2014 will be remembered as a year of important anniversaries for Malta. The country’s Golden Jubilee of Independence we celebrate today gives us an opportunity to reflect on the past 50 years, and how the Maltese have managed to perform nothing less than an economic miracle since 1964.
I use the word miracle carefully because, unlike several other countries, Malta has no raw materials to speak of. Indeed, during these past 50 years, Malta managed to build itself a strong case study for economic success. From nothing, we built a robust manufacturing industry that has managed to reinvent itself continuously over the past three decades, climbing up the value chain consistently as we went along. Similarly, tourism has grown impressively from very humble beginnings and our economic independence was eventually further established with the creation of other sectors including maritime, aviation, financial services and ICT.
In the last 50 years, different governments have focused on creating the ideal scenario to attract Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) to Malta, a reality we rely on to some extent. It is only natural that most of the largest employers in Malta today, are the result of Foreign Direct Investment, and it is to Malta’s credit that the country has been able to attract these investments in stiff competition with many other countries. Our FDIs are in effect something to be proud of.
As we all know, our successful past provides no guarantee for a sustainable and prosperous future. Indeed, the Malta Chamber’s ideas for the immediate future are summed up in our document entitled “An Economic Vision for Malta 2014-20202. The document is the work of a group of leading entrepreneurs and the University rector. In formulating the document, account was taken of Malta’s limited resources, the global scenario and our economic strengths before recommending a way forward that maximises prosperity for the country.
Our Vision for the way forward is based on seven objectives, as we aspire towards a “focused and diversified economy, which is underpinned by a high quality, dynamic, productive and innovative private sector”. This is required to help Malta position itself as a global hub for business and investment leading to increased prosperity.
In this context, our Vision is built around targets and opportunities for growth in 11 sectors of business. The document further singles out 52 recommendations for concrete measures needed to drive sectoral-driven growth.
In several of our recommendations, we are calling on Government to create the enabling environment for business to invest and prosper and to let the private sector do the rest. We see the government as our partner in business. The attractiveness and competitiveness of our business environment are needed to achieve our targets at both sectoral and macro level. In the successful economy we envisage, the public and private sectors - as two sides of the same coin - must complement each other at all times.
Among other aspects, we are also placing a strong emphasis on quality. Malta is competing in a global village which is increasingly defined by excellence and quality. For this reason, we are calling for a concerted effort from all social partners to inculcate a culture where the current ‘good enough’ attitude is replaced by “nothing but the best” – whether or not this relates to all products and services offered by our companies to the global market. Our Vision looks at Singapore and South Korea as the compelling stories of instilling a culture of excellence and quality in the national psyche.
Likewise, innovation is a strong ingredient of competitiveness and we must embrace it and encourage it. Given the absence of any natural resources, our continued economic growth depends on upgrading and enhancing our own capabilities to innovate.
As you might expect from our Chamber, productivity is listed as a prime factor in our Economic Vision. Productivity growth is, of course, intertwined with investment in ICT and human capital development. With regard to the former, it is imperative that the appropriate enabling environment, including access to finance, is in place to allow FDIs and all enterprise to invest in ICT even because, nowadays, the most basic of jobs are ICT dependent. We cannot allow for productivity to falter in Malta so together, enterprise, government and the education authorities must put in place the appropriate structures and cultures that will instil multi-tasking, multi-skilling and lifelong learning.
As we stand at the crossroads, for our country’s renewed success over the next 50 years, our business community remains ever optimistic about the country’s future prospects. We are convinced that we can secure a successful economic future for this country if we can work together towards an ultimate coherent economic vision for Malta.
There is a general agreement to the reality that if commerce, enterprise and industry succeed and grow, the country can generate the prosperity that our people deserve. Or put differently, when business wins everybody wins.
I look forward to expanding on this subject in my address at the upcoming Malta attractiveness survey 2014 conference the Malta Chamber is co-organising together with EY on 8th October.
Mr Curmi is President of the Malta Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry