New Estonian cabinet inaugurated
06.04.2011, 09:25Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves yesterday inaugurated the new cabinet of ministers led by Andrus Ansip in the following composition:
Prime Minister – Andrus Ansip (Reform)
Finance – Jürgen Ligi (Reform)
Foreign Affairs – Urmas Paet (Reform)
Social Affairs – Hanno Pevkur (Reform)
Justice – Kristen Michal (Reform)
Environment – Keit Pentus (Reform)
Culture – Rein Lang (Reform)
Economic Affairs and Communications – Juhan Parts (IRL)
Defense – Mart Laar (IRL)
Education and Research – Jaak Aaviksoo (IRL)
Interior – Ken-Marti Vaher (IRL)
Agriculture – Helir-Valdor Seeder (IRL)
Regional Affairs – Siim Valmar Kiisler (IRL)
In his address to the Parliament, Ansip outlined his government 's goals for the next four years, stressing the importance of improving the quality of people's lives.
The prime minister also touched on tax and business issues. "We intend to reduce labor taxes, lower the income tax rate to the same level as Value Added Tax, abolish the tax on payments given for job-related training, develop the business environment in a direction that is more friendly to businesses and increase social security for families with children and retired people," he added.