Nikos Anastasiadis expressed his optimism that we are close to the end of the battle with the pandemic and for the restart of their local economy after a wide meeting at the Presidential Palace.
In a televised message after the meeting, the President pointed out:
"First of all, I would like to thank the professional bodies and the social partners for accepting the invitation for a comprehensive discussion on the restart of the economy as a result of the effects of the pandemic, but I would also like to thank the constructive submission. important views, suggestions that have been submitted and which are and will be evaluated by the relevant Ministries, in order to follow a dialogue that will lead us to the end of May at the latest with structured and concrete proposals, in order to give the opportunity of a new restart of the economy as a result of the effects of the pandemic.
Today's meeting coincides with the end of a year of fighting to deal with the health and economic impact of the pandemic.
In this battle - as in any battle - we count losses. We counted the biggest ones in the lives of our fellow human beings. Unfortunately, these losses are not being offset. Hope, but above all the effort of all of us, is still the final end of this nightmare. And I look forward with optimism that we are close enough.
Today we are talking about the economy. The losses in this area are certainly visible. But not irreversible and irreversible. We faced difficulties. We managed to keep the recession lower than the European average. With a plan, but also with great sacrifices, we endured the difficulties.
During the meeting that just ended, what I conveyed to our partners is that the Government's goal is on the one hand to support all sectors of the economy that have been affected, as the Government has done in practice so far with an amount of 1.6 billion, in order to support work and employees.
On the other hand, to invest in alternative forms of economy, with emphasis on the relocation of companies in Cyprus, research and innovation, education, renewable energy, health and tourism, through tax incentives and more.
At the same time, of paramount importance and one of the prerequisites is the vote by the House of Representatives of the reforms proposed by the European Commission and need to be adopted, in order to raise the funds of almost 1 billion euros of our Reconstruction and Sustainability Plan. .
Reforms, including green taxation, opening up the energy market, facilitating strategic investments and simplifying business procedures, ie reducing bureaucracy, increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of the Civil Service and digital transformation, to I do not mention the need for justice-related reforms and a host of other areas.
In addition, knowing the importance of implementing development projects, I had the opportunity to inform that from 2015 onwards, the Government approved the implementation of 885 utility projects, both in municipalities and communities, amounting to € 3.8. billion Of these, 552 projects amounting to € 876 million have been completed, 161 projects amounting to € 1.5 billion. is under construction and the implementation of 149 projects worth € 1.3 has been launched. billion
Today we can speak with greater optimism and confidence about a dynamic restart of the economy. Let's talk about a stable prospect of a speedy recovery.
The time has come for us to design and implement a new, ambitious, but also realistic plan together. The plan of sustainable economic development of our country. For all the above, I consider that today's meeting is of particular importance for the next day of Cyprus, the future of every citizen.
A lot has to be done. And I promise you more will be done. The sustainable development plan is my big personal bet. The main goal of my Government. A bet that we will all make together as we did in the critical hours of 2013. This is our debt and for this we will definitely be judged ".