Speaking at the 58th Annual General Meeting of the Institute of Certified Public Accounts of Cyprus (ICPAC), Anastasiades said the Deputy Ministry “will play a crucial role towards the target of obtaining the maximum possible effectiveness of our digital strategy.”

“The relative bill is currently at the Law Office of the Republic for legal vetting and soon will come to the Council of Ministers for approval and will be tabled to Parliament,” Anastasiades added.

He hoped lawmakers would not block the move to achieve the island’s digital transformation which is “absolutely necessary to move forward.”

It will be the third Deputy Ministry to be created after this government established the Deputy Ministries for Shipping and Tourism in 2018.

Furthermore, the President outlined the government’s targeted policy priorities implemented with the aspiration “to change the country’s image in the coming years.”

This included appointing a Chief Scientist, reform of the public sector, linking the state’s wage bill with nominal GDP growth, a national plan for blockchain technology, the reform in the justice system and introducing a National Health Scheme.

ICPAC’s outgoing President Marios Skandalis called for a “strategic master plan” for the economy to be jointly drafted by the public and the private sectors.

He said this plan should cover the realities and the capabilities of the economy, the conditions and trends of the European and global economies, our short-term and long-term targets, competitiveness and the image of the Cypriot economy to be promoted internationally.

“The close and constructive cooperation between the public and the private sectors is a sine qua non for the drafting of such a strategic plan,” Skandalis said.

Source: Financial Mirror