George Vassiliou was elected President of the Republic of Cyprus in 1988 for a five-year term. During this period he worked hard to achieve a solution of the Cyprus problem and improved the functioning of the public sector. As a result of several reforms, the economy improved substantially, the GDP per capita nearly doubled and in 1991 Cyprus was able to apply for membership of the E.U. In 1992 it became possible to link the Cyprus pound to the ECU. One of his major achievements during this period was the establishment of the University of Cyprus.