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Larnaca Port And Marina Set For A New Development Era Under €415 Million Roadmap

Larnaca’s port and marina could enter a new phase of development under a €415 million long-term proposal unveiled by the Cyprus Ports Authority (CPA), which aims to transform the city’s waterfront into an integrated coastal district through a mix of public investment, municipal participation and private-sector partnerships.

The proposed roadmap, valued at €415 million, plus or minus 50%, would be implemented over 20 years and seeks to unlock two state-owned assets that have remained largely underutilised following three unsuccessful attempts to attract private investors.

Beyond upgrading the port and marina, the plan includes the redevelopment of around 85,000 square metres of land and the integration of Finikoudes with the former refinery area into a continuous waterfront featuring public spaces, pedestrian routes, cycling paths, squares and leisure facilities.

A Single Master Plan For An Integrated Coastal District

The CPA would retain ownership of the assets while inviting private investment through partnership agreements. Development would follow a single master plan built around three priorities:

  • redevelopment of the marina’s surrounding land;
  • expansion and upgrade of the marina;
  • modernization and long-term development of the commercial port.

The roadmap covers the period from 2027 to 2045 and begins with the preparation of a master plan, sustainability studies and consultations with local stakeholders. An architectural competition and Concept Master Plan would then establish the overall framework for the project.

The authority noted that all cost estimates remain indicative and could vary by as much as 50% until the master plan is completed.

Land Development Marks The First Phase

The redevelopment of land surrounding the marina and port represents the largest visible transformation for residents and visitors. Budgeted at approximately €190 million, the programme covers both the existing marina site and neighbouring land extending towards the port.

Early works would focus on improving public spaces, relocating the existing shipyards, upgrading road infrastructure and creating new parking facilities. Later phases envisage hotels, office buildings, restaurants, exhibition venues, sports facilities, cultural projects and other commercial developments delivered largely through concession agreements with private investors.

Marina Expansion Focuses On Capacity

The marina component carries an estimated budget of €20 million and is designed to increase capacity by 150 to 200 berths under the Growth Fund’s Scenario 2 proposal.

The programme includes maintenance of existing infrastructure, construction of a new services building, expansion of the breakwater, a new southern quay wall and additional floating docks.

Port Modernization Forms The Largest Investment

At an estimated €205 million, the port redevelopment accounts for almost half of the overall programme.

Initial investment would focus on upgrading equipment, infrastructure networks and existing facilities while maintaining uninterrupted operations. Later phases include new passenger and administrative buildings, demolition of obsolete warehouses, construction of new quay walls, expansion of commercial berths and the creation of a new harbour basin capable of accommodating both cargo and passenger vessels.

A Long-Term Vision For Larnaca

If approved, the proposal would reshape one of Cyprus’ most strategically important coastal areas over the next two decades.

By combining transport infrastructure, commercial development and public spaces under a single master plan, the CPA aims to transform Larnaca’s port and marina into an integrated waterfront district capable of supporting tourism, investment, business activity and urban regeneration.

The Forbes Global 2000 Added $30 Trillion. AI Drove The Repricing

The 24th annual Forbes Global 2000 records highs in sales, profits, assets and market value. But there is one number that stands out from the rest.

The combined market value of 2,000 of the world’s largest public companies jumped 31.8% this year, adding more than $30 trillion (approximately €27.8 trillion) in shareholder value in the last twelve months.

Combined sales reached $56 trillion (approximately €51.9 trillion), up 6%. Profits climbed 13.9% to $5.5 trillion (approximately €5.1 trillion). Assets grew 12.9% to $272 trillion (approximately €252 trillion). However, none of these figures explains what actually happened at the level of the market.

The biggest change occurred in markets related to technology. Hardware, semiconductor, and software firms now account for 209 companies on the list, up from 186 last year. Their combined market value has nearly doubled from $23.9 trillion (approximately €22.2 trillion) to $41.4 trillion (approximately €38.4 trillion). That single cohort accounts for 57% of the entire list’s market value increase from last year. The driver appears to be the market’s appetite for anything AI-related.

The market has not been fully welcomed. Some still fear the threat of a bubble. Others see a market that still has room to run its course.

Richard Attias, chairman of the non-profit Future Investment Institute, ahead of the Forbes Iconoclast Summit in New York earlier this month, said: “AI will have an impact everywhere.”

The Chip Cycle

Nvidia climbed 20 places to No. 27 and became the most valuable chip company on the list. South Korea’s SK Hynix, whose high-bandwidth memory chips are essential to AI servers, jumped 107 places to No. 48. Alphabet, one of the largest AI hyperscalers, rose five places to No. 4. CoreWeave, the AI cloud computing firm that joined the list last year, climbed 706 places to No. 1,093.

A similar trend could be seen in the hardware space. Taiwan’s Hon Hai Precision, the iPhone assembler and AI server manufacturer better known as Foxconn, climbed 55 places to No. 82. SanDisk, the California flash-storage company, entered at No. 614 after ranking outside the top 2,000 last year.

The Physical Side Of The Trade

It is not only code and cloud that saw growth, however. The materials industry also gained from the harder edge of the chip cycle. Materials companies on the Global 2000 rose 67.5% in market value and grew profits by 38.6%, as investment interest rewarded producers of copper, cobalt, lithium and the chemicals feeding semiconductors, advanced manufacturing, power systems and data centres.

British-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto climbed 24 places to No. 111 after landing a two-year collaboration with Amazon Web Services to supply copper made with its Nuton bioleaching technology to AWS’s US data centres. Nucor, the steel manufacturer, rose 84 places to No. 416 on the back of data centre demand for its pre-engineered, plug-and-play steel products, the racks that hold the servers.

The Banks Still Hold Their Own

Even with AI dominating this year’s headlines, the top of the ranking still belongs to those who are in charge of the balance sheets. JPMorganChase, for instance, holds onto its No. 1 spot for the fourth year in a row, with $4.9 trillion (approximately €4.5 trillion) in assets.

There are 314 banks on this year’s list, more than any other industry, holding $140.4 trillion (approximately €130 trillion) in combined assets. That is more than half of the total for all 2,000 companies.

Another 136 diversified financial firms made the cut, alongside 113 insurers.

Banks and insurers are responsible for enormous balance sheets by design, while technology firms tend to be lighter on assets and therefore receive less credit on that metric. Elevated interest rates helped, too, allowing banks, insurers and other lenders to earn higher profits on loans and fixed-income assets.

The rest of the top 10 show a little more diversity. Amazon takes second place on $742.8 billion (approximately €688 billion) in sales and a $2.8 trillion (approximately €2.6 trillion) market value. Alphabet sits at No. 4 and Microsoft ties for No. 7, both benefiting from investor interest for the firms producing the software, cloud services and AI platforms driving the current tech rally. Berkshire Hathaway, Saudi Aramco and Bank of America remain in the upper tier on the strength of their profits, assets and cash generation. Three Chinese banking giants (ICBC, China Construction Bank and Agricultural Bank of China) close out the top 10, a remnant from the era when Chinese lenders led the list

Of the 2003 top 10, only Bank of America is still on it today.

The Old Economy And The New

The Global 2000 still shows both faces of the world economy. The heavyweight banks continue to sit on the assets, the oil majors continue to produce the cash, and the retail giants continue to move the goods. The biggest change this year was the direction of investor interest. Businesses did almost the same work they did last year, but the markets repriced that same work with AI.

The winners of that repricing saw impressive growth in this year’s ranking. Chipmakers, server manufacturers, memory producers and the infrastructure firms powering AI data centres witnessed the biggest re-ratings anywhere on the list. Whether the market’s enthusiasm endures is the question the next twelve months will answer.

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