FINANCE & PROFESSIONAL SERVICES MAGAZINE OF CYPRUS cover_story.indd 24 01/02/2013 13:44

Gold Magazine February - March 2013, Issue 23 | Page 26