Businessmen normally tend to be on the cautious side when they are asked about their business and the prospects for the future. They often concentrate more on the negative side and are quick to point out deficiencies, while being rather reluctant to speak about positive things, perhaps fearing that they will be drawing too much attention to themselves.

Therefore the results obtained in a survey conducted by the Chamber for Small and Medium Enterprises last week carry more weight, considering that the businessmen interviewed have expressed great optimism for the sector in 2007.

An overwhelming 84 per cent of businessmen questioned have a positive outlook for the current year after having experienced a successful 2006 – a result that GRTU director-general Vince Farrugia said showed that the difficulties experienced in previous years had been overcome.

“The overall performance is positive and we are happy about that. 2006 was a good year and the prospects for 2007 are also very good. There has been a marked improvement over the previous year, when several difficulties related to restructuring and European Union membership had to be overcome. Now we have reached a point where businesses have begun to register growth again,” Mr Farrugia said when the results of the survey were published.

Not everything in the garden is rosy, however, as the businesses involved directly in the tourism sector, in particular hotels, restaurants and bars, did not report positively. But, considering the decline in the number of tourist arrivals last year, this was to be expected. Even the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association, the members of which are solely from the tourism sector, had negative comments to make about the industry.

Still, to have nearly 75 per cent of the businesses contacted report that they either experienced a growth in sales of between 10 and 30 per cent or had remained stable (38.7 per cent and 31.4 per cent respectively), shows that the economic problems that the country faced soon after European Union membership have started to be overcome.

This was confirmed by the respondents themselves, with 84 per cent saying that they expected the situation to get even better during this year, and adding that this would come about as a result of an improved economy. It seems that the measures that have been taken by the government, especially in the last budget, have encouraged people to spend more, with the overall effect that the economic wheel is turning more efficiently.

In fact, businessmen said that the reduction in taxes had brought about a situation in which people have more money to spend. They are also expecting that more tourists will be coming over to Malta this year, and initial results – a 2.4 per cent increase in the number of tourists in January – confirm their positive attitude.

One of the reasons given by businessmen as to why they made more money in 2006 – and why they expect to do better even this year – is that they introduced measures and schemes to improve their business. This shows that businessmen are also quite flexible in their approach and are prepared to take initiatives that will attract more customers and, in turn, enable them to make more profit. It shows that when things go wrong, businessmen do not simply sit and wait for the wheel to turn but try to do something to help it move.

There is, of course, more that needs to be done to improve the situation, and parliamentary secretary for the self-employed Edwin Vassallo is the first to acknowledge this.

Speaking to this newspaper when asked for his reaction to the GRTU survey, Mr Vassallo admitted that bureaucracy still hampers trade, and that the government is doing its utmost to reduce lengthy procedures in the issuing of licences and other matters which slow down business.

After all, time is money.