The government of Cyprus has started a big project to change its building industry. It wants this sector to help make the country's economy stronger. The President, Nikos Christodoulides, recently told a meeting of building companies about the new plans. He wants the rules for construction to be simpler and clearer. At the same time, the country's workers' unions are making another big demand. They want a large increase in the minimum wage. This is creating an important discussion.
Speaking to the builders, the President said the government's plans are a reaction to economic problems and local needs. He said that even with problems in the world, Cyprus's economy is doing very well. The planned changes have several goals. They want to make building projects happen faster and help with the problem of expensive houses. One important tax change is to lower the defence tax from 17% to only 5%. They hope to present this new law to Parliament before the end of the year.
However, workers' unions do not agree with the government's happy story. A major union called PEO has published a report that disagrees. The report says that the benefits of the country's economic growth are not shared fairly with workers. It says that in Cyprus, the money workers get from the country's total income is less than 50%. Wages have gone up a little, but the union says it is not enough.
Because of this, the union is asking for a large increase in the minimum wage of about 28%. The leader of PEO supports this idea. The union says it is wrong to only connect wage increases to inflation because other things, like company profits, also affect prices.
Now, the government wants to help the building sector with new rules and lower taxes. But the unions want higher wages for workers, which would make it more expensive for companies to operate. What happens next will be very important for jobs, fairness, and who benefits from the country's economic success.