It is quite surreal, that 12 months into a new government, we have, as yet, no indication of an economic roadmap for this legislature. This is particularly disconcerting when one considers the fact that Labour pegged many of its electoral promises to the implementation of a series of road maps for various sectors.

What we do have instead is the spectre of increased unemployment, the widening of the government deficit, the shrinking of our trade account and the widening of our trade balance. This is bad news for us all, and to be sure, nothing to gloat about. I have worked very hard for far too long to contribute to this country’s economic well-being, to subscribe to such sentiments.

Having said that, I am disappointed that we seem to be turning back the clock to dated economic policies that are out of touch with the general global economic mood. While it is true that Malta has traditionally always punched above its weight, the respect we enjoy today in Europe and beyond is the result of sound economic management and constructive diplomacy. For the past 28 years, we have done well only because we have worked hard to build a good education system, a robust and credible business-friendly environment, a social framework which provides a safety net for all, and a culture of good service and hospitality.

So what needs to be done to go forward? First of all, we need to focus on education. We need to be flexible and diversify our education system, extending existing training structures and schemes to suit the needs of industry and business. While we have made great strides forward with universal access to education, we now need to focus on quality systems, greater specialisation and deeper integration of our educational institutions with the corporate and industrial world. Similarly, we need to open our doors to new private educational institutions, especially those in higher education. Competition will serve to sharpen the quality our local institutions, while diversifying our capabilities.

Empowering businesses to invest is core to the country’s economic growth. My impression is that this government has little up its sleeve in this respect. While tax incentives and other benefits have existed for a long time, it is evident that these will need to be gradually tailed down in the next EU programming period. What this government needs to do, as from now, is to start building up an arsenal of ideas to prevent existing foreign investors from gradually downsizing their Malta operations. The writing is on the wall.

The consolidation of the islands’ core economic activities needs to be addressed. Over the years, I have observed that we are not inclined to see the greater benefits of consolidation. Maltese businesses, especially micro-enterprises, are quite insularly competitive in nature, possibly also due to the small size of the market. Having said that, we need to get out of our comfort zones and seek greater horizontal and vertical alliances. Only in doing so can we compete in a global business environment which is witnessing a strong and persistent drive towards integration, to the point of driving smaller operators out of businesses. While we can comfortably hide behind the illusion that we are shielded by the sea which surrounds us, there is little doubt that the world is becoming an even smaller place.

Going up the value chain in those economic sectors, which have grown into established industries, is a must. Financial and fiduciary services, the ICT and gaming sector, hospitality and tourism, pharmaceutical manufacturing, advanced engineering and aviation maintenance are all sectors where we have been doing well. We cannot, however, rest on our laurels. These industries need to increase their level of sophistication and functional specialisation. This is what we were doing when, as a director of Malta Enterprise, we started looking at the biotechnology industry as the evolution of the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry; the aerospace industry as a further development of aircraft maintenance; and the digital entertainment industry as the next stage of development for the ICT and gaming industry. When it comes to tourism and hospitality, the horizontal dimension of health and education tourism can also be a key sector to which we should give strong support.

No amount of citizenships sold can serve to put Malta on the road to economic prosperity. As is the case with the proceeds from privatisation, one-time financial boosts do not bring about long-term economic growth. On the contrary, they create the illusion that money is easy and that we do not need to work hard – and together – to build solid foundations for the future. Our economy is currently still running on the steam of the vision of the last PN governments. Unless fed with fresh, innovative ideas, dynamism and positive action, this steam will eventually but inevitably, run out and the economic train will then grind to a halt.

Helga Ellul is a corporate leader and a Nationalist Party candidate in the European Parliament elections