Opposition leader Simon Busuttil said his party foursquare behind the Government in stressing the importance of financial services to Malta’s economy and in defending the industry at all levels.
Speaking at the KPMG biennial financial services conference through a video link in Vancouver, Canda, where he is attending a conference, Dr Busuttil said: “There are - unfortunately - fewer areas of consensus in our country than I would like to see, but this is surely one of them and I promise to do my part to keep it that way.”
Dr Busuttil said that politicians’ task in financial services is not to try and be experts, but to implement the ideas and proposals of experts to take Malta into the next five or ten years.
He said: “There is a growing European and international scrutiny on financial services centres in general and on their tax legislation in particular. We are well aware of this and we fended this pressure off in our time in office.”
He said that stakeholders, the government and the opposition need to work together to defend against “what I see as an unjust onslaught driven by interests that I, for one, do not share. I believe that it should be perfectly possible for a country to have cutting-edge tax legislation that offers an attractive package to one and all. Competition is good and tax competition is also good. It is good for us, but it should also be good for Europe.”
He continued: “It would be folly to think that life can go on as it is and that things will not and cannot change. It is our job to think today, of what can happen tomorrow. It is our job to think today of alternatives that we ought to have in place if we want to grow our economy in a manner that relies less on what we take for granted today. To diversify further. To ensure that any possible changes that may happen will take place gradually and smoothly. A Plan B if you want. Or call it a Plan D for Diversification, for Different thinking, for Dynamism. In that way, come what may, we will be prepared.”
Dr Busuttil said that last week, his party presented an Economic Working Document charting its policy priorities for Malta’s economy, not for today, but for the years to come. “In our document we give a simple and honest answer to what kind of economy we want - we want an Economy for the People. But we also say how we can get there,” he said.
He said he looked forward to feedback on the document in order to take Malta to the next level. “I want to see growth transform into sustainable growth that secures and improves our great way of life that makes us such a great society in such a beautiful and unique country,” concluded Dr Busuttil.