Insider / ΚΥΠΕ
2021 leaves us with mixed emotions and bids us farewell with experiences that were formed under the siege of the pandemic, says in his New Year message the President of the Federation of Employers & Industrialists (OEB) Antonis Antoniou. At the same time he expresses optimism for the development of a new strategy to address future challenges in 2022.
“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 and predictable. It is clear that this fact makes even more difficult the work of both companies and the wider public sector regarding their planning for the new year “, says Mr. Antoniou, in his message.
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 returning most businesses to a form of normalcy, he adds, noting that this breathed new life into businesses and the economy, which soon reopened at a remarkable rate.
Regarding the management of the crisis, the President of OEB states that “the contribution of the state business support plans was very important. “The primary goal was to preserve jobs and protect entrepreneurship, which have been successfully achieved.”
“Important sectors of the economy, such as services and construction, have managed to return to productive rates while tourism, after the disastrous 2020, has seen a significant improvement with tourist arrivals reaching about 50% in 2019,” he added.
“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 as well as our business and financial strength,” said Mr. Antoniou.
He expressed optimism 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.”
Regarding the challenges of 2022, Mr. Antoniou states that these “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. 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.”
Additionally, all businesses will have to deal with the extra burdens added as part of the green transition, it adds.
The most important burden, according to Mr. Antoniou, will be the imposition of the carbon tax that concerns the period 2022-2026 and is part of 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.
He welcomed the fact that the unemployment rate has dropped significantly, noting that “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, he said, “that the reform effort that began 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 Plan and the timetables “.
Concluding, he expresses his wishes for a happy, successful and productive 2022 with health and prosperity.
