Welcoming Mr. Omirou, at the time of heated debates over the thorny issue of shop opening hours, the President of the LCCI outlined the Chamber’s positions, in conjunction with the bill proposed by the House, describing as “most unacceptable” the attempted geographical discrimination which would allow Sunday trading in some areas whereas shops everywhere else, including in the whole of Limassol, would have to remain closed. Mr. Galatariotis said that the Chamber had made strong representations, including addressing a letter to Limassol MPs, criticizing them for effectively sidelining Limassol.
Responding, the House President expressed the opinion that the proposed bill was unconstitutional, as well as being an anachronism. He also referred to the prospects for the Cyprus economy, in line with the latest report by the European Commission to the effect that Cyprus is likely to register negative growth in 2015. He said that extreme austerity was fuelling recession and called on the state to address this by making use of the primary surplus. With regard to the ‘’Juncker package”, he said that its usefulness, as well as the extent to which it can be effective in bringing about growth, remained to be seen.
LCCI Board members spoke to Mr. Omirou about issues on the agenda of the business community, including the state of Cyprus’ industry and the need for a new industrial policy, as well as excessive red tape in certain government departments that is obstructing entrepreneurship.
The House President and the Director of his office, Antonis Koutaliano,s were subsequently hosted to lunch at the Limassol Marina.
