MENA investors eye Limassol as second home destination
Offering unique business benefits and enabling access to the EU market, Limassol — located on Cyprus’ south coast — is fast attracting investments from across the MENA region. Many are also purchasing property to make Cyprus their summer home while taking advantage of the country’s permanent residency program.
Sales at Leptos Estates’ latest, high-end development Limassol Blu Marine, have now totaled €100 million ($105.4 million), 30 percent of which have been generated from buyers from the Middle East, including residents from the UAE (7 percent), Jordan (6), Qatar (4 percent), Egypt (4 percent), Kuwait (3 percent) and Saudi Arabia (2 percent).
Limassol is the second largest city in Cyprus and is renowned for its entrepreneurship, with many firms in the service, financial, technology and healthcare sectors flourishing. The introduction of the Fast Track Business Activation Mechanism, the employment of third-country nationals, work permits for spouses, huge savings on corporate and personal taxes, access to EU markets and digital nomad visas are all attracting companies from the Middle East to this uniquely connected and positioned country.
MENA-based businesses looking to expand their operations to Cyprus can enjoy office spaces in Limassol Blu Marine, a development in the heart of the city, which provides luxury residencies and open offices in one spot. The huge development is generating a new prime location for the city and is part of a wider plan that will oversee upwards of 1.5 km of multimilliondollar infrastructure investment, rivaling the regeneration of the French Riviera.
The new neighborhood of Aktaia Odos has been master-planned with state-of-the-art residential and commercial properties, mixed
with attractive tourism and leisure options that sit in green spaces, with bicycle lanes and pedestrian walkways. The area, in accordance with the strategy of the Cyprus Investment and Promotion Agency, is set to become a hub for international headquarters, with some 14,000 new jobs being created.
Pantelis Leptos, co-president of Leptos Group of Companies, said: “Limassol offers a robust environment for business, a diverse work
force and is a strong international center of business with links to the UK, Middle East and Western Europe. At Limassol Blu Marine, we offer not only brand-new office space looking out over the Mediterranean Sea, but also high-quality apartments for employers and their employees to rent or buy. It is in the ‘center of everything’ and is now touted as ‘Europe’s New Rivera’.”
In addition, Cyprus offers a variety
of leisure activities and Limassol enjoys a vibrant shopping and dining scene, and an array of cafes and lounges to cater to all tastes. Considered a popular hotspot for affluent visitors from the Middle East, Limassol Marina is a luxury superyacht marina with a brand new cruise and ferry terminal and golf courses; it was awarded the “5 Gold Anchor Platinum Award” in 2019, the highest honor a marina can receive.