Seven Norwegian partners, representing four out a total of six projects with Norwegian partners, were in Nicosia for a workshop on Monday 12th and a seminar the following morning. The workshop was hosted by the National Focal Point of the Planning Bureau of Cyprus, while the Norwegian Embassy hosted the seminar.
The seminar was aimed at informing the Norwegian partners about the history of Cyprus and civil society on the island, as well as strengthening the relations with their Cypriot counterparts.
PRIO presentation
The seminar was opened by First Secretary Knut-Are Okstad and the Consul General Panayiotis Antoniadis. Okstad spoke about how the Embassy can assist the partners in the process of implementing their projects.
The opening remarks were followed by three PRIO speakers. Director in Cyprus, Greg Reichberg, briefed about PRIO’s history, the political situation on the island and the relationship between the Greek and Turkisk communities.
Ayla Gruel continued after Mr Reichberg and spoke about the history of conflict between the two communities. The presentation started a discussion between Ms Gruel and Consul General Antioniadis, which showed some of disagreements that exist on the island.
Successful lunch
This little incident one must say gave the Norwegian visitors valuable insight in the complexity and touchiness of the conflict. “An experience like this says more than a thousand words”, said one of the participants.
Maria Papacosta from KPMG rounded off the seminar by talking about how her company sees corporate responsibility in Cyprus.
At the following lunch, some of the Norwegians got to meet their Cypriot partners. This was one of the main objectives of the day, and had it not been that most had to leave early to catch their plane back to Norway, the lunch could have easily continued onto dinner.