PN deputy leader Mario de Marco, spokesman for the economy, welcomed the NSO statistics showing that foreign direct investment in Malta more than double over the past five years, from €5.7 billion in 2008 to €12.3 billion in 2012.

This increase in investment was no coincidence, more so when considering that in the last five years the world had the biggest economic and financial crisis for 100 years, deadening the will for investment and creating unemployment.
Dr de Marco said investment in Malta doubled because of different schemes and incentives which the government launched. And investment was attracted from different sectors, including financial services, gaming, educational services, information technology and aviation.
In manufacturing investment increased by more than 20 per cent over the same period, attracting value added work to Malta in sectors such as aircraft maintenance and pharmaceuticals.
It all led to Malta having a higher rate of economic expansion than the European average, and one of the lowest rates of unemployment. But the results of the past cannot be a guarantee for the future and in five months, the Labour government has shown no plan, strategy or economic vision for Malta for the coming five years.
Dr de Marco said that even in the pre-budget document for 2014 there is no vision for the coming years about how investment will continue to be drawn here, and how employment will be created. The Prime Minister and ministers should indicate the roadmaps they have for the country to build on the positive results of the past, he said.