The Ambassador of Saudi Arabia in Cyprus, H.E. Mr. Khaled Al-Sharif, visited The Cyprus Institute’s premises in Nicosia, to discuss the possibility of cooperation in areas with common interest, as well as to reinforce the existing collaboration between Saudi Arabia stakeholders including the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture, the Ministry of Energy, the Centre of Excellence for Climate Change Research (CECCR) at King Abdulaziz University, the Prince Sultan Institute for Environmental, and Desert Research at King Saud University Institutions, and The Cyprus Institute.

Hosting the meeting which held on Friday, 9th of December 2022, was CyI President Prof. Costas N. Papanicolas, who also had the chance to introduce the Institute’s new President-elect Prof. Stavros Malas, who assumes his duties in February 2023.

Present at the discussion were CyI Director of Energy, Environment and Water Research Centre (EEWRC) Prof. Fadi Comair, Director of the Climate and Atmosphere Research Centre (CARE-C), Prof. Jean Sciare, CyI Interim Director of Science and Technology in Archaeology and Culture Research Centre (STARC), Prof. Michel Menu, and CyI Assoc. Prof. George Biskos.

After a briefing on the Institute’s activities, followed by broad discussion regarding the Cyprus Climate Change Initiative (EMME-CCI), the contribution of Cyprus in the regional efforts for tackling Climate Crisis, and the latest updates of Summit at COP27 in Sharm El-Sheik, Prof. Fadi presented about the Hydro-diplomacy Partnership Programme (HPP), the 2nd Cyprus World Water Day Event, the Green Saudi Initiative (SGI), and the Middle East Green Initiative, with a focus on potential linkage between SGI and EMME-CCI.
The prospect of a joint Research Program and the Signing of and MoU for a Saudi-Cyprus post Graduate Students exchange programme and a Saudi-Cyprus Cultural and Heritage Cooperation (Al-Ula Saudi Arabia’s first UNESCO World Heritage site), were also discussed.

The Saudi Arabian diplomat’s visit was successfully rounded-up with a guided tour of selected CyI laboratories and research facilities, including the Andreas Pittas Art Characterization Laboratories (APAC Labs), the Unmanned Systems Research Laboratory (USRL) and the Linear Fresnel Facility.

Finally, the Ambassador of Saudi Arabia expressed his gratitude for the opportunity to visit The Cyprus Institute and congratulated the CyI administration and researchers for their innovative research and achievements.