It has today 400 members and 20 associated members.

Since the Turkish invasion in 1974 and the occupation of the Famagusta Town, the FCCI is temporalily operating in Limassol.

Address :

339, Ayiou Andreou Str.,
Andrea Chamber Bldg.,
2nd Floor, Office 201,
P.O.Box 53124, 3300 Limassol, Cyprus

Tel. No: 00357-5-370165
Fax. No: 00357-5-370291
E-mail: chamberf@cytanet.com.cy

The basic purposes and targets of FCCI:

• The development of the trade, industry and services, especially in the town of Famagusta and generally in the whole island.
• The collection of information from foreign manufacturers and business people which would be useful for the development of trade and industry for the benefit of its members.
• The encouragement of new commercial and industrial contacts and cooperation among Cypriot and foreign business people.
• The promotion through the Government of problems relating to the Famagusta Economy, as well as the co-ordination with local Authorities of the efforts for
  the progress and development of Famagusta and district.
• Arbitration for the settlement of commercial disputes.
• The advancement of commercial, industrial and technical education.

Four Professional Associations have joined the Chamber:

• The Cyprus Clearing & Forwarding Agents Association - with 200 members.
• The Cyprus General Bonded & Transit Stores Association - with 33 members.
• The Cyprus Ship Suppliers Association - with 10 members.
• The Cyprus Potato Processing Industry Association - with 10 members.

Basic Services:

• Issue of certificates of origin, legalization of invoices and other documents
  necessary for exportation.
• Advice and information on matters of freight (export and import trade), industry and services as well as supplementary facilities in this connection.
• Gathering and disseminating of general information on economic matters, including
  advice on taxation and monetary policy of the Government.
• Secretarial and advisory services to professional associations. Representation in various Government and other committees on a District level.
• Issue of an Information Bulletin and list of members with business classification.
• Commercial library for the exporters / importers.
• Organization of educational courses.
• Arbitration for the settlement of commercial disputes.

Tourism:

The golden sandy beaches of the free (non-occupied) Ammochostos district, gently embrace the eastern corner of the island. The popular holiday resorts of Agia Napa and Paralimni have been called a veritable paradise for anyone who loves the sea and water sports. The charming scenery includes the tiny fishing harbour of Ayia Napa, the mediaeval monastery at the heart of the village and the windmills and small churches in the surrounding villages which spread out to the areas of Paralimni and Protaras. This region is the main potato producing area on the island and is known as "Kokkinochoria" which means "red soil villages". The villages of this area are equally known for their folk poets, who are regarded as the best on the island.

The Glorious History of Famagusta:

The oldest traces of settlements in an area found near the modern town of Famagusta, Enkomi, go back to the 13th century B.C., the Bronze Age. At the start of the Iron Age the town, now built close to the sea, was known by the name of Salamis and its kings traced their ancestry to the Trojan hero Teucer, brother of Ajax and son of the king of Salamis, an island off the coast of Athens. Salamis became one of the most important cities in Cyprus particularly during the classical period and its magnificent remains still bear witness to its past glory. The earthquakes of 332 and 343 A.D. destroyed Salamina which was built again by the Emperor Constantio II who name it Constantia. The town regained its glory and became an administrative and religious metropolis. Numerous Arab raids from the middle of the 7th century finally caused the destruction of the town and its inhabitants moved to Arsinoe, a town situated south of Constantia which was built by Ptolemy Philadelphos in the 4th century B.C. Perhaps a small town called Ammochostos was already there and was re-named Arsinoe.

The name "Ammochostos" is first recorded during the Byzantine period as a substitute for the name Arsinoe, which gradually faded away. The Byzantine period lasted a thousand years and firmly established Cyprus as a part of the Greek Cristian world. During the French and the Venetian dominations from the 12th to the 16th century "Ammochostos" - called Famagusta by its new masters became one of the biggest harbours and trade centres of the Eastern Mediterranean.
The Ottoman Turks conquered Famagusta in 1571 after a nine month siege. Three years later they forced all Greek inhabitants out of the walled city. The displaced Greeks settled in the outskirts of the town and the new settlement, which with time grew larger than the wallet city, was known by the name of Varosha. However "Famagusta" has since survived as the official name of the whole town, both old and new, whilst Varosha is used to describe the part of the town which was inhabited solely by Greeks.
Since independence in 1960 and until the Turkish invasion of 1974, Famagusta had flourished both culturally and economically.

Turkish invasion - Famagusta becomes a ghost town:

During the second phase of the Turkish invasion of Cyprus (14 August 1974), the Messaoria plain was overrun by Turkish tanks and in two days the Turkish army was in Famagusta. The town had been completely evacuated by its Greek population who fled before the invading army and after the town had bombed by the Turkish airforce. Unlike other parts of occupied Cyprus, the town of Famagusta was sealed off by the Turkish army immediately after being captured and no one was allowed to enter that part of the town. Not even journalists. The term "ghost town" was coined later by Swedish journalist Jan-Olof Bengtsson, who visited the Swedish Un battalion in Famagusta port and saw the sealed off part of the town from the battalion's observation post. He wrote in Kvallsposten (24.9.77):
"The asphalt on the roads has cracked in the warm sun and along the sidewalks bushes are growing.
Today, September 1977, the breakfast tables are still set, the laundry still hanging and the lamps still burning. Famagusta is a ghost-town."
Since 1974, 74 resolutions have been adopted by the UN Security Council and 13 by the Un General Assembly, calling inter alia for the return of the refugees to their homes and properties. These resolutions are being flagrantly violated by Turkey. One would assume that in view of all these International resolutions the town would have been returned to its people long ago. Yet, twenty-five years after its capture, it remains a "ghost town". The people of Famagusta, like all other Greek Cypriot refugees, have a burning desire to return. It is their town. Thirty-six centuries of their history is there.