‘Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower’  

 Steve Jobs, Apple co-founder

Throughout the two decades I have been active in politics, including my various roles in Parliamentary organisations and assemblies, I have learnt that true leaders should foster a culture of innovation by encouraging creativity and applying new ideas. This is the fourth legislature in which I have served my homeland and I believe it is important to listen to what people have to say about their needs and cultivate innovative thinking that starts from the top in fulfilment of what people expect from us as leaders. 

These principles are most applicable to my role at the head of the Gozo Ministry. From day one, I have believed that we are the main actors and leading agents in formulating and executing innovative ideas for the necessary strategy for the island. It is our responsibility to promote and implement initiatives that will address the socio-economic development of Gozo, whilst protecting the inherent and distinctive natural features that distinguish it. This can be – and already has been – achieved through the collaboration of all stakeholders, in the forefront of which are the Ministry’s dedicated workers.

Motivation and innovation

Looking back over the past two years, I recall that my first weeks at the Gozo Ministry were taken up by long reviews of projects in hand with a view to adding further impetus in full respect of timeframes and efficiency – both budgetary and logistic. Consultation was, and always will be, a basic requirement. On-site inspections are helpful, but decisions have to be taken – including a revaluation of long overdue projects, a re-assessment of other plans that had been shelved time and again and that had to be re-built from scratch, as well as launching new and innovative projects that complement our regional strategic plan for Gozo.

Such a strategy has borne fruit and has further established ‘Team Gozo’ as the driving force behind most of the successes achieved through various incentives offered by the Ministry for businesses and entrepreneurs. The resourceful and hard-working team of collaborators in my Ministry has ensured that I do not have to reinvent the wheel and has given me the confidence to ensure that it moves faster in the right direction. All this is thanks to the restructuring I introduced on being given the Gozo portfolio in 2017.

This overhaul has resulted in a good spirit of teamwork in which each Ministry employee finds the necessary motivation to be part of a driving force that is fast creating the long-awaited development on the island. Indeed, this bold move has erased the endemic status quo and reached far beyond all previous expectations. It has gone on to further incentivise employees to work towards the common goal of placing Gozo on a national and international platform.

Facts are already speaking louder than all the habitual cheap talk. Together, we have made considerable strides forward and, as in the phoenix story, Gozo is being reborn from every pile of ashes left year after year by burnt-out dreams and charred hopes. 

Supporting employment

Innovation and motivation remain the key factors, and exploring new avenues is always on my agenda. My daily schedule at the Gozo Ministry includes meetings with ambassadors and foreign delegations. Although these courtesy visits may appear to be customary, I always engage in discussing possible and feasible cooperation between Gozo and the respective countries’ interests. Foreign dignitaries are often enchanted by our island’s beauty, historical sites and cultural heritage, but they eventually come around to further explore Gozo’s potential for foreign investment. These meetings are therefore conducive to the possibility of kick-starting potential business partnerships and foreign investment.

It is all part of the Ministry’s goal to create more jobs in Gozo for Gozitans and increasing business opportunities for local entrepreneurs. The Gozo Ministry works in tandem with other State Ministries and agencies, particularly with the Ministry for Economic Development, Malta Enterprise and Malta Industrial Park and strives to compliment the Government’s determination to promote and attract local and foreign investment to the island with the ultimate goal of creating more job opportunities and incentivising our astute and entrepreneurial citizens to resettle on our island.

National teamwork

This has led us in the last year to take the important step of having direct representatives on the island, making it much easier for local businesses to benefit from a one-stop-shop for administrative purposes.  This was coupled with special arrangements we made a few months ago with Identity Malta to have an office on the island for the issuance of work permits. It has made it more practical for local entrepreneurs to have their new intakes within the applicable regulations without unnecessary delays. These logistic measures are constantly supported by bold budgetary fiscal incentives that attract the further creation of new jobs.

Although we need to work harder, all the changes mentioned above have already proved that the Ministry is fully focused on supporting local businesses and is in constant dialogue with the rest of the government’s organisations to secure full service for our own employers in Gozo.  From meeting diplomats to setting the necessary supportive structures, it is our strong commitment to further overcome the double insularity challenge and translate our electoral pledge of providing employment for Gozitans on the island.   

Challenges - bring them on

For many, many years, Gozitans had grown accustomed to disappointment after disappointment. Endless expensive and futile ‘studies’ pointed out two main handicaps – double insularity and poor connectivity – compared to mainland Malta. Year after year, Gozo’s entrepreneurial spirit was beaten down by these two stumbling blocks and scarcely anything was done about it, further dampening and demotivating an already depressed business community. In fact, we have lost many of our finest minds. Many moved to Malta or closed shop and the general attitude was that of defeat and an acceptance of fate – Gozo was stuck in a time-capsule: alive for a few months of the year and hibernating for the rest of it. 

The Labour Government has been – and still is – determined to eradicate this state of affairs and huge steps have been taken in a short span of six years to give Gozo the boost and incentive to rise from the ashes and become a major contributor to the country’s economy.

I have been personally involved in formulating this Government’s electoral proposals for Gozo. We have feasible plans that incentivise further investment, not only to create more jobs but also to boost the island’s financial and economic standing, while using all its potential with regard to human resources and technological skills. The laying down of an additional fibre-optic link will certainly provide a stronger infrastructure for already established innovative industries and attract new industrial initiatives to our shores.

So much has been accomplished already and a lot more is in the pipeline. Notwithstanding all the orchestrated criticism from the usual sources, we have worked hard and delivered at an unprecedented momentum. After all, this is Labour at its best, and I am committed to facing challenges and turning them into opportunities for all Gozitans!

Congratulations

Heartfelt congratulations go to my friend and colleague Dr Helena Dalli for her appointment as Malta’s first female Commissioner with the European Commission. She will certainly make us proud, as has her predecessor Karmenu Vella, to whom I convey our sincere thanks. I also wish to welcome back Dr Edward Zammit Lewis to the Cabinet table where he will add his expertise. He will be taking up Helena’s portfolio and I am sure he will continue to build on the excellent work she carried out in the years she was Minister for European Affairs and Equality.