Hundreds of media reports have been published around the world about Malta’s Individual Investor Programme, but not one of them has been positive.

While the Maltese Government has repeatedly stressed that this is an investment programme, the world’s media has painted a far different picture – insomuch as that we are offering citizenship for sale and that we are in dire financial straits.

The issue here is perception. Malta and Germany were the EU’s best performers in terms of economy and growth. The Prime Minister has also quoted EU figures which show that Malta’s economy is set to grow next year, and that the projections are more optimistic than the government’s. The Finance Minister has also made his workings and said that Malta aims to reduce the deficit to 2.7% of GDP by end 2013.

The truth is that our finances – while not fantastic – are relatively good. But in one fell swoop, the scheme passed through parliament has made the rest of the world think that we are on the verge of going bust.

The headlines speak for themselves – not one of them has treated the scheme as one for investment. In fact, most have taken the line that our coffers are empty and that it was done to stave off a crisis. This publishing house had no issues whatsoever in backing the Prime Minister during the last EU summit where he formed a coalition of three, that eventually grew and forced the issue of immigration onto the agenda for discussion at the next council meeting. We believe that it is our duty to give support to the government and get its message across to our readers. But the government – whether intending to or not – has now seen its image (and that of Malta) sullied in the international media.

The issue has irked many foreigners, who have commented on the online version of newspapers around the world, basically saying that they feel as if Malta has granted access to their countries to people who have literally bought a passport. And to be frank, that’s what this boils down to. We have to ask the question, if people have to money to buy a passport for €650,000, would they actually stay in Malta? Or would they look to head elsewhere in Europe?

Other countries have also pointed out the disparity of facts, in that rich people can afford to buy citizenship, but the truly needy asylum seekers cannot.

But while we have spoken about other countries in Europe, we must also speak about our own. The general consensus in Malta seems to be that our national pride has been bruised and that we are selling off our identity. This is not one which will blow over. If anything, the media frenzy around the world seems to be heightening and not dying down.