Main opposition New Democracy (ND) leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Monday pledged to strengthen cooperation between the public and private sectors if elected to government, by outsourcing services to the private sector.
Mitsotakis was speaking at the Federation of Hellenic Information Technology & Communications Enterprises (SEPE).
The state should not fear partnerships with the private sector, Mitsotakis said, noting that it only has to gain from cooperation and the outsourcing of public services. E-government may be the last big opportunity to reform public administration, he said, adding that it would build a new state dedicated to serving the citizen.
Criticising the government, he said: “It is provocative to crush Greeks with taxes and cut pensions and not to promote e-government policies to tackle tax evasion.”
Mitsotakis promised to change the explosive cocktail of high tax and high insurance contributions. Addressing IT and communications entrepreneurs, he said: “I know you are losing important executives who are going abroad because they cannot cope with the combination of taxes and insurance contributions.”
Speaking about the opportunities opened up by the new digital era, he talked about flexibility in the workplace and the promotion of other types of employment contracts that can boost employment.
He denounced the government’s lack of vision in the field of digital policy and added that his government will implement a programme that “will begin our convergence with Europe”.
“The last great vision is the digital transformation of the country. We cannot lag behind Europe on the issues of digital transformation. We have the plan and we will soon be called upon to implement it,” he said.
The digital economy is the vehicle for growth in the future but also creates enormous new challenges that cannot be left unanswered, said Mitsotakis, while noting that change means opportunities and new prospects. “The EU has drawn up plans for the transition to the digital economy. Billions of euros are already being invested in artificial intelligence. The relative indicator of the digital economy and society shows that Europe is making progress. But Greece ranks 26th in 28 positions.”