Joe Farrugia, Director General of the Malta Employers Association

“Fundamentally, what we would like to see is an orientation that will ensure that the current general positive macro-economic indicators are sustainable. We have also stressed the need to facilitate the processing of visas for third-country nationals that are part of the solution of labour supply shortages, the re-activation of incentives for wider diffusion of alternative energy, a reduction of energy costs to enterprise and a plan to mitigate the transport problems.”

Mr Farrugia warned that the government should focus on reducing the national debt. “Budgets should be realistic, not generous. In many developed economies, government have abused of budgets by introducing unsustainable populist measures which have resulted in chronic deficits and unmanageable debts. The government should remain on the path to fiscal consolidation to reduce the debt. In this manner, it will be generous with the young and future generations.”

On traffic, the MEA Director General says “over-promising” was one of the main issues. “Commuters were promised more than was possible when Arriva started operating, and the current Minister responsible for transport also raised everyone’s expectations by committing himself to solutions which have yet to materialise. Better traffic management, flexible work arrangements and incentives for car sharing and company transport may offer partial and limited short-term solutions. However, in the medium to long term, more drastic measures will be required to address this problem, including a change in culture of how we look at private cars and major infrastructural projects such as a metro to complement the current public transport system. “