Cypriots living in London are being visited by their President next week offering them generous tax incentives to return home and boost the island’s growing economy.
The strategy – dubbed the ‘Brain Gain’ – is backed up with pledges of help with education, housing and free healthcare to lure skilled workers among Britain’s 300,000-strong diaspora.
President Nikos Christodoulides will address more than 600 people gathered at the Guildhall to announce the scheme.
A bill has been submitted to Parliament that would grant a 25% tax exemption, capped at £21,225 (€25,000) for professionals returning home after working abroad for seven years following their studies.
As well as scientists and entrepreneurs the government is hoping to attract tech experts to work in its booming ICT sector which now accounts for a greater share of GDP than tourism on the holiday island.
Earlier this month a presidential delegation to Silicon Valley held meetings with Amazon, Oracle, Google OpenAI, Plug and Play, Nvidia and Tenstorrent for firms to set up tech hubs in the Eastern Mediterranean.
At 3.4% Cyprus’ growth was among the highest in the euro area in 2024, supported by foreign investment and strong tourism numbers. Growth is expected to be around 2.5% this year and 3% in the medium term, according to the IMF.
Talking about the Talent Repatriation Plan, a government spokesman said: “For the campaign to go from brain drain to brain gain, we will be going to London for the first meeting that will be held for this purpose on May 21st. A meeting in which we will be accompanied by Cypriot and foreign businessmen who will talk to us about the economy, about the great effort we are making to expand the productive base of our economy.
“We will also have with us Cypriots who worked abroad and chose to return to Cyprus to talk about their experience of returning to Cyprus.
“The strengthening of tax incentives in a targeted manner is not just a tool to attract talent from abroad; it is an act of political substance that sends the message that the Republic of Cyprus invests in its people, in the talent of our compatriots and actively seeks to repatriate Cypriots with valuable experience, expertise and knowledge.
“At a time when economic conditions in Cyprus remain consistently favourable and macroeconomic indicators are boosting confidence in the country’s progress, we are creating attractive and competitive prospects for the return and utilisation of human capital that was once forced to seek opportunities abroad.
“Of particular importance is the fact that this initiative has no direct budgetary cost, as it is targeted exclusively at new taxpayers, strengthening the tax base in the medium term and adding long-term value to fiscal stability.”
Estonia, Ireland, Romania and Poland have all launched campaigns in recent years to attract tech talent home, with Warsaw currently the leading producer of STEM graduates in Europe.
Cyprus recorded £2.67bn in foreign direct investment for 2023, according to Invest Cyprus, the agency tasked with driving investments to the island.
This included the creation of over 2,500 jobs with over 800 technology companies now operating there.
Marios Tannousis, Chief Executive of Invest Cyprus, said: “We know there is a lot of tech talent among the Cyprus diaspora living in the UK and we are hoping that our generous incentive scheme will attract many of them to come home to work in the sector, which is booming and with their help can continue to grow”.
