Facing now is ession’ − GRTU CEO
itself, but it is giving the total opposite message. Malta is no longer regarded as being a safe investment. We cannot calculate the extent of the damage being done to our reputation. All we know is that it will be severe. It is not easy to attract investment to Malta, so all this will damage what we have achieved so far. It is a disaster for us. When you calculate risk, the first thing you take note of is the reputation of the country you will be investing in. Malta has become a nonstarter when it comes to investment.
What about investment plans by local businesses and entrepreneurs?
On a local level, around 40% had told us that they had investment plans, such as expanding, looking at opportunities abroad and branching out into new sectors. Many are now reconsidering, cancelling or postponing those plans. So, there is a big question mark for businesses.
We are slamming our foot on the brakes, and this will slow down our economy. We cannot see what the results will be, but we have relied on foreign investment so much in the past few years, that something like this is tragic for us. Foreign investment is the reason why Malta could invest in infrastructure, health care and now we will not be able to do that. This will affect our standard of living. Malta will be very different from the one we knew a few weeks ago.
Malta will have a new Prime Minister next month. What does the government need to work on first to reverse the damage done in December?
When it comes to politicians, I believe we have learnt our lesson. A new Prime Minister does not mean that things will change automatically. Taking that for granted would be very naïve of us.
Having a new PM does not mean things will change from how they have been done over the past few years. This is not something GRTU will take for granted and it is something we will scrutinize because there is a problem here.
GRTU has suffered. We have a lack of trust in our politicians and we are no longer ready to rely on whatever they say. We hope that the new people who will be in charge will be as adamant as we, and the rest of civil society is, to fix what was wrong in the past. We intend to do that, to look back on what we had serious doubts on and we hope to find full cooperation. We hope that the same mentality will be applied by our politicians too.
The current attitudes are certainly not helping; politicians need to do much more to show that their intentions are to fix the damage that has been done.
A recent European Commission report highlighted that corruption is a problem for 60% of Maltese companies. How does this, coupled with recent events, affect businesses and entrepreneurs?
60% is an encouraging number. It not only shows that there is a good level of awareness among businesses about corruption but they also acknowledge that corruption is not in the interest of business.
I would expect the percentage to rise even more now that all businesses are experiencing it first hand after what came out in the last few weeks. Unfortunately, the general perception about business is usually not very positive. Many people still see a business as just a money-making machine, where you get rich fast at the expense of everyone else.
The absolute majority of businesses are however very good businesses that want to compete fairly. Together with their employees, they form small nuclei and are run as families, with commitment to their clients and respect to society.
What is GRTU’s opinion on the current political instability, especially from a government which states to be ‘pro-business’?
We do not understand what is happening. We do not understand and we refuse to understand why the Prime Minister has not resigned. Some people point their fingers at protestors; that is not what the Economist is writing about. The international media is not concerned about protests, they are concerned at how seriously the country is taking what has happened and it is evident that partisan interests are being brought before Malta’s interest.
Politicians refer to SMEs as the backbone of our economy, which is absolutely right. Should our SMEs falter, we will all falter with them. I, therefore, become concerned when reading some comments here and there that what has happened is a result of a government that is pro-business. Collaborating illicitly with a few giant businesses in order to underhandedly enrich them further and secretly getting hidden financial returns at the expense of everyone else is not being probusiness − it’s being a criminal and a corrupt decision-maker.
Being pro-business is giving everyone equal opportunities, encouraging the right kind of investment that the country needs, sustaining businesses in a transparent manner to invest more and generate more jobs. Businesses have been cheated like everyone else. They will suffer the consequences like the rest of us.
As a business association, we will be working hard and pushing for change ourselves, in order to avoid a repetition of such corrupt collaborations, because corruption is bad for business.