The sustainability of public finances, competitiveness, employment, education and training, and environmental sustainability are priority areas for the government, and improvement in all of them will ensure that Malta’s economy is geared to meet the challenges of globalisation, Competitive-ness and Communications Minister Censu Galea said yesterday.
Mr Galea was addressing a seminar organised by the Malta Business Bureau entitled Surviving global competition: business priorities for growth and employment.
He spoke about the National Reform Pro-gramme (NRP) and government’s efforts to ensure that Malta continues to adapt to the globalisation and regionalisation that is creating increased interdependence between the economies of Asia, Europe and the Americas.
“In such a changing international system, all the countries of the world must find ways of improving their competitiveness if they are to further their prosperity,” he said.
By implementing the NRP that was adopted towards the end of last year, the government had carried out a strategic agenda to guarantee that Malta continues to improve its performance, the minister continued.
Mr Galea explained that in recent years, Malta had shown that it is capable of adapting to the changing geo-political and geo-economic climate, and he said this adjustment is a process that must continue.
“Malta’s NRP is the outcome of a very substantial public consultation process and the five strategic guidelines were selected after lengthy interaction between the public and private sector,” he said
Mr Galea explained that focusing on and improving the five priority areas will guarantee that Malta’s economy is prepared for the increase in competition.
The government is aware that the NRP’s targets are ambitious, he said.
“However,” he said, “the government believes that the Maltese people will rise to the challenge.”
Mr Galea claimed that without the EU’s support and guidance, the restructuring and reform process would have been much more difficult, if not impossible.
He also mentioned that benchmarking Malta in the EU25 is a fundamental process that is necessary for the country to reap the benefits of regional integration in Europe. Harmonising and raising standards of productivity, and improving the marketing dimension of Maltese exports, is essential for the creation of a situation that is conducive to economic growth and job creation, he said.