A delegation of foreign diplomats visited the Choirokoitia Neolithic settlement, and The Cyprus Institute’s PROTEAS Solar Facility in Pentakomo, on the outskirts of Limassol, on Tuesday 22^nd of November 2022. The visit was co-organised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and The Cyprus Institute, so that the diplomatic corps would get first-hand knowledge the PROTEAS Solar Facility and Choirokoitia, in order to reinforce their existing collaboration.

 

Hosting the visit was CyI Assistant Vice President of Policy and Internal Communications, Mrs. Eleni Sophocleous, in the presence of CyI Assoc. Prof. Kirsi Lorentz, CyI Assist. Prof. George Artopoulos, CyI Interactive Visualization 3D Modeller, Dr Nicolas Louca, CyI Head of PROTEAS, Dr Marios C. Georgiou, and CyI Associate Research Scientist, Dr Nestor Fylaktos.

 

Representing the Ministry of Foreign Affairs were the Head of Cultural Diplomacy of Cyprus, Mr Stelios Georgiades, the Secretary General of European Affairs of Cyprus, Mr Louis Telemachou, the Director of Energy and Marine Policy, Mrs. Pinelopi Erotokritou, and the Energy and Marine Policy Directorate, Mrs. Angeliki Mathaiou. The foreign diplomats that took part in the visit were Mr Saud Almusaed, Dep. Head of Mission for the Embassy of Saudi Arabia, H.E. Mrs. Fiona McKergow, High Commissioner for the High Commission of Australia, H.E. Mr Lyubomir Todorov, Ambassador for the Embassy of Bulgaria, Ms. Eman Alfaytouri, Dep. Head of Mission for the Embassy of Libya, Dr Lavinia Ochea, Dep. Head of Mission for the Embassy of Romania, Mr Cicero Martins Garcia, Dep. Head of Mission for the Embassy of Brazil, Mr. Khalifa Al-Maadeed, Second Secretary in the Embassy of Qatar, and a Hungarian trainee Vivien Porkolab.

 

Upon arrival at Choirokoitia, the delegation of foreign diplomats and representatives of the Foreign Ministry were given a guided tour of the main excavation side on the Choirokoitia Neolithic settlement led by Assoc. Prof. Lorentz, as well as an overall presentation of the digital model of the settlement by Asst. Prof. Artopoulos and Dr Louca. Mrs. Sophocleous gave a presentation on EMME-CCI, as Dr Georgiou presented the PROTEAS Solar Facility, which was followed by a broad discussion and a guided tour of the facility.

 

The delegation expressed their gratitude for the opportunity to visit and congratulated the personnel and researchers of The Cyprus Institute for their innovative research and achievements. Finally, the Foreign Diplomats were optimistic and that there is a strong potential for further reinforcing research ties between their countries and The Cyprus Institute.