The government has spent 89 million euros to date on state industrial estates, Commerce and Industry Minister Michalis Damianos has told parliament. It also spends substantial funds every year maintaining infrastructure such as road resurfacing, pavement repairs and the upkeep of green spaces and common areas.
Damianos made the comments in a written reply to a question from DISY Famagusta MP Nikos Georgiou.
Between 2026 and 2029, the ministry plans to spend a further 5.775 million euros on two support projects: 2.975 million euros for part of the main road at the Monagrouli industrial zone, and 2.8 million euros for a bridge linking the Tremithousa industrial zone with the Paphos industrial area at Mesogi.
The ministry is also carrying out separate modernisation work, including fencing off the Strovolos industrial estate to improve security, Damianos said.
The Town Planning and Housing Department draws up a regulatory plan to establish each industrial estate, Damianos explained. This creates industrial plots served by a full road network and utilities such as water, electricity and telephone lines. Companies or individuals that meet the relevant criteria can then lease these plots.
Town planning zones set out how land can be used and developed, Damianos said. Local Plans or Policy Statements define industrial and craft zones, and developing them falls to District Local Government Organisations (DLGOs) and Local Authorities, working alongside the Interior Ministry.
However, Damianos said, the Commerce Ministry applies government policy to help develop these zones through financial support. Under this policy, the ministry expropriates the land needed for a zone’s road network, as recommended by the Town Planning Department. It then covers the costs of building access roads where none exist, relocating electricity, water and telephone networks to the zone’s boundaries, asphalting the main road axis, and laying out the internal road network to a passable standard.
Before any such infrastructure project can go ahead, the relevant Local Authority must commission the necessary studies at its own expense, working with other relevant services, and submit both construction plans and a cost estimate. If a project is expected to cost more than 2 million euros, the Local Authority must also prepare a Project Note for approval by the General Directorate of Development, Damianos said.
