To my surprise, this year’s budget made no reference to the upcoming Commonwealth meeting that will be taking place in Malta in a few weeks’ time and the economic and financial benefits that Malta is expecting to reap out of this event along the year 2016. At least, the impression given during last Thursday’s Business Breakfast was that the CHOGM meeting is going to be a unique opportunity for Maltese businessmen to expand their operations in 2016. This business breakfast was organized by the Malta Independent together with the Chamber of Commerce and a number of sponsors, foremost FIMBANK. The two main speakers were the Minister of Economic Development, Chris Cardona and Jonathan Marland, the Chairman of the Commonwealth and Investment Council. The discussion was chaired by Pierre Portelli. I take my hat off to Pierre Portelli who really turned the discussion into a hard talk event. I was sure that Marland was coming to this meeting prepared and could take the journalist’s punches. Chris Cardona gave an excellent speech and was well prepared and replied to Portelli’s questions well.
As expected, Marland focused his speech on entrepreneurship. Starting with the concept that both Malta and the UK are islands, Marland proceeded to remind his audience that both are business driven and have similar legal systems. Beyond that, I have some doubts how much relevance Marland’s excellent talk about the Commonwealth had for those present.
Am I right to interpret that Scicluna’s lack of reference to this event derives from the fact, that he does not seem to believe that this event will have an impact on Maltese economy next year?
Marland himself had to admit that the issue of tourism opportunities with Commonwealth countries is less thought-provoking for Malta, as the island is doing well in this sector. The creation of a Commonwealth technological hub was the most refreshing aspect of the discussion but this idea needs a follow-up and a more detailed explanation as to how it is going to work. There was talk about pension funds, finance and common-shared experiences. In truth, the business that is currently taking place in Malta with Commonwealth countries is happening irrespective of this organization. Perhaps, this may be one of the reasons why theGovernment did not make any forecast about the positive effects of this event on next’s year economy in Monday’s budget speech. Business in Malta goes beyond Commonwealth structures. Our business relationship with countries, such as India, Australia, New Zealand and Canada is not going to change, regardless of whether these countries are members or not of the Commonwealth.
Business today is global. Competition is about global knowledge. It is here where the Commonwealth is failing abyssmally. This was clearly pointed out by a member in the audience, who rightly said that information is very comprehensive and available in the EU and its member states but the same thing cannot be said for a number of Commonwealth countries. It is not only a question that some of these countries leave much to be desired where democracy and rule of law is concerned, but it is also the case that Commonwealth bureaucrats are resisting change. The latter phrase was not said by Marland. It is my logical conclusion, as Marland had to admit the obvious; the Commonwealth organization is not functioning well.
Yet comparing the malaise in the EU to that within the Commonwealth is far-fetched. I agree in principle with Marland’s remark that the EU is not functioning well, but one has to say that there is a huge disparity between the two. Even if, the Commonwealth countries offer, all together, a bigger economic and financial market than that of the EU, still they don’t compare or as a Maltese saying goes “l-anqas ix-xita ħdejn in-nida”. The EU is structured and coherent. The Commonwealth is not. The latter is a ‘nostalgic’ association of countries that once belonged to the British Empire.
Marland insisted that the biggest historical inheritance is the shared common language. I consider this an illusion. Besides the fact, that today business is being done with China, irrespective of the perceived language barriers, the Commonwealth countries themselves do not believe in language solidarity. Today, we have Universities in the UK which are considering Malta as no longer an English speaking country and are refusing to recognize study-units given by the English Department of our University as sufficient proof of a candidate’s proficiency in English. Where is Commonwealth solidarity, may I ask?
Marland was direct and to the point: there is a need for change. In today’s world, there is not much space for ceremonial, non-functional organizations. It is here where the main divergence lays between the Commonwealth and the EU. Despite the fact that most of the countries in this EU club speak a different language, the EU cannot be accused of being some sort of ceremonial organization.
When pressed by Portelli, Marland was not fully comfortable with the prospect of a Brexit. On a global level, the EU is more beneficial to the people of the UK and Malta, than all the Commonwealth countries added up together. The UK, like Malta, can still trade and do business with the big countries of the Commonwealth, like Canada, Australia (mostly due to family links) and India irrespective or not of whether they stay in the Commonwealth or not. The same does not hold for the UK in the case of a Brexit. This explains why the British Conservative Party has just started lobbying for a Yes vote in favour of Britain staying in the EU. I cannot imagine that if Britain leaves the EU, it would be allowed to continue its trading activities with the same conditions that it is enjoying as a member state. Therefore, for the organization of the Commonwealth to remain relevant and functional, it needs more engagement and good will from all the member states. More importantly, it needs to go through a structural change. Marland thinks that Malta can carry out this mission well. This is a feather in the Government’s cap. For this reason, he sees in the next Commonwealth meeting a challenge for Malta in making this organization functional. This is why I am insisting that it is strange that this event failed to feature in this year’s budget speech.
This becomes more relevant today, as some of the Commonwealth countries are starting to question their support for this organization. The Commonwealth is so unstructured and loose that Marland had to admit that as an organization it failed to deal effectively and coherently when faced with the Ebola disease. But the most pressing reasons appear to revolve around economic issues. There are countries which don’t want to support a ‘club’ that gives them no financial return. Last year, Canada stopped its financial contribution to the Commonwealth.
This is increasing the pressure on Malta for a successful outcome. Marland assured the audience that Britain will be supporting Muscat’s government and Malta has a lot to benefit from this event. A group of important people will be coming to Malta and the Lord Mayor of London is bringing over a team “to roll out finance”. I have no doubt that Maltese businessmen have a lot to learn from such types of meetings. Sharing experiences is important in business.
Perhaps, the Malta meeting will help this organization to start overcoming this serious handicap of lack of visibility. This appears to be the main scope of the Malta meeting. At least, both Marland and Cardona want to use this occasion to raise more awareness about the Commonwealth. History teaches that a greater cognizance is the real cause for the removal of barriers of any type, including those related to trade.
If the Malta summit succeeds in improving the long-term visibility of the Commonwealth and Malta, then this meeting can really be deemed to have been a successful event and this year’s budget speech would have missed out on an important Government’s target for 2016.