Today was our first company visit on the Plus3 Cyprus trip, as we visited the Cyprus Marine and Maritime Institute, otherwise known as CMMI. One of the most interesting facts about CMMI to me was the way that they were funded, as how they decided to use their funding. They are not funded as a government agency, and instead they need constant support from governments, charities, and corporations. The reason for this is that they are not given money permanently but rather they are funded for only a certain number of years, with most of the funding running out in 2026. Furthermore often much of their funding is for certain projects, and the money can only be used for these projects. This appeared to lead to some inefficiencies, as some of their projects were not fully funded, while other projects had more funding than they needed. What surprised me was the fact the CMMI planned to construct multiple buildings with the funding that they had. This was surprising to me because they do not necessarily have funding in the long term, and by building new structures they are insuring a large cost for something they could potentially never use. While I personally do not see their decision to contract all of these buildings as the wisest idea, I do quite like what they are trying to achieve with some of these buildings. I really liked the idea of the maritime job center, which is focused on educating people about opportunities within the maritime sector. This is very important for the maritime industry, as it is facing a labor shortage. What I did disagree with CMMI about though was the reason for this labor shortage. The presenter said that they viewed the reason for the labor shortage as two fold, first due to lack of awareness, and also due to Cypriots not wanting to endure the hardships necessary in the maritime industry. I agree with the presenters first point, however, I very much disagreed with how the presenter covered the second point. They talked about it as if it was a moral failure of the Cypriot people not wanting to endure the loneliness and danger of the shipping industry, but this perceptive is deeply flawed. It should not be expected that people sign up for a difficult job with low pay and no good incentives. Instead of blaming the Cypriots for not wanting to do it, they should instead focus on giving better benefits for the jobs in the maritime industry. Despite me disagreeing with some of the presenters points I did overall enjoy our visit to CMMI very much. It was very interesting seeing how an organization like them operated, and I very much appreciated their hospitality.
After we finished up at CMMI we visited the church of Saint Lazarus. This church was amazingly beautiful from the outside, with it having a mix of old Cypriot, Ottoman, and later British architecture. What was even more amazing to me was the inside of the church. I have never been in an orthodox church before, and seeing all of the gold plated icons and beautiful stone architecture was awe inspiring. Furthermore it was extremely interesting our tour guide going through how orthodox christians practice their faith, and learning the history of the split between Catholicism and Orthodox christianity. Today was a nice blend of cultural and business experience, and I’m looking forward to experiencing more of it tomorrow.