On 17 May, Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou - founder of easyJet and serial entrepreneur - will personally launch the Stelios Award for Business Cooperation in Cyprus - 2010 at a Networking Event at the Chateau Status restaurant in Nicosia's buffer zone.

The Award is in its second year and presents five entrepreneurs with EUR50,000 each for their work in promoting business cooperation in Cyprus. Entrants must be at least one Greek-Cypriot and one Turkish-Cypriot who work together in a business venture.

Last year's winners, selected from almost fifty entries, were:

The Highgate School - a school offering integrated trilingual education from pre-K to grade 12 in Nicosia; represented by educators Maria Theochari and Zubeyir Agaoglu.

Papazor Enterprises Ltd. - an internet-based car and villa rental service represented by Izzet Zorlu and Stathis Papaefstathiou.

C&A Agricultural Products - represented by Unsal Ozbilenler and Christakis Varnava, C&A packs, distributes and exports agricultural products grown island-wide.

The Three Ladies Team - represented by Praxoula A. Kyriacou and Özlem O_uz, is an economic research and consulting company advising clients on intra-island trade.

OSP Continental Trading Ltd. - manufactures PVC windows and doors for sale island-wide and is represented by Andreas Petrides, Özker Ìldeniz and Soner Yetkili.

The Award promotes island-wide, bi-communal business cooperation between entrepreneurs by giving promising ventures the funding boost they need to grow. The Award is funded personally by Stelios through the Stelios Philanthropic Foundation, which is dedicated to the three E's - Education, Entrepreneurship and the Environment.

Commenting on the forthcoming Networking Event, Stelios said:

"I am delighted to be launching this Award again after having such success in our first year. 

"Cyprus is an island very close to my heart and I'm delighted to be able to help those entrepreneurs who are bringing the two sides together.

"The quality of the entries last year was very strong - I'm hoping my decision becomes even harder this year!"