Rafi Dorfman is an insurance professional and a graduate of the Institute of Life Insurance. He is a board member of the Chamber of Commerce and has been an active member for the past eight years. He began his professional career as a senior figure in international insurance and was even a partner in establishing the life insurance division at AIG Insurance.

Upon reaching retirement age, he built himself an economic model using actuarial models he encountered during his decades of service as a senior executive in the Israeli and global insurance industry. He used these models to compare and analyze the profitability of investments around the world. He examined real estate investments in dozens of countries across 40 different parameters, but the conclusion he reached even surprised him.

It turned out that Cyprus is the right place for Israelis to purchase property for two main purposes: building future wealth and enhancing pensions, all while benefiting from Cyprus’s favorable tax provisions.

Rafi purchased his first apartment (of three in Cyprus as of today) in 2015. Based on his personal experience and growing demand from friends and acquaintances, he established the RD Group for international real estate consulting, offering full support until key handover – and even beyond.

Carefully Selecting Clients, Properties, and Professionals

All clients of the company are handpicked, having met the group’s high standards. But from that point on, they can rest easy. Rafi continues to manage risks and prevents problems before they arise, finds solutions, and adapts the service package to client needs.

In fact, there is nothing the group doesn’t know how to do or help with. Their motto is twofold: on one hand, the word “no” doesn’t exist in their vocabulary, and on the other hand, failure is not an option.

The properties he offers to clients have all passed his personal screening. Each property, for example, is visited by a civil engineer so that clients sign contracts only after all inspections are confirmed.

The local professionals the group works with have also been personally selected and are the best in their fields: lawyers, translators, notaries, and more. All operate legally and hold the relevant licenses.

The group does not compromise and does not apologize, even though they are likely the most expensive in the market – because the added value they provide is worth it. The price reflects the hard work done to justify the trust that everything begins with.

The Chamber of Commerce – A Seal of Trust in Cyprus

As a professional on one hand and a consumer on the other (and mainly as a risk management expert), Rafi knew that the number one threat in the real estate business is reliability. Therefore, from the very beginning, he sought a body that would provide him with statutory backing. He found the Israel–Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and has been a member ever since.

Thanks to his membership in the Chamber, he personally knows key figures in Cyprus, including politicians (who talk to him more than their counterparts in Israel). He claims that thanks to the Chamber, the network encompassing all economic sectors goes beyond business relationships.

His suppliers in Cyprus (over 100 different professionals) highly respect the activities of the Israel–Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and go out of their way to help him meet his goals. According to him, the moment they hear he’s a member of the Chamber, he gets a different level of attention.

This is also why the logo of the Israel–Cyprus Chamber of Commerce appears prominently on his website – both to reassure clients and to demonstrate quality. Rafi claims the logo is equivalent, in his eyes, to an ISO 9008 quality mark.

Since becoming a member of the Israel–Cyprus Chamber of Commerce, Rafi has contributed from his area of expertise. Today, he leads several financial initiatives and promotes a number of key issues, most notably:

• Establishing a tax treaty between Israel and Cyprus
• Recognizing Israeli driving licenses in Cyprus to waive the driving test requirement for those relocating (a practice already in place for other countries’ licenses)
• Obtaining English-language credit activity reports from banks to avoid the need for translations (an initiative promoted in the Knesset and the Finance Committee)