‘Our goal is to create a fully digitised state’

The government’s goal is to create a “fully digitised state”, Finance Minister Makis Keravnos said on Saturday.

Speaking at a business conference, he said a fully digitised state would “offer quality services to its citizens as well as businesses” and facilitate “the development of new knowledge-intensive sectors.”

These sectors will “enable the diversification of the economy,” he said.

A fully digitised state, he said, will go hand in hand with planned tax reforms.

He said these tax reforms will “increase the competitiveness of the Cyprus tax model and the reduction of the administrative burden for taxpayers and businesses, while providing a fairer redistribution of the tax burden.”

He also said the government aims to meet the European Union’s “ambitious targets” as regards the green transition.

This will be done through “the implementation of the necessary measures including, among others, a number of schemes to expedite the adoption of renewable energy resources … and the implementation of green taxation reform.”

In addition, he said the government’s current strategy for attracting international businesses “is currently being implemented with noteworthy success”.

Pillars of that strategy include the establishment of a business facilitation unit and the introduction of a digital nomad visa and a revised policy for the implementation of temporary residence and employment permits for third country nationals employed in foreign-owned companies in Cyprus.