An ever-growing majority of businesses are not finding enough people with the right skills, Ronald Attard, Country Managing Partner at EY Malta, warned on Friday.

He was speaking at the Malta Attractiveness Event, during which a country attractiveness survey is being launched.

Speaking on international scenarios, including Brexit, Attard said business leaders are amongst the first to pick up on what’s happening, as shown in the survey.

“They are amongst the first, if not the first, to know what we should be doing. They are calling for more investment in education and more support for high tech industries. They are also gently but firmly calling for more environmentally sensitive attitudes and policies. They are not seeing that business and the environment have to be mutually exclusive.”

Attard said a solid majority are saying that they wish to continue doing business in Malta. “But it would be a mistake to ignore the minority saying that they do not. In fact, this year’s Global Competitiveness Report issued by the WEF shows that, although Malta remains competitive and indeed does very well, in certain criteria, we slipped down two points.”

Apart from market size, we seem to be struggling on the institutional front, innovation and infrastructure, he said.

The quality and cost of labour are no longer our big selling point, Attard said.

“Perception of the stability and transparency of our political, legal and regulatory environment as investment pull factor is no longer one of our trump cards. This decline has to be reckoned with. Perhaps the Moneyval recommendations would be a good pointer to effective remedial action.”

Turning to the corporate tax regime, Attard asked whether the time has come for the country to project an even more comprehensive attractiveness strategy, perhaps centered on our quality of life, and boosting the other equally valid reasons for Malta’s attractiveness.

“We need to have a sharper focus on our educational system and labour market. We need to foster new technologies and promote research and innovation,” he continued.

“We need to be bold and bullish about environmental protection as much as we should be wise and passionate about enhancing Malta’s reputation.”