Explaining the success of the Maltese economy since Independence is no easy task. Even reputable economists like Prof. Lino Briguglio often admit that our success as an island (archipelago) State has been something of an economic miracle. How does one explain that a barren rock with zilch natural resources, managed, within four decades, to achieve the kind of standard of living that many of its population enjoys today? The only other economic success, which I believe is even more difficult to explain, is that of our beloved Gozo. I will try.
The Gozitan economy is less diverse than the Maltese one. In essence it depends upon a handful of industries and sectors that have over the years provided the Gozitans with a livelihood and life-style that are the envy of many of us that inhabit Malta. Tourism is certainly Gozo’s biggest revenue earner. The island’s uniqueness is of major attraction to many Maltese as well as several thousand tourists who have come to enjoy its laid-back lifestyle, its natural beauty, its scenic beaches and bays, its value for money (certainly, when compared to Malta), and its rural tranquillity. Furthermore, the diverse range of tourist accommodation the island affords, ranging from Spartan three-roomed apartments to idyllic five-star accommodation, ensures that each tourist segment finds a holiday suitable to its own spending ability. Over the last two decades property development has also supplied Gozo with much needed wealth, but the sustainability of this is certainly questionable and in many ways has been environmentally and rurally destructive.
The success of the agriculture and agro-industrial sector, mainly championed by Magro Bros, has become the envy of many Maltese industrialists, provides direct and indirect livelihood to hundreds of the island’s families. Another pillar of Gozo’s economy is the substantial foreign earnings that regularly come into the island from Gozitans living abroad, as well as the investment income received as a result of the island’s astronomical level of saving. It would be fair to say that, as a result of the zero-debt culture of its people, the Gozitan economy is more resilient to short-term recession than the Maltese – good for them!
However, not all is quiet on the northwestern front. Gozo’s experience with restructuring has been painful, shocking and ill planned – the government has not managed to weather the storm. Remember that every time a factory employing say up to 100 people, closed shop on the island it is the economic equivalent of having a factory employing 1,000 shutting down here. The dismissal of 100 people from full time employment in Malta notches the unemployment rate up by less than 0.1 per cent, makes the headline news and gets a cursory mention in a political discussion programme. In Gozo it can have destabilising effects on the whole economy due to the lack of alternative full time employment available – it is also one of the reasons why wages have remained so low. During a recent walkabout in Gozo held by Alternattiva Demokratika, the main concern expressed by Gozitan families was the lack of employment opportunities for young people. One vociferous mother said that, although she was willing to support her 21-year-old son financially, she wanted to see him in regular employment, but the only jobs available were seasonal, part-time and badly paid. She would even encourage him to leave the island, but emigration is not so easy anymore. Their situation is hopeless. A golf course is not the solution. Then what is?
Gozitan tourism must go for a niche market. If the island continues competing on the tour operator model it will lose out not just to most foreign competition but also to Malta – it already has. The occupancy rates in the shoulder and low periods in Gozo are hideously low – in the process employment opportunities in tourism for Gozitans remain insecure and seasonal. People just can’t raise families on Lm1.40 an hour. Gozo has plenty to sell, but successive governments have not yet learned how to tap its potential – the island is only of interest to government and opposition near election time. During my last trip there I revisited Ggantija with some German friends. I couldn’t believe my eyes. The oldest freestanding structure on planet Earth has been encircled. Guess with what? A five-foot wall made of concrete blocks! We have to get the basics right. These sites must be treated with extreme reverence. They are culturally equivalent (and in some ways superior) to Stonehenge, Machu Pichu and the Valley of the Kings, to which millions of tourists travel specifically every year. I doubt we have managed to sell one single tourist package on the back of our Neolithic heritage.
Gozo needs more population. The island is better placed than Malta to tap the long-term tourism model we at AD so strongly support. Indeed we can envisage Gozo developing as a retirement centre for middle-class Europeans. These quasi-permanent tourists will rent (or purchase) Gozitan properties long-term, spend their pensions in Gozitan shops, eat out in Gozitan restaurants, and visit Gozitan doctors, Gozitan hairdressers, Gozitan accountants and Gozitan lawyers. They bring in foreign currency into the island as well as a wealth of culture and habits. They are respectful of our culture, and envious of our local tradition. They will never be a burden on our society. The marketing effort needed is miniscule in comparison. You only have to fathom that the economic benefits ensuing from a couple of retirees settling in Gozo are equivalent to approximately 150 regular “one-week-stay” tourists.
The Greens also envisage Gozo adopting a total organic farming model, as well as establishing itself as a GMO-free region. Gozo could become synonymous with organic farming, like Naples is with pizza and Modena is with balsamic vinegar. The island’s products will require creative labelling and clever marketing. Restaurants would switch to and specialise exclusively in organic cuisine. Agro-tourism will become an economic reality rather than an abused ministerial cliché. Moreover, Gozo will become a price-maker rather than a price taker. Government’s role is to propagate the vision, provide the fiscal and economic incentives, assist in the application of EU funding and facilitate the whole process. The direct economic benefits could be tremendous, the economic multiplier seriously exponential.
Gozo must provide employment opportunities to its population. The island has the potential to develop as an information processing and “back-office” hub. Maltacom has been processing its payments there for quite a while. The island can attract an international client base and multiply this business a hundred fold. This service sector can provide livelihood to hundreds, potentially thousands. It will allow young Gozitans to earn their keep close to home. The next-best alternative is three hours of commuting every day, a horror we Maltese never have to live through. The government needs to have a strategy in place that provides for considerable spending on education generally and language skills specifically, as well as investment in hard-core infrastructure and ICT. A partnership with enterprise would be an ideal route – unless we are to limit public-private-partnerships to the maintenance of roundabouts and central strips!
Gozo has not managed to stand on its own two feet because, irrespective of which party has been in government, the island has being governed like a personal fiefdom. Too many Gozitans have been reduced to economic beggars at the feet of the island’s political masters, several of them believing that a job aboard the MV Gaudos is the only “career” they and their children can ever aspire to. The Greens know that a better future for the island is not a dream, but an economic and political reality. The diamond in the centre of the Mediterranean must come of age!
(Alternattiva Demokratika, through the AD Gozo Regional committee, is currently working on a comprehensive plan for Gozo, that will be published in the coming months after an extensive consultation exercise with Gozitan civil society and constituted bodies. Anybody wishing to participate or contribute to the formulation of this strategic document is invited to send his/her opinions and suggestions to the following e-mail: [email protected] or write to AD Ghawdex, PO Box 6, Victoria, Gozo)
Edward Fenech is the spokesperson on Finance, Economic Affairs and Tourism for Alternattiva Demokratika – The Green Party