Today Malta celebrates its 41st anniversary of Independence.

On 21 September, 1964, Malta obtained its independence from Britain, who had ruled the country for 164 years.

That was a major political step in the history of the country, and the Malta that exists today is a direct result of what happened at ix-Xaghra tal-Floriana 41 years ago.

Since then, Malta became a Republic (10 years later) and saw off Britain’s military presence from our shores in 1979. But, most of all, independence gave the Maltese the right to plan their own development and their own future without interference.

Malta has come a long way since then.

The country has grown tremendously through investment in various economic sectors, top of which is tourism, the mainstay of our economy.

It has also, rather painstakingly, become a member of the European Union after years of conflict as the two main political parties argued in favour and against for several years until a decision was made to join the EU in 2003.

The celebration of Independence is a chance to think about the past with a view to the future.

These past few years have not been easy for Malta. After the economic boom of the early 1990s that changed the face of the country, there has been an inevitable slump that we seem unable to lift ourselves from in spite of all the efforts.

The tourism sector, for one, is still in a struggle that started off with the 11 September terrorist attacks on the United States. Other factors have now come into the equation, not only international incidents or happenings. Most of all, we must ask ourselves whether Malta can compete with its Mediterranean neighbours.

Is it enough to have top class hotels when the whole of Product Malta is not of superior quality? Is the service we are providing to our guests up to their expectations? Are we giving good value for money?

Of course, projects such as the one unveiled last Monday when the building of 16 kilometres of roads was completed will help to improve all that Malta has to offer. But obviously more still needs to be done to put our whole road network up to standard.

Naturally, tourism is just one economic sector that has been sharply hit over the past years. The manufacturing and service industries have all had their ups and downs too. We must therefore analyse what is going wrong and quickly find the remedy. We cannot afford to be left behind.

Also, membership in the European Union was not a matter of night becoming day. Benefits have been reaped since Malta became a member on 1 May 2004, but EU membership, as has often been repeated, is a long-term investment. The wheels have started to turn but we still need time to gather momentum.

What is sure is that we must continue to invest in our human resources. Education must remain a priority. The government has focused on this sector over the past years, building new schools and upgrading others. But the progress must be maintained.

Education does not only concern obligatory schooling and post-secondary courses. It is a lifelong situation. Employees need to be continuously trained to keep up to date with modern developments in their field. The private sector has its own big role to play in this regard too.

As said, Malta has come a long way since Independence. But that does not mean that we can rest on our laurels. We must all work harder for this country to move forward.