Do not get complacent. Every day and every vote is important, work hard and work right up to the election date, was the message put forward by Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi yesterday.

The Prime Minister was speaking during a live televised programme broadcast from Kalkara, concentrated on the issue of employment and work.

Dr Gonzi said that the key to attracting investment in Malta was primarily the capabilities of the Maltese workforce. “But we also need stability and direction. The investor needs to know that the economy is sound. We have all that with the added bonuses of being in the European Union as well as being in the Eurozone,” said Dr Gonzi.

He said he was extremely happy to be meeting PN supporters in their own town as he remembered a time when you could not even have a corner meeting as people would try to cause trouble and disruption. “On my way in a youngster told me that her family supported the MLP, yet she wished me all the best. There are no issues of DNA in the Nationalist Party,” he said.

He also mentioned the fact that SmartCity was setting up shop in Malta, just a few kilometres away from Kalkara and its neighbouring towns. Managing Director of 6pm Promotions Ivan Bartolo, who was taking part, said that his company was very small in 2001. “I remember it was 11 September. We had one contract with British Airways. They had 4,000 contractors and they decided to axe nearly all of them. They kept our Maltese company,” he said. At that time, he said, there were only seven employees. “Yet now we have 120 employees. But once Malta joined the EU matters became much easier as we had free access to the whole of Europe,” said Mr Bartolo.

Dr Gonzi was asked about the MLP’s target to create 2,000 jobs per year. “It’s not enough. In five years we created 20,000 jobs, that means 5,000 jobs per year. We now have the lowest rate of unemployment in years and the highest number if employed people,” he said. Dr Gonzi said this will mean that 3,000 people will be unemployed each year as a result of such low goals. “We aim higher. We will create 5,000 and more per year in all sectors,” he said. He also said that many people had the impression that Malta will move forward in the IT sector once SmartCity moves in. “It’s not the case. We are already one of the most advanced countries in the world when it comes to IT,” he said.