The Greek government plans to set up special economic zones to attract private investment and help lift the economy out of a deep repression, Development Minister Kostis Hatzidakis said. The zones would offer investors tax breaks and other incentives in an economy where taxes have been raised in a frantic attempt to raise revenues and stave off insolvency.
The government is already in talks with the European Commission to get approval, Hatzidakis told a news conference. ”We believe these zones will boost the real economy by creating a special regime to attract investment and generate exports,” Hatzidakis said.
Hatzidakis urged the country’s European Union partners to accept the government’s plan to establish these zones. ”There are already objections outside Greece because it (the zones) would give the country a comparative advantage,” he said. The zones, however, would not allow investors to pay workers especially low salaries. ”Current labor law will be fully respected,” Hatzidakis said.
The government has already, however, cut public workers salaries 30 percent and more, and many private companies have followed suit. Unemployment has hit 23.1 percent because of crushing austerity measures and there are nearly two million people out of work, while the Greek unemployment agency said benefits have run out for 672,000 people, leaving them with no income at all.
(source: ANSA)
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