“Let’s keep operating companies alive,” urged the President of the Athens Chamber of Industry and Commerce Dimitris Daskalopoulos after his meeting with Minister Michalis Chrysohoidis. The statement was made concerning the main goals of the Minister to fight dearth in Greece and in particular to reduce the prices of goods imported by major international companies.
Daskalopoulos stressed that international companies are exactly those that open jobs, pay taxes and may provide new investments in the future. In other words, the president of the Industrial Chamber suggested that the Economy Ministry should reassess its priorities for the next two to three years which are known to be difficult in financial terms. "I can not imagine how a company that has 5% profit will be able to reduce the prices of its products by 30%," explained the businessman. He stressed that if we really want to objectively look at the problem of reduced household income we should consider the overall picture and all costs that weaken the purchasing power.
Dimitris Daskalopoulos analyzed in brief the total household costs and concluded that most of them depend directly and indirectly on changes in government regulations, increased taxes and reduction of total income. Furthermore, he stressed that it is not appropriate to compare the prices in Greece with the prices in other European countries until local market conditions do not align with those of the other Eurozone members. Therefore, the government should set as a priority not to forcible reduce the prices of imported goods but to liberalize the market, simplify the administration and clear the unnecessary taxes and fees that additionally burden pricing of goods and services. Only in this way could the competitiveness of the country be improved to make it more attractive for business development.
On the other hand, Dimitris Daskalopoulos welcomed the initiative of Minister Chrysohoidis to hear the business circles in the country and said that they are all on the same side in this difficult economic period. They discussed at the meeting issues relating to the law on investment and economic development and industrial representatives once again offered the government to consider tax breaks for large investors who are already operating in Greece and would like it extended their activity. The president of the Industrial Chamber hopes Minister Chrysohoidis to be the link between the ministries of finance, environment and energy, which are crucial for establishing new and better business environment.
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