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- Русский
Nicosia Municipal Theatre
It is with great pleasure that I am attending today's General Assembly of the SBC. My presence here is an indication of my appreciation and recognition of the extremely important role and work that you perform, substantially enhancing the common effort, because this is how we approach it, for the development and promotion of our country's economy. As a State, we approach the SBC as a key partner and companion in the effort to successfully address the multiple challenges we face, all of them, but also to promote the necessary reforms that will take our country even further forward and create hope and prospects for the entire Cypriot people. And I insist on the area of reforms because the challenges we face are mainly external, we cannot influence them, we cannot change the facts in relation to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, but as far as reforms are concerned, it is entirely our responsibility, and both you and the parliamentary parties, the Government, the executive approach us as partners to achieve our common goals.
In this context, and today, the FCC is an essential collaborator and partner of the Government in a major effort for fiscal transformation of our country, which is a top priority for the Government. And I would like to take this opportunity to mention that you were the first to publicly express the need for such a development, which we adopted, and within this framework of implementing our governance programme, one of our first decisions was to launch the effort for tax transformation, with the aim of modernising and simplifying it. The main axes of the tax reform being promoted are to increase the competitiveness of Cyprus' tax model, to reduce the administrative burden for taxpayers and, of course, businesses and, at the same time, to provide a fairer redistribution of the tax burden, while maintaining fiscal neutrality. At the same time, the aim is to fully align our tax policies with the objectives of the European Green Deal, another challenge to which we must respond, also in the context of the green tax reform being promoted. An effort that will lead to the imposition of taxes on the consumption of natural resources that pollute the environment, shifting the burden of taxation towards environmentally damaging activities.
The green tax reform will undoubtedly also contribute to the fulfilment of our country's environmental objectives, reduce distortions in the economy by improving habits in the polluting sectors of transport and energy, water, promote the circular economy and boost innovation and "green" investments. The Government immediately, in cooperation with all the supervisory bodies, in cooperation with you, and I would like to thank you, is taking all the necessary measures and will continue to show, I want to repeat, zero tolerance on this issue. The decisions taken by the US and British governments were not a positive development, but we must look at these decisions as an opportunity to put an end to this issue which, unfortunately, is plaguing the executive, plaguing the legislature, plaguing all of you, and therefore we must all work together, taking into account the need for zero tolerance, to put an end to this issue once and for all.
And I want to call on all of you, all of you, bodies of the accounting and auditing profession, to continue to approach this issue with absolute seriousness and to work together to remove, through actions and not words, any shadow or doubt that exists at the international level about business activities in our country. This is our clear intention and I am sure you share the same view. Cyprus cannot afford not to rise to the occasion and continue to have its image tarnished because of the behaviour of a minority. Rest assured that there is strong investment interest in our country and we will see significant investment from foreign countries in 2023. Today, I had a first meeting with a delegation from the United Arab Emirates which was accompanied by investment funds and other investors from the country who are really interested. There was a very substantive meeting with a number of ministers, with the public sector involved in this particular issue. Tomorrow morning we have another meeting with all those who have invested in our country to hear their concerns. The issue of attracting quality investment is a top priority for the Government and I want you to be sure that our country has the infrastructure to attract that kind of investment, as long as we do what we have to do without any third party having to impose it on us, but we who are more interested than any third party in the name of our country, in the future of our country, in the future of our economy, should do all that we have to do.
On behalf of the Government, I want to assure you that we will stand with you to work closely and find effective solutions to the challenges that our country faces, such as those that continue through Russia's invasion of Ukraine, inflation, interest rate increases, energy costs, but also the challenges in the labour market which, no doubt, among many other impacts, are in some cases, obstacles to business activities.
Together we will also continue, with the same responsibility and the same intensity, the effort to promote measures for the recovery of the economy, but also measures to attract quality investments in our country, which will also create new jobs.
My vision for our country, as I mentioned yesterday during the press conference on the occasion of the 100 days since I took office, is to become a model state, with favourable conditions for attracting quality investment and promoting entrepreneurship. A state which, by virtue of its economy, can be social and fair and ensure a high standard of living for all its citizens. A country that will dare to take steps forward, that functions as a reliable business and financial centre, free from the bad practices of the past. A country that - we must adapt - harnesses the potential of technology, that innovates, that sets the bar high for the digital and green transition. A nation that can respond to international geopolitical, economic and other challenges, quickly and effectively. The formulation and implementation of a new development model is an important objective for the Government, so that the country, as documented in "Vision 2035", a vision presented during the previous Government, and in particular the issues of the vision for the economy should not be influenced by electoral cycles. That would be a sign of non-seriousness for our country, so we adopt Vision 2035 to make our country an ideal place for everyone to work, to live, to grow in business.
A robust economy, after all, and I often mention this, to be able to have social policy and manage challenges such as punctuality we have to have a strong economy.
The triptych of our policy for the economy focuses on fiscal discipline, a stable financial system and continued structural reforms.
In closing, let me thank you for the invitation and reiterate our readiness to continue our cooperation.
(RM/SX)
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