Parts: List State Companies on Stock Market, Cut Social Tax
The previous economy minister and IRL's top candidate at the upcoming parliamentary elections unveiled his plan to improve life in Estonia, including holding IPOs of state companies.
The first move, Juhan Parts told Postimees on Monday, would be to liven up the stock market, inject state companies with capital and modernize the leadership of giant state-owned businesses, such as the Port of Tallinn, Eesti Energia and Estonian Railways among others, by listing them on Tallinn's stock market. The Tallinn stock exchange is flirting with an all-time low volume this year.
The second big idea from Parts is tax reform. Parts, who was also prime minister from 2003-05, proposes to decrease the social tax to 30 percent (a drop of 3 percentage points), and divide up payments between the employer and employee.
He added that day-to-day state running costs should be decreased through reforms, such as administrative reform, which has taken a back seat after IRL was booted from government.
Another way to scale back on costs, he said, would be to set up an internship program to keep and grow talented individuals in Estonia, build a modern high-speed dual carriageway highway between Tallinn and Tartu, and Tallinn and Pärnu, and set up an investment fund to provide better access to capital.