PM Mitsotakis: The government’s main goal is ‘high growth far exceeding the EU average’

Athens, Greece.- The Greek government’s “main goal remains high growth that will far exceed the European average,” noted Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis at the Hellenic Federation of Enterprises (SEV) general assembly meeting on Tuesday evening.

The premier participated in a moderated discusssion with SEV Chairman Dimitris Papalexopoulos.

Apart from the strictly fiscal characteristics of growth, which are determined by official statistics released by the Hellenic Statistical Agency and the European Commission, noted the premier, “growth must generate quality jobs, a growth leading to the convergence of Greek wages with European ones, a type of growth that will pay great emphasis to the idea of sustainability and of green transition.”

On top of all this, Mitsotakis noted, even greater emphasis should be paid on resilience against the challenges of climate change, while “growth cannot turn a blind eye on the colossal changes in the world of artificial intelligence, and the next phase of digital upscaling, which changes everything in how we understand our relationship with technology.”

Referring to the issue of energy, Mitsotakis stressed that more photovoltaic and wind farms are needed, underlining however that these technologies alone will not suffice if Greece does not address the issue of energy storage. Still, “Greece can become an energy exporter within the next five years,” he said.

Regarding the state’s efficiency and operations, Mitsotakis said that the fact that civil servants’ salaries are increasing – not across the board – and in combination with the evaluation of civil servants’ work is a radical shift in the public sector.

Concerning the judicial system and its slow process, the PM said, “We have lot of work to do, as it is a central reform axis for the next four years.”

SEV’s Papalexopoulos

Lower labor taxes, a new framework of labor relations, increased participation by women, young people, and recently pensioned off people in the labor market, and brain gain were the proposals that Papalexopoulos referred to on Tuesday’s event.

He reported that middle managers experienced the greatest unfairness through the taxation system, but added that besides a lack of managers, there was also a lack of working hands.

SEV’s chairman said that in terms of the energy cost, Greece could end up on the winning side from the energy transition to become independent or even an energy exporter. But until then, he cautioned, Greece will face great challenges on high energy cost. Papalexopoulos presented four proposals for the energy issue: acceleration of investments in energy infrastructure; a more generous support of investments in green transition; securing a well-operating and interconnected energy market; and guaranteeing a competitive energy cost, especially for energy-intensive businesses.

Papalexopoulos also noted the need to accelerate the way justice served its rulings and to deal with bureaucracy both in Greece and at the EU by simplifying procedures before they are legislated, abolishing old procedures when new ones are adopted, reducing reporting to public administration by 25%, and reducing overregulation.

Source:amna.gr