Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi was very clear in the speech he delivered during a Nationalist Party conference organised on Worker’s Day.

He highlighted what he described as six ambitious plans the government has for the future of Malta, giving details as to how “challenges can be turned into opportunities” that would make Malta a better place to live in.

These priorities were given at an important time in the legislature, coming only months before Dr Gonzi will be calling a general election. Whether the electorate will be giving the Prime Minister and his team the mandate to continue administering the country is another issue. But Dr Gonzi’s speech put matters in perspective, and the points he raised will no doubt form the basis of the PN’s election manifesto as the party bids to be given a third consecutive victory.

He was the first to admit that the plans were “ambitious”, yet he qualified this by insisting that they were “achievable” because the government believes in the capabilities of the Maltese people. Which is to say that these plans can be implemented only if everyone pulls the same rope in the direction the government wants the country to take.

Missing from the list was the environment which, together with education and the economy, formed the foundations of the government’s work since Dr Gonzi took over the leadership of the party and of the country. The omission, of course, does not mean that the government is ignoring the sector; it has worked hard on environmental issues over the past few years and will continue to do so.

It could mean that the government knows that it is already on the right track on the issue, and that it wants to focus on other sectors that deserve more attention. It could mean that the environment is “included” in the six areas mentioned by Dr Gonzi, and that he only failed to highlight the point that this is so.

Having said this, the six targets the government is aiming for are truly ambitious, and it deserves every support in reaching them. In some areas the country is already doing well, in others it needs some fine-tuning or, perhaps, a thorough re-think.

For one thing, Malta has already made great strides forward in ICT, and is now considered to be among the best in the field, something that has already been recognised internationally as otherwise the SmartCity project would have gone elsewhere.

The same goes for the financial services sector, another area where success has been achieved and where Malta’s good reputation will enable it to continue building on solid ground.

The education sector is closely linked with the above two areas. With Malta’s economic focus shifting towards ICT and financial services, we must continue to gear up for these growing sectors with a well-planned system that will produce skilled people in the areas where they are needed. It is known that these plans are already underway, but the real test for the education sector will come when SmartCity comes to life.

The completion of the Mater Dei hospital and the subsequent transfer of medical services from St Luke’s Hospital is another examination that the government wants to pass. Now that the Mater Dei saga is about to end, the people expect to reap the benefits of the millions of liri that have been spent.

The fifth point mentioned by Dr Gonzi was the need to transform the manufacturing industry into one that is geared more for high-value products. This is already happening, and the shift has not been without obstacles. Yet, with a good level of re-training programmes, and a change in mentality, Malta can succeed here too.

Tourism is perhaps the area that is struggling the most, although there have been positive signs of improvement over the past months. But we will still have to wait and see whether we have really turned the corner.