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Invest Cyprus Emerges as WAIPA Eastern Europe Director for 2025–2027

Election Highlights at Sharjah Investment Conference

At the 29th WAIPA World Investment Conference 2025 in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, a decisive moment unfolded for Eastern Europe. Invest Cyprus was elected as Regional Director for the WAIPA Eastern Europe sector, underscoring the region’s enhanced strategic voice in global investment promotion. Distinguished representatives from over 140 countries converged to set the roadmap for sustaining and expanding international investment efforts in the coming years.

Elevating Global Investment Standards

Since its establishment in 2016 and headquartered in Cyprus, Invest Cyprus has steadfastly championed the island’s appeal as a premier destination for investors. Its election to the WAIPA leadership not only bolsters Eastern Europe’s presence on the global stage but also aligns with the organization’s broader mission to cultivate rigorous, impactful investment promotion strategies worldwide.

Strategic Insights and Collaborative Vision

The pre-election WAIPA Steering Committee Meeting was a forum for reflective assessment and forward planning. Senior dignitaries, including the presidency and vice-presidencies, examined the achievements of 2025 and recalibrated strategic priorities for 2026. This session emphasized member value, advocacy, and financial resilience—a triad designed to fortify WAIPA’s role in attracting sustainable and transformative investment.

Leadership Commitment and Future Directions

Invest Cyprus CEO Marios Tannousis expressed his gratitude, underscoring the organization’s resolve to enhance regional cooperation and promote disciplined investment strategies. The newly elected WAIPA leadership, which also features key appointments across multiple regions such as KDIPA as president and ProDominicana alongside Invest KOREA as vice-presidents, is set to drive a renewed era of cross-border collaboration and market innovation.

Charting the Path Forward

WAIPA’s evolved leadership framework, now encompassing diverse entities from the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre to the National Investment Council of Honduras, is poised to amplify global cooperation and deliver sustainable economic growth. As the international community grapples with evolving investment dynamics, this recalibrated leadership is pivotal in fostering an environment that is both resilient and forward-thinking, ensuring that investment promotion agencies remain at the forefront of facilitating transformative partnerships.

Meta’s Muse Is Outpacing ChatGPT In Early Mobile Adoption, New Data Suggests

Meta’s new AI app, Muse, may be emerging as one of the company’s strongest consumer launches to date. Fresh estimates from market intelligence firm Apptopia suggest the app has outperformed ChatGPT in early mobile traction, at least in the U.S. and Canada.

According to Apptopia, Muse recorded more downloads in its first 12 days on the market than ChatGPT did during the comparable period after its mobile debut. The comparison, limited to the U.S. and Canada, puts Muse’s iOS downloads at 1.8 million versus 1.3 million for ChatGPT over the same initial window.

A Strong Early Start Across Platforms

In total, Muse has reached 2.8 million global installs in its first 12 days, according to the firm. The app’s momentum also appears to be holding. After debuting at No. 2 on the U.S. App Store, Muse has since climbed to No. 1, surpassing ChatGPT, according to reporting from Business Insider. Appfigures had previously estimated that Muse crossed 1 million downloads shortly after launch.

That early rise matters because app-store performance in the first days after launch often signals whether a product can sustain consumer attention beyond initial curiosity. In Meta’s case, the data suggests Muse is not simply benefiting from novelty; it is gaining ground quickly enough to challenge the category leader.

Daily Users Show Similar Momentum

Apptopia’s estimates point to another favorable comparison for Meta: daily usage. In the U.S. alone, Muse is said to have 642,000 daily active users, well above the 231,000 ChatGPT had at the same stage of its mobile rollout.

To make the comparison fairer, Apptopia also narrowed the analysis to iOS only, since ChatGPT launched on iPhone before expanding more broadly. Even under that tighter lens, Muse still comes out ahead, with 359,000 daily active users on iOS compared with ChatGPT’s earlier figure.

Why Meta Has An Advantage

Third-party estimates are not the same as internal company data, and Apptopia cannot see Meta’s proprietary numbers. Still, even directional data suggests Muse may be on track to become a meaningful consumer product for Meta.

That possibility is strengthened by Meta’s distribution advantage. The company has already demonstrated how powerful its ecosystem can be with Threads, which surpassed 500 million users after heavy promotion across Instagram and Facebook. Muse is likely to receive a similar boost, especially because it can connect across Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.

Apptopia does not track Meta’s internal promotion strategy, but its data indicates that more than 95% of Muse users are also Facebook users, while 63% are Instagram users. That overlap underscores how effectively Meta can move users across its products when it chooses to prioritize a launch.

The Strategic Test For Meta

For Meta, the early signal from Muse is less about one app’s download count than about whether the company can turn its scale into durable AI adoption. The first test is attention. The harder one is retention.

If Muse can convert early downloads into habitual use, Meta may have found a new front door into its AI ambitions. If not, the app risks becoming another example of how easily mobile hype can spike before settling back down.

Meta, which was asked for comment, has not yet released public figures on Muse’s early adoption.

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