Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi yesterday said that the MLP’s target of creating 2,000 jobs a year was not enough, adding that it would lead to 3,000 unemployed per year and that the country needed to generate 5,000 new jobs every year in order to keep the number of jobless down.

The Prime Minister was speaking during a weekly briefing for journalists at the Bulebel industrial estate on the theme “More work, better work”.

Dr Gonzi said that one only had to look at the track records of the Nationalist Party and the Malta Labour Party to see which policies were better in this field. “Employment allows a country to improve its standard of living. We have a GDP growth rate of over four per cent, which is above the EU average. But the real challenge is translating that growth into new jobs,” said Dr Gonzi.

He said that there were 168,767 people currently engaged in paid employment; 142,421 of these were in full time positions and 26,346 in part time employment, none of them counting double (people with both full time and part time jobs).

“It is the highest ever rate of employment and consequently, we are enjoying the lowest unemployment rate in 12 years. And we did not achieve this by employing 8,000 people in the public sector on the eve of a general election,” he said.

Dr Gonzi said that Malta had a stable economy which succeeded in attracting direct foreign investment, as well as local investment.

“Joining the EU has given us free access to over half a billion consumers. I can’t understand how the MLP still, to this day, cannot accept this fact,” said the PM.

The PM said that all the success registered to date could be lost if there are doubts or uncertainty or messing about with successful policies that have already delivered results.

He also labelled the MLP’s election campaign as being a “comedy of errors”. He said: “It is also a critical error on the Opposition Leader’s part to dismiss the budget surplus in 2010 as ‘not being a priority’.”

The Prime Minister said that every day, the MLP changes one of its policies. “We all know what will happen if people mess about and experiment. Just look at 1996-98. There was massive unemployment, confusion and a hotchpotch of taxes,” he said.

Dr Gonzi said that despite the rising cost in fuel oils and cereals, as well as adopting the euro, Malta succeeded in creating jobs and attracting foreign investment. “Our factories are competing against those in India, China and Japan and it is a reality we have to face. The MLP cannot keep denying it,” he said.

Dr Gonzi said it was crucial to enhance productivity and competitiveness further. “We need more investment,” he said.

The Prime Minister said that massive investment had indeed been secured during the last legislature, citing Lufthansa Teknik, the multitude of pharmaceutical companies that have opened or expanded operations, financial services, IT companies and call centres as examples.

He said that if one compared these to the proposals of the MLP to set up factories making nails, table salt and leather shoes, one should know where their choice lies.

“I also disagree with Labour’s proposals on overtime, and I also do not agree with the fact that One TV employees are paid normal flat rate for overtime,” said the PM.

He also pointed out that although hundreds of jobs had been lost at various textiles-based factories when they shut down, the government had managed to create more jobs than were lost.

The Prime Minister then went on to discuss the PN’s electoral proposals, saying that many companies will set up shop in Malta once SmartCity opens, committed to creating some 5,600 jobs.

He also said that e45 million in EU funding was being channelled into aid to create more jobs and that 15,000 and 11,000 square metre extensions were being planned for the Hal Far and Mosta industrial zones.

Dr Gonzi said that the government wanted to see the GDP contribution of the financial services go up from 12 per cent to 25 per cent. “We will also be applying for EU funds to finance the Ta’ Qali Crafts Village and the Cirkewwa Ferry Terminal,” he said.

He also said that the government was going to pay particular attention to tourism by increasing the routes to and from Malta operated by both low cost and legacy carriers while at the same time strengthening Air Malta. Infrastructural and embellishment projects will also be taking place. “We will upgrade five beaches and we will spend money on the Grand Harbour, Mdina, Rabat, Paceville, St Julian’s, Marsascala, Mellieha and especially Bugibba, Qawra and St. Paul’s Bay. Funds will also be used out of the e300 million allocated to the environment to restore various bastions in Malta and Gozo.

More work will also be carried out to accommodate cruise liners in Marsamxett, the Grand Harbour and Gozo.

The Prime Minister also said that the government will be amending laws to end exploitation of workers who are being engaged by other companies as self-employed. “I warn companies from now. I am not generalising, but we will be cracking down,” said the PM.

Dr Gonzi rubbished the MLP’s target of creating 2,000 jobs a year, saying that it would mean an increase of 3,000 in unemployment every year. “To sustain our employment rate, we need to create 5,000 jobs per year. We managed to create over 20,000 jobs in this last term in government,” said Dr Gonzi.

The Prime Minister took a question by The Malta Independent about whether Malta was generating enough graduates to fill the posts which will be offered by the burgeoning financial services sector and SmartCity. “We are producing more and more graduates each year and I am convinced we will fill those posts. Do not forget though that there are other huge IT companies out there that also require graduates. That is why we set up various courses at MCAST and university,” said Dr Gonzi. “In addition, we have offered better stipends in areas which we feel need more uptake from students.”

Dr Gonzi also fielded a question about projects which had not yet been completed. “Yes, it’s true, the Crafts Village has not yet been completed, but we are waiting for funding. The same also holds true for the Cirkewwa terminal, but I must also point out that all we are waiting for is the terminal building, the infrastructure and land reclamation has been completed,” he said.

He was also asked whether the PN had won the bet about there not being any textiles factories left in Malta. “We have won in this respect. Yes, factories closed down, but we won because we have replaced those jobs with better ones that have taken up the workers who were made redundant,” he said.

Asked whether he would reinstate public holidays falling on a weekend, Dr Gonzi said: “If I have to choose between being cheered in the streets or safeguarding jobs, I would definitely go for the latter. So no, if it means the difference in our competitiveness, no, I will not reinstate them.”