Lia Riris serves as the Deputy CEO of Invest Cyprus, bringing over two decades of experience in international relations and economic diplomacy. Prior to this role, Lia was the Head of International Relations and Economic Diplomacy at the Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI), where she led efforts to promote Cyprus as a business hub and explore commercial opportunities for Cypriot businesses abroad. She played a pivotal role in organizing high-level business delegations, managing over 40 international business associations, and shaping strategies to establish Cyprus as a key investment destination. With a background in International Relations and an LLM in International Law, Lia’s career has spanned roles in EU project management, public relations, and international diplomacy. She has been a trainer in Economic Diplomacy at Clingendael Academy and serves on the boards of BPW Cyprus and the ICC Cyprus Women’s Network.

H.E. Evagoras Vryonides, born in Pafos, Cyprus, has received his degree in Masters in Business Administration in 1992 from Fairleigh Dickinson University, in New Jersey, United States. His career started in 1996 as the Protocol officer in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Cyprus. From the years 1997 to 2006, he served as the First Secretary, Consul and Consul General overseas in Mexico, Portugal and Canada, respectively. Between 2006 to 2009, he served as the Program Manager of the Visa Information System in his home country, Cyprus. He was then assigned overseas as the Ambassador to Ukraine and Mexico from the years 2009 to 2017. Back to Cyprus in 2017, he headed the Schengen Department in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and was also in charge of the Internal Security Fund of the European Union till 2019. From 2019 to 2020 he was the Director of the Legal and Administration Department at the Union for the Mediterranean Secretariat in Barcelona, Spain. Before his arrival to India, His Excellency was assigned to Brazil as the Ambassador, between 2020 and 2023. Currently, he is the High Commissioner of the Republic of Cyprus to India with parallel accreditation to Bangladesh, Malaysia, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam, with Residence in Delhi with his spouse and three children.

Viraj Kulkarni is the Honorary Consul of Cyprus in Mumbai, overseeing the state of Maharashtra. He is the Founder and CEO of PIVOT Management Consulting Pvt. Ltd., Asia’s largest custody-focused consulting firm with operations in India, Singapore, and Cyprus, and coverage of GIFT City. GC Legend: In 2022, he became the first India-based careerist-entrepreneur to be inducted as a GC Legend into the Global Custodian Hall of Fame, joining 351 Legends across 108 countries in the USD 317 trillion custody industry.
He is a Director at PIVOT Consultants (Cyprus) Ltd., an Independent Director at Motilal Oswal Trust Company, Bharat Forge Investments Ltd., NCCL, and the advisory Board of a Luxembourg-based company. He has authored over 41 papers on capital markets, primarily published globally. A Fellow of the Institute of Company Secretaries of India, Viraj has over 35 years of experience spanning emerging and advanced capital markets. In roles such as Country Head – Securities Services at Citibank (India and Switzerland), JPMorgan Chase, BNP Paribas, and helped establish Morgan Stanley Securities Services in India.
Viraj mentored entrepreneurs across Asia for the Asian Development Bank’s PROFIT Project. He chairs the International Trade & Commerce Committee at the Bombay Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Dr George Theocharides is the Chairman of the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC). He is also the Chairman of the Risk Standing Committee (RSC). The RSC is part of the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) and the successor of the Committee for Economic and Markets Analysis (CEMA), for which Dr. Theocharides served also as Chairman, between March and December 2022. He served as CySEC’s Vice Chairman from July 2020 to September 2021 and was previously a CySEC Board member. He has extensive experience working in the wider financial sector.

Angeliki Frangou has served as Head of the Central Depository and Registry of the Cyprus Stock Exchange (CSE) since 2011 and also leads its Legal Department. With 29 years of experience in the stock exchange sector, she has played a key role in major CSE strategic initiatives, including preparing the legal framework for securities dematerialization and is involved in the CSE’s privatisation project. She has overseen the development of international depository links and cash settlement and risk management services for the Electricity Market in Cyprus, and also acts as Secretary to the CSE Board. Angeliki holds an LLB from the University of Bristol and an LLM from King’s College London, and achieved the highest mark in the Cyprus Bar Examination. Prior to her joining the CSE, Angeliki had practiced Law for one year.

Tanya is the General Manager of TechIsland, leading the organization’s strategic and operational initiatives. She has over 12 years of experience in operations management, business development, and venture capital, contributing significantly to various sectors globally, including in Ukraine, the USA, Europe, and the Middle East. Tanya’s expertise has benefited startup accelerators, venture capital, investment groups, and non-profits. Tanya is also actively supporting the Ukrainian community in Cyprus since 2022 through Cy4Ua, and directs the Women In Tech Cyprus Chapter, empowering female professionals in tech. Her accolades include the Forbes Women in Tech Cyprus Award in late 2023 and the CYDIA Award for Startups & Innovation in 2024, recognizing her contribution in the tech and innovation scene. 

Aris has over 19 years’ experience in accounting and tax, both in Cyprus and the US. He is a member of the Association of the Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) and the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Cyprus (ICPAC). Aris has been successfully leading the accounting and tax team at C Business Advisors. He handles clients’ tax affairs, both locally and internationally, and has extensive experience in local and international tax consultation and financial reporting. His client portfolio includes companies from various industries such as professional services, intellectual properties, manufacturing, distribution, retail, financing, telecommunications, oil & gas, investments, funds, construction and development. Aris holds non-executive positions in several regulated firms. Aris holds a B.Sc. (First Class) in Accounting and Information Systems from the City University of New York, Queens College. He is a certified accountant (ACCA) and has received the Advanced Professional Certificate in Transfer pricing from IBFD.‍

Andriana Efstathiou is a Partner at Frangos Law &  Bybloserve Management, where she advises clients on a wide range of corporate and commercial law matters. She oversees and lead the legal, compliance, and administration teams, ensuring seamless collaboration across departments to deliver high-quality services. Her role encompasses a diverse range of responsibilities such as advising on cross-border transactions and restructurings, managing legal documentation, ensuring regulatory compliance, and guiding the administration of Cyprus legal entities and both local and international trusts. Andriana holds an L.L.M. in Commercial Law from the University of Bristol and an L.L.B. from the University of Surrey. She has been a member of the Cyprus Bar Association since 2014 and is a certified AML Compliance Officer, registered in the relevant register of the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission.

George Kallinicou is a Director at Nobel Trust Ltd and has extensive top management experience in the corporate administration industry for more than 20 years.  He joined Nobel Trust in 2016 and his work focuses on business relocation, employee migration, accounting, taxation, compliance, fund administration, and structuring. He is acting as the firm’s compliance officer and he also holds a number of non-executive positions in private and listed companies. Prior to joining the firm, George was heading the client accounting, financial reporting, and tax compliance departments of a local fiduciary group. George is experienced in the retail sector as he worked as a CFO for the largest food retailer and one of the 20 largest public companies in Cyprus. Before repatriating to Cyprus, George gained his practical experience at a firm of chartered accountants in London. George is a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants,  holds a BA(Hons) in Accounting and Finance and an MA in Finance and Banking. He is also a holder of the CySEC AML Certificate.

Marios Menelaou is an Advocate and Partner at L Papaphilippou & Co LLC, specialising in banking and commercial litigation, regulatory matters, and the Foreign Direct Investment Screening (FDIS) Law. He is a member of the Firm’s Banking & Finance practice group and its Regulatory Law practice group, which advises and represents clients before the authorities of the Republic of Cyprus and the European Commission. He is a visiting Lecturer at the University of Nicosia, where he has taught Company and Commercial Law since 2023. Marios is also a member of the Honourable Society of Gray’s Inn and serves on the International and European Law Committee of the Cyprus Bar Association.

Chrysilios is the President of the Cyprus-India Business Association. Chrysilios is the leader of the Indirect Tax Advisory practice of the firm and is the Head of East Markets & Deputy COO at PwC Cyprus.  He also chairs the tax policy panel of PwC Cyprus. Chrysilios is a Fellow Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and is a graduate of the University of Manchester BA Economics. Chrysilios also has a Masters in Law with specialisation in Tax. Chrysilios is currently a Member of the VAT Committee of ICPAC, of which he has also served as the President. He has been actively liaising with the VAT authorities and providing recommendations on development and implementation of new legislative measures. He has extensive experience as a conference Chairman and speaker.

Christos, is a senior partner at the law firm of Scordis, Papapetrou & Co (“SPC”), a firm with a history going back to 1922, headquartered in Nicosia, Cyprus. To date Christos has acted or advised on a multitude of multi-million corporate and commercial matters (such as corporate mergers and acquisitions, venture capital investments, financing and security arrangements, corporate restructurings and redomiciliations, licensing, setting up and ongoing compliance of alternative investment funds and financial services regulated entities), and further acted and successfully undertaken major and complicated litigation assignments, which include highly publicized and hotly contested international litigation and arbitration cases.  Christos has been engaged as counsel in a number of landmark cases before the Cypriot courts involving shareholder disputes as well as corporate fraud, asset tracing and recovery, including the landmark case of BTA Bank (a corporate fraud claim exceeding US$6 billion). He regularly advises large corporations on legal, compliance and regulatory matters, as a well as multitude of private entrepreneurs on how to structure or re-structure their business and personal affairs utilizing Cyprus as a gateway and EU base. Notable recent engagements by include acting as legal advisor for the Integrated Casinos Resorts consortium for the tender and award for the first and exclusive license to build and operate an integrated casino resort in Cyprus, a €0.5 billion foreign direct investment. Christos continues to act for Integrated Casino Resorts post licensing with regard to their operations, in particular in the fields of legal and regulatory compliance, and Gaming laws.

Christos has received his LL.B, Hons from the University College London, University of London, U.K. in 1995 and in 1996 he completed his LL.M, Hons (Commercial & Corporate Law) at University College London, University of London, U.K . He completed the Bar Vocational Course (BVC) at the Inns of Court School of Law, London, U.K.  and became a Barrister at Law in 1997. He returned to Cyprus and was admitted to practice law in Cyprus in 1998. He is fluent in both Greek and English, and has a working knowledge of Russian. He is a member of Lincoln’s Inn, Inns of Court and the Cyprus Bar Association. He is currently member of the Bar Association Companies, Capital Markets and Stock Exchange Committee, having also served in the Companies Taxation Committee. He often participates as speaker or panelist in seminars and conferences both in Cyprus and abroad.

Marios Christoforides is the Manager of the International Business Unit at Bank of Cyprus, based in Nicosia. He leads the team responsible for delivering banking and financial services to the Bank’s international clientele. In addition, Marios heads the Bank of Cyprus India Hub, a specialized initiative designed to serve India-related individuals and corporate entities.

With extensive experience in the banking and financial sector, Marios has held various management positions within Bank of Cyprus, including roles in Business Banking, Corporate Banking, and International Business. He holds an MBA degree from The George Washington University in Washington, D.C., USA.

Panayiotis Chrysostomou, CFA, is a financial services executive with over 25 years of international experience across banking, wealth management, investment advisory, credit, and insurance. He currently serves as Manager, Banking Services & Representative Offices at Eurobank Limited, where he holds overarching responsibility for the establishment and oversight of Eurobank Group’s representative offices. His managerial responsibility also extends to providing banking and credit services to Eurobank’s international clientele. Previously, he served for eight years as Manager at the Wealth Management Division of Eurobank Cyprus, leading a team of Relationship Managers serving the complex investment needs of international high-net-worth individuals. He also served as Head, Institutional Clients, managing the relationships with Eurobank’s institutional clientele. Panayiotis’ diverse background also includes various positions in the financial services sector in Cyprus and abroad. He has been a CFA charterholder since 2002 and founding member of the CFA Society of Cyprus, where he served as President. He holds a BA in Accounting & Finance from Lancaster University and an MBA from the University of Illinois, where he studied as a Fulbright Scholar.

Petros joined KPMG in Cyprus in 2004 and became a Board Member in 2023. At the same time he was appointed as Head of the Asset Management team of the firm. He has assisted and advised clients and family offices with respect to Funds licensing, structuring and administration services. He has also experience in providing audit services to local and international listed and private companies trading in a variety of industry sectors, such as Banking, Insurance, Energy, Mining, Investment Funds, Oil & Gas, Telecommunications, Pharmaceutical, Technology and General Trading. His clientele included companies listed in the Cyprus Stock Exchange, London Stock Exchange and Johannesburg Stock Exchange. Petros is the co-founder and vice chairman of the KPMG Cyprus Audit Committee Institute.

George P. Nicolaou is a Director at Treppides Group, in particular in the Funds Management division leading the Funds and Fund Management Services including the Fund Administration Division. He has more than 17 years of international experience in the Financial Services, Assurance and Consulting fields having worked in Cyprus, UK and Malta. Over the years he has been specialized in the professional and financial services industry by focusing on the Banking and Capital Markets, Funds, Fund Management companies and Asset Managers. He has solid and extensive knowledge and technical expertise on Fund Management Companies including Alternative Investment Fund Managers, UCITs Management Companies, Funds Structuring, Authorization, Regulatory Compliance Consulting and ongoing Fund Administration.

Elena Narbuts is the Vice President of Sales & Marketing at Marfields Group and one of the key voices shaping the premium residential landscape in Cyprus. She leads the strategic development and international presence of landmark projects such as The Ritz-Carlton Residences, Limassol (the 1st branded residences in the EU), GAIA, Central Park Residences and Olympic Residences. Her work focuses on creating residential concepts that respond to the expectations of a global UHNWI audience, strengthening the positioning of branded residences, and advancing Cyprus as a destination for high-quality living, investment, and relocation.