The official handover ceremony of the Ministry took place today, Wednesday 1 March 2023, with the new Minister of Labour and Social Insurance, Mr.
Welcoming the new Minister of Labour and Social Insurance, the former Minister wished him every success, noting the many challenges he will have to face. Kousios added that he is absolutely sure that with the cooperation of the Ministry's officials he will be able to tackle them with great success.
Kousios told Mr. Panagiotou that he has to deal with and manage the issue of ATA, the issue of pension reform and many other issues which he already knows and reiterated his certainty, knowing him as he added, but also knowing the officials of the Ministry of Labour and Social Insurance, that he is sure that he will manage them with great success.
The former Minister thanked the Directorate, the Director General of the Ministry Mr. Andreas Zacharias and the officials of the Ministry of Labour for their excellent cooperation and valuable contribution and finally thanked President Anastasiades for entrusting him to be the political head of the Ministry of Labour and Social Insurance.
On receiving his portfolio from the outgoing Minister, the new Minister said that with the outgoing Minister Mr. Kousios and I are of different generations but "what we share is the same understanding of the importance of the responsibility we assume as political heads of the Ministry of Labour and Social Security", noting that Mr Kousios made sure that he also worked out the materials and actions that needed to be initiated so that his successor could take over through an organized process. He added that he had already spent enough time so that there could be a smooth continuity, as the Ministry of Labour existed before Kyriakos Kousios and will continue to exist after Yannis Panayiotou, just as the Republic of Cyprus existed before us and will exist after us. "The new Minister thanked the President of the Republic for the confidence he showed in him "by conveying, through the assumption of my responsibilities, the hopes and expectations that society has placed in him in relation to the management of this important portfolio."
The new Minister thanked the President of the Republic for the confidence he has shown in him.
The Ministry of Labour and Social Security is associated with important historical achievements for workers, for the citizens of our country, the new Minister said, with the most recent being the social achievement of the institutionalization of the national minimum wage, with which the outgoing Minister, Mr. Kousios, the introduction of the Minimum Guaranteed Income, with which Mr Kousios' predecessor, the late Zeta Emilianidou, was associated, and going further back, from the foundation of the Republic, with the establishment of the Social Insurance Fund by the first Minister of Labour, the late Tassos Papadopoulos.
Mr. Panagiotou added, by assuming this historic responsibility, we have many important things to do, first and foremost the management of another important social conquest, the Automatic Price Adjustment, which in the coming period, in cooperation and consultation with the social partners, we will approach it in order to ensure what is our first priority, the preservation of labor peace, which is necessary for economic stability, the upgrading of social dialogue.
At the same time, he highlighted as priorities ensuring safe and decent work, ensuring fair wages for workers, ensuring social cohesion and the competitiveness of our economy, adding that "these are priorities for us and through the implementation of President Christodoulides' governance programme we will act in this direction".
Referring to the tragedy of the train accident in Greece, but also to the earthquakes in Syria and Turkey, he said that "they remind us that whatever happens, wherever we are, whoever we are, we are human beings. And we have to act as human beings. People-centred is how the new government will operate and, although in a free economy, naturally and rightly, business is at the centre so that we can live in a prosperous society, we must never forget that at the centre are the people, either as employers or as workers, who are citizens of this country and it is they who must prosper."
The new Minister said he will be in communication with the outgoing Minister to ensure the normalcy that we need so that our country can have stability, progress and growth.
Responding to questions, Panagiotou said he is already in communication with the social partners. "We note that there is a desire from all sides, so that through the development of social dialogue there is progress on this issue to ensure industrial peace, which through the upgrading of social dialogue can be used for the good of our country."
Regarding any concessions to the positions of the social partners, Panagiotou said that any indication of goodwill is welcome. The intention is that "any issues at the moment, any impression of pending issues, will be settled very soon, so that other, upcoming, very important issues can be prioritized and their solution can be initiated", he stressed, citing as an example the green tax reform, which is imminent and will significantly affect, as he said, both citizens and businesses.
Asked to comment on the decision of the outgoing government in relation to the strategy of employing workers from third countries, the Minister
