Bank of Cyprus CEO, John Hourican stressed the need for a tax reform that will encourage the attraction of new deposits and property investors.

He said that the agenda of the debate in Cyprus must shift from austerity to prosperity.
Speaking to a lecture on Exercising Leadership in times of Economic and Financial Crisis organized by CIIM, Mr. Hourican said that Cyprus needs a plan that must be supported by all for the next five to ten years.

We need to create opportunities for future generations and we need clear, simple and real plans and objectives that must be supported by all, he said.

He noted that we should stop looking backward but forward.

We need to put a target of doubling the number of tourists visiting Cyprus with an extension of the tourist season, to take advantage of the island’s natural resources and to "embrace" the project of the European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, he added.

He also said that we must invest in the expansion of medical services, to open the skies and to connect Cyprus and stressed the need for tax reform.

Mr. Hourican also emphasized the need to reduce the tax on interests from deposits and should bridge the gap of the fourty billion euros of the banking sector by attracting deposits in Cyprus.

He said that we should reduce the estate tax and provide tax incentives to attract investors.

We need to complete the reforms and to create the conditions for prosperity as well as to prepare for the extraction of hydrocarbons in Cyprus.

I see no reason why Cyprus could not have a GDP of thirty billion euros in a short time with the right plan, he concluded.