The president of the Federation of Employers & Industrialists (OEB), Antonis Antoniou, in his New Year message for the new year notes that due to the pandemic the Cypriot economy is still moving in uncharted waters.
“However,” he added, “I am confident that we now have the knowledge and experience to help us manage the pandemic in the near future.”
“Using the expertise we gained in 2020 and 2021, I believe we are now able to avoid mistakes and exaggerations that may have hurt both our social and mental well-being and our business and financial strength.”
Mr. Antoniou emphasizes that the challenges for 2022 do not only concern Koronovios. It is expected that for a long time to come, we will be concerned with the issue of rising prices for raw materials, products and services.
In addition, all businesses will have to deal with the extra burdens added as part of the green transition. The most important burden will be the imposition of the carbon tax that concerns the period 2022-2026 and is part of the European policy. Revenues from the new taxes will be reimbursed to the citizens in the form of compensatory measures, but the duration of the measure requires the formulation of a long-term strategy to support the sectors that will be most affected.
The New Year's message of the President of OEB is as follows:
Friends,
2021 leaves us with mixed emotions and bids us farewell with experiences that were formed under the siege of the pandemic.
While in the past we had, more or less, the opportunity to prepare the ground for the months to come and to predict the conditions we will face, the last two years have come to overturn everything we knew and remind us that nothing is a given nor predictable. It is clear that this makes it even more difficult for both companies and the wider public sector to work on their plans for the new year.
Following the economic downturn in 2020, 2021 started with great optimism as the availability of the first vaccines at the beginning of the year and the gradual vaccination of the population for the protection of the coronavirus, allowed the exit from the 'lockdowns' and the return most businesses to a form of normalcy. This gave breath to the businesses and the economy which soon reopened at a remarkable pace.
In terms of crisis management, the contribution of state business and employee support plans was very important. The primary goal was to preserve jobs and protect entrepreneurship, successful projects.
Important sectors of the economy such as services and construction, managed to return to productive rates while tourism, after the catastrophic 2020, saw significant improvement with tourist arrivals reaching about 50% in 2019.
I will not refer to estimates for the course of the economy for 2022, because if we have learned anything in the last two years, it is that we are moving in uncharted waters. However, I am confident that we have now gained knowledge and experience that will help us manage the pandemic in the near future.
Utilizing the expertise we gained in 2020 and 2021, I believe we are now able to avoid mistakes and exaggerations that may have hurt both our social and mental well-being as well as our business and financial strength.
Based on the above, I am optimistic that in 2022 we will be able to formulate a new strategy to address future challenges that will be characterized by consistency, seriousness and logic and will balance beneficially between health and financial requirements.
The challenges that we will face in 2022, do not only concern the Koronovirus. It is expected that for a long time to come, we will be concerned with the issue of rising prices for raw materials, products and services. This phenomenon began to become more apparent in the second half of 2021 and is due to a number of circumstances such as reduced industrial production, rising fares and fuel prices, reduced supply of containers and labor shortages in certain professions. These events, in addition to the increase in the prices of raw materials, have also led to the lack of a number of consumer goods, problems which we hope will be restored by returning to normalcy.
In addition, all businesses will have to deal with the extra burdens added as part of the green transition. The most important burden will be the imposition of the carbon tax that concerns the period 2022-2026 and is part of the European policy. Revenues from the new taxes will be reimbursed to the citizens in the form of compensatory measures, but the duration of the measure requires the formulation of a long-term strategy to support the sectors that will be most affected.
We are particularly pleased that despite the difficulties, the unemployment rate has dropped significantly. On the other hand, companies today face difficulties in finding qualified and unskilled human resources. During the last two years, several foreign and community workers have left the island and it is now difficult to find staff to replace them. We expect quick and courageous decisions for today and we hope that with the modernization of the employment strategy of workers from third countries, in the medium term these problems will be largely solved.
We expect that the reform effort that started with a focus on the reform of the Public Sector, Local Government, Justice, Digital Transformation and Tax data, as well as the implementation of the Recovery and Resilience Plan, will continue unhindered.
We continue optimistically aware of the difficulties we will encounter and declare our readiness to face the new challenges that will arise by setting new goals with vision, stubbornness and the will to consolidate healthy businesses and a stable economy.
Thank you and I wish from the bottom of my heart to all of you a happy, successful and productive 2022 with health and prosperity.
