Can Cyprus workers learn from Germany?

Ten years ago Cyprus was enjoying full employment and Germany was struggling with high jobless rates.
Ten years later, Cyprus's unemployment has hit 10% and Germany's is just 5.6%.
This could be linked to the fact that Germany's wage increases have been slower and its productivity growth higher than that of Cyprus.
This, in turn could be linked to the well developed model of cooperation between the unions and employers in Germany
The German model will be the focus of discussion this afternoon at Hilton Park at an open conference organised by the Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KEVE) with the support of the German leftwing Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, PWC Cyprus and the German embassy.
There will be inaugural speeches by Finance Minister Vassos Shiarly, Uwe Wixforth of the German Embassy, Evgenios Evgeniou, CEO of PwC, and Hubert Faustmann, FES Representative in Cyprus.
Dirk Νeumann of the Confederation of German Trade Unions (DGB) will present a trade union perspective, Dr Nicole Elert, a PwC Partner, will look at the issue from an employers perspective and Fiona Mullen of Sapienta Economics will probe the link between competitiveness and jobs as a comparison of Germany and Cyprus.
The second part of the seminar will include Michael Persianis, Economics Editor at Kathimerini Cyprus, Prof. Panos Pashardes from the University of Cyprus, Dirk Νeumann (DGB), Nicole Elert (PwC) and Fiona Mullen.
The seminar starts at 3pm and proceedings will be in English.
For more information call Julia Kalimeri on 96565015.