Discussions on a future restructuring of the Malta Council for Economic and Social Development are underway and the council is set to present its recommendations shortly, Social Dialogue Minister Helena Dalli revealed this morning.
Dr Dalli was speaking during an MCESD meeting which was convened at the request of the Malta Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry to discuss its recently-published “Economic Vision for Malta 2014-2020.”
The minister explained that the council established a committee to discuss its restructuring early this year, and that various meetings have taken place since then.
Coincidentally, a reform of the MCESD is one of the 52 recommendations made in by the MCCEI in its economic vision: the chamber argues that at present, the council is a “rudderless irrelevant and inconsequential national institution” and that it needed to be given true independence and autonomy, as well as the necessary resources to become an “essential institution for the attainment of a non-partisan approach to economic and social development.”
As he presented the MCCEI’s economic vision to the council, chamber president David Curmi explained that the document sought to present a business agenda to government, as opposed to a government agenda being presented to businesses, and that it deliberately did not include statistical data.
The Chamber argues that Malta’s economic vision should be the development of “a focused and diversified, successful economy underpinned by a high quality, dynamic, productive and innovative private sector that positions Malta as a global hub for business and investment leading to increasing prosperity.”
It calls for emphasising 11 key economic sectors: financial services, ICT including digital gaming, film, life sciences, maritime transportation, aviation, tourism, green and low carbon, health services, education services and manufacturing