Ομιλητές

Zeta Emilianidou was born in Nicosia. She holds a law degree from the Aristotelion University of Thessaloniki and a Diploma in Marketing Management from the Cyprus Institute of Marketing. She succeeded in the Cyprus Bar Examinations and was registered as a lawyer in 1978.

She was first appointed in the Department of Customs and Excise of the Republic of Cyprus in 1979 and has worked in almost all its sections. From 1988 – 1992 she worked as a member of the team that drafted the legislation for the V.A.T. and was then appointed as a Senior V.A.Τ. Officer, in 1992 and in 1996 as Chief Customs and Excise Officer.

From August 15, 2001 until March 14, 2 010 she was Director General of the Department of Customs and Excise, as well as V.A.T. Commissioner, prior to which she had been appointed as Acting Director General of the Department of Customs and Excise and V.A.T. Commissioner since May 2, 2000. She was also a member of the Board of Directors of the Ports Authority of Cyprus.

She was responsible for the implementation of the acquis communautaire with regard to Customs and Excise during the Cyprus – EU Negotiations that resulted in Cyprus’ accession to the European Union on May 1, 2004. She was also head of the team that drafted the current legislation of the Customs and Excise. In addition she was the author of a book, titled ‘The Value Added Tax in Cyprus”, which was published in 1992, when the first law on Value Added Tax was enacted in Cyprus.

From March 15, 2010 until April 2, 2013, she was appointed as Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism. During this period, she was responsible for the completion of the Second Round of hydrocarbon exploration licensing offshore Cyprus. She was the Chairperson of the Advisory Committee, which by law had the responsibility of evaluating the applications of the companies that expressed an interest, which eventually led to the signing of contracts for 5 blocks of the Exclusive Economic Zone of the Republic of Cyprus.

During her service, the Ministry dealt with issues concerning the gradual diversification of the energy balance of the country, to include natural gas and renewable energies, the attraction of foreign investments, support for small and medium-sized enterprises and the strengthening of entrepreneurship.

Equally, priority was given to topics related to competition, consumer protection, development of technology and encouraging innovation, creating supporting infrastructures for the development and modernisation of the business environment, protection of intellectual property rights, support and development of industry and promotion of exports of goods and services. Particular emphasis was given to the implementation of the development strategy for tourism including the issues of promotion of nautical tourism, with the development of marinas and the creation of new golf courses.

She was the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism during the period of the Presidency of the Republic of Cyprus of the Council of the European Union and she was also Chairperson of the Energy Foundation of Cyprus and the Special Fund for Renewable Energy and Energy Saving.

On the 3rd of April 2013 she was appointed by the President of the Republic, as Minister of Labour and Social Insurance of the Republic of Cyprus.