The “over-due, over-discussed and over-spun port reform” heads the “undelivered list”, stressed Federation of Industry president Adrian Bajada in his address at the FOI’s 61st annual general meeting.

Mr Bajada pointed out that the federation had repeated ad nauseum that competitiveness was impossible unless port reform was achieved.

“Malta has the most expensive port service in Europe and that is making it much more difficult for us to compete with our European counterparts,” he said. “The government has more than once acknowledged this and has promised to reform the archaic and unfair port operations. We have held talks with all the partners. We have been promised time and time again by government ministers that the reform is just around the corner. When we came out strongly last year and demanded that the government keep its promise, we were snubbed and promised, yet again, that the reform would be done by the end of the year. Last year!

“What is happening here? Is the government impotent in the face of this situation?” asked Mr Bajada. “Has the Malta Maritime Authority lost the plot, if ever it had one? Who is going to assume responsibility for this non-delivery? What has happened to date are cosmetic changes, that have not brought with them any savings for our members. In some cases, the charges have even gone up. Quite a far cry from the 25 per cent savings that the Competitiveness Minister promised two years ago. The Federation of Industry has been very prudent in its approach towards this delicate subject. We have gone around the discussion table, we have waited for things to be sorted out, but now we have to say that this has gone too far.”

Another undelivered reform to which Mr Bajada referred in his speech was the much-discussed reform of the Malta Council for Economic and Social Development (MCESD), insisting that this council should be doing much more than it was achieving today. The FOI president emphasised that the MCESD had the potential to be an effective advisory body to the government, but lacked the necessary resources.

Mr Bajada also highlighted the main successful contributions made by the FOI during the past year, including the new integrated industry policy for Malta, for the formulation of which the FOI was the main driving force. Through its involvement, the federation once again proved that its role was way above that of being just a critic.

“We have once again shown that whenever the need arises, we will be on the ground, ready to intervene in a pro-active and effective way. We now expect that this policy document, this compilation of strategic principles, is translated into concrete, visible and, most of all, effective actions. And just as we were present to put together the document, the federation once again pledges its total support in the process of implementation of this document.”