‘Government will listen to all stakeholders to choose right options for Malta's future’ – Schembri
In the presentation of the strategy A future proof Malta, Minister for Economy and Industry, Silvio Schembri, said that government is willing to listen to all stakeholders to ensure a sustainable economy for Malta, but given its size, the country needs to be selective in order to choose the best projects possible.
The strategy is based on five pillars, which provide the outline for Malta’s economic vision, which are Sustainable Economic Growth, Infrastructure and Investment, Education and Employment, Environment and Governance and Rule of Law.
Schembri was speaking during a panel discussion moderated by The Malta Independent editor-in-chief Neil Camilleri.
“We need to build an economic vision in order to have a sustainable future. We would like to involve the primary ministries in the vision we have announced. Never until today could we appreciate the economic synergy of all stakeholders due to the Covid-19 pandemic,” the minister said.
The minister remarked that the country finds itself in a good position to discuss the future of Malta. “Today, we have one of the highest percentage of vaccinated people in the world, so we know we can look forward now.”
One of the things the ministry will improve is its infrastructure, which the minister remarked, does not necessarily entail road infrastructure but infrastructure on a much larger scale.
“Apart from the physical infrastructure, we have another infrastructure. For example, Malta will be one of the few countries, which has 5G coverage throughout,” he said.
Furthermore, the minister noted that the investment in infrastructure would not necessitate the lack of care towards the environment either. “The investment in infrastructure would also mean investment in the environment. For example, investment in the electric car infrastructure would help the environment even more,” he observed.
The minister remarked that in terms of economic stability, Malta stood in 77th place a few years ago in the World Economic Forum, but it now stands in first place.
Another issue which the minister addressed was the corporate tax system, which he noted, remains robust in Malta. However, he noted that the country should remain vigilant of new corporate tax systems which would bolster the country’s likability.
“The corporate tax system is very strong, but if we don’t recognise that there are new attractive corporate tax systems being introduced, we are going to suffer,” he said.
He noted that government wants to help start-ups to prevail and bloom in the country. “We have the infrastructure; it is the ideal land for a start-up to perform a scale up. Israel has a system for start-ups which is very good, but when it comes to scale up it would be very difficult. This is something we can look into to attract more start-ups not only to start, but also to scale-up,” he said.
When it comes to the private sector, the minister encouraged all the stakeholders to continue to be creative and share their ideas with government. “The best ideas don’t come from the government, but from the private sector. Government needs to see that it is an enabler in this,” he said
He also noted that government, companies and the people should keep their eyes peeled on new technologies which are emerging, as the pandemic has accelerated the technological shift and a lot of new technologies, which were once unimaginable, are now here with us.
“The pandemic accelerated the technology shift. There are new technologies which are closer to the mainstream than we think. We need to see constructive criticism so we can improve, increase the proposals and be at the forefront. The important thing is that we have a government that listens,” he said.
In his final remarks, the minister said that government is actually asking for constructive criticism in order to improve the country’s prospects. “The more we listen, the more we can progress,” the minister remarked.
“We want to hear the ideas of everyone. This is a small country; we cannot waste our energy on small things. We have the resources and talent to continue to move forward. We need to be selective in terms of which investments we choose, but we want to hear and consult with everyone,” he remarked.
The minister was joined by four other speakers from government; the Minister for Senior Citizens and Active Ageing, Michael Farrugia; the Minister within the Office of the Prime Minister, Carmelo Abela; Parliamentary secretary for European Funds, Stefan Zrinzo Azzopardi and the Permanent secretary of the Ministry for Transport, Infrastructure and Capital Projects, Joseph Caruana.
Minister Farrugia said that “one of the first steps to ensure the welfare state of our country was economic strength”.
“We need to think of intergenerational people. Not only do we need to increase the services, but we also need to increase the quality of the services we give, while also auditing these services. We need to see these social deficits and we want to increase the wellbeing regarding them,” he said.
The minister noted that he is aware that there are a number of people in our society who need help “and in the silence of their homes call for it”.
He observed that this is why projects, such as LEAP, were introduced. Furthermore, next week, government will be launching new standards from what it had in the past “so that we can increase services in the homes of the elderly”.
Another pilot project will also be observed when it comes to senior citizens who feel lonely but are able to take care of themselves. “We are envisaging a project for independent living, and this pilot project will have different structures. These people would be taking care of their own space but in an environment where they would be with other people.”
The minister also remarked that the country needs to also aim for the sustainability of pensions.
Asked about the reaction of the Malta Council Economic and Social Development (MCESD), the minister said that it was very positive. He remarked, however, that it is not possible with government alone to have a strong vision for the country.
“We are discussing how much we are ready to have but this cannot happen with government alone. We need to discuss together,” he said. “I believe in social dialogue and past history has shown us that whenever we discussed together, we did better.”
The minister also noted that two other factors that Malta needs to keep an eye out for are the conditions of workers and discussions abroad.
On the former point, the minister said that “we cannot aspire to have better economic outcomes if we don’t
for recognise the need to improve the conditions of employment.”
Azzopardi acknowledged that Malta is now in the phase where the country has submitted its economic recovery to the EU.
The parliamentary secretary echoed Schembri’s words in saying that infrastructure is not simply roads “but also relates to issues such as energy, water, digitisation” and so forth. “If one looks at the priorities, one notices that green economy and digitisation are at the forefront and that we will be making a lot of investment so that we reach these aims,” he said.
He also noted that government is looking at the second interconnector as a solution to energy capacity and alternative. Furthermore, he highlighted that the educational infrastructure is something which is also very important for government and we need to address issues such as early school leavers.
For his pa r t , Caruana noted that i nfrastructure is interwoven with the economic development of the country. He noted that in just three years, more than 500 roads were constructed. “Government’s plan is to continue changing the quality of life of people for the better,” he said.
More open spaces for residents would also be considered, while the regeneration of public spaces is something which is also crucial in the country at this day and age.
Photos: Giuseppe Attard