The foundation of the Larnaca District Development Agency was an initiative of the Union of Communities of Larnaca. After having participation in many E.U. funded projects and following the progress of the E.U. for many years, the Board of Directors of the Union of Communities of Larnaca, along with the fervent support of the Municipalities of the District of Larnaca, decided that the establishment of a flexible mechanism was necessary. Through this mechanism, the active participation of the local self-governmental organizations of the District of Larnaca to the developments of the E.U. would be possible, especially through their participation to E.U. funded programmes in order to achieve their goals. This mechanism was named “Larnaca District Development Agency” (ANETEL).
The Larnaca District Development Agency was formed, based on the models of the developmental structures and mechanisms that function in the E.U. The Agency is governed by the Companies’ (Amendment) Law - Ch. 113, as a Company of Limited Responsibility and it has been registered to the Registrar of Companies of the Republic of Cyprus (Reg. no. HE 142855). The Agency is a non-Profit organization and has been accredited as a Public Equivalent Body.
The Agency was established on 16 October 2003. Its shareholders are the Municipalities of Larnaca, Athienou, Aradippou and Lefkara, 45 out of 48 Community Councils of the district of Larnaca, the Chamber of Industry and Commerce of the District of Larnaca, the Ladies’ Association of Rural Larnaca, the Co-op Banks of Skarinou, Psematismenos and Tochni, the Union of Communities of Larnaca and KENTHEA.
On 31 August 2006, the Larnaca District Development Agency was honoured by the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism with the 1st Enterprises’ Award and represented Cyprus in the contest “European Enterprise Awards” of the European Union. The agency competed with around 400 organizations from all over Europe in its category and was honoured with the 2nd place.