Many thought that Ambassador Panayi might be a non-resident ambassador as Cyprus has no embassy in Jakarta. So far the Cyprus Embassy in Canberra has covered Indonesia.

“Cyprus has decided to open an embassy in Jakarta. Ambassador Panayi is its first ambassador to Indonesia,” Indonesian Foreign Ministry’s director for West European Affairs Dewa Made J. Sastrawan told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.

After the credentials ceremony, the Post contacted Panayi for further details.

“Today [Tuesday] I officially became the ambassador of the Republic of Cyprus in Indonesia. It’s my main duty to open the embassy and strengthen our relations further. Right now, I am working from my residence in the Menteng area,” Panayi told the Post.

The embassy will be located in Kuningan in South Jakarta very soon, Panayi said.

When asked about the reason why Cyprus had decided to open an embassy in Indonesia, Panayi said Cyprus and Indonesia had historical links.

“Our first president [Archibishop] Makarios attended the first Bandung Conference in 1955. Later we became a member of the Non-Aligned Movement. Since then, we have had friendly ties with Indonesia,” Panayi said.

The response, Panayi continued, from the Indonesian government was very positive.

“I am very glad to be here. I am relying on both the Indonesian government and its people for my success as the first ambassador of my country,” Panayi said.

The bilateral trade between the two countries reached US$15.74 million in 2008, a 20 percent increase from $12.68 million in 2007.

Cyprus, an Eurasian island nation of less than one million people, is a member of the European Union. It is also the third-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea (after Sicily and Sardinia) and a major tourist destination in that part of the world.

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