There are three main questions which the Steering Group tasked with the drawing up of the National post-pandemic strategy identified as those that we, as a nation, should collectively answer looking towards the future:
How do we improve quality of life and wellbeing?
How do we sustain business and employment and drive a strong recovery?
How do we remain resilient and competitive?
Following vast consultations and research, the Steering Group is proposing twelve thematic areas which, in its view, are best suited to provide the necessary answers to those crucial questions. A public consultation exercise has been launched on those thematic areas so that the public at large can, through this effort, provide feedback on the twelve thematic areas identified and recommend strategic initiatives that could be undertaken on the various thematic areas.
I do not believe that I need to dwell too much on the importance of building together a robust post-pandemic vision for Malta because its necessity is self-evident. Instead, I would like to focus on urging people to send their feedback. They can do so by the end of May 2021 using the online consultation form at the consultation.gov.mt website.
I would like to share with you the twelve thematic areas in order to trigger the readers into participating in this exercise. So, here we go:
Question ONE: How do we improve quality of life and wellbeing?
The Steering Group believes that there are four thematic areas which address this crucial question:
1. Maintain the focus on health sparked by the crisis. Prioritise mental, physical and emotional wellness as critical aspects for a healthy society and strengthen investment and capabilities in these areas, together with primary and preventative care.
2. Address societal challenges which the pandemic has amplified through a bottom up, evidenced-based approach at a community level. Strengthen community-led social capital to increase assistance and expand services delivered locally to enhance reach, build trust and increase uptake.
3. Enhance social cohesion and equity across Maltese society. Focus on the underserved segments of the country, championing inclusion, building trust, combatting all forms of discrimination and exploitation to create structures which support and empower communities.
4. Adopt a more cohesive approach to planning and development which enhances the urban environment and enshrines sustainable practices. Preserve and create green community spaces and parks for public use. Prioritise restoration, regeneration and aesthetics, and integrate alternative mobility in a holistic manner.
Question TWO: How do we sustain business and employment and drive a strong recovery?
Here four other thematic areas are being proposed, as follows:
5. Facilitate business investment in Malta and Gozo, alongside government spending, to activities which drive competitiveness, quality, transformation and sustainable growth. Foster a “can do” business approach and support openness to international business and new niches.
6. Refocus and integrate education, labour and economic policy to underpin social and economic revival, transformation, innovation, wellbeing and growth.
7. Accelerate green investment as a focal point in Malta’s plan to transition towards carbon neutrality by 2050, the implementation of the sustainable development goals, the circular economy and the national implementation of the EU Green Deal in order to change mindsets and deliver new green jobs and innovation.
8. Channel Government resources and mainstream policy to drive innovation and focus on outcomes. Address critical blockers that hamper innovation and accelerate private enterprise in start-ups, as well as industry driven R&D and knowledge clusters.
Question THREE: How do we remain resilient and competitive?
The final group of four thematic areas aimed at tackling this question are as follows:
9. Strengthen the safeguarding of natural and heritage assets. Focus on systematic education, conservation and the transition towards a more sustainable way of living in harmony with the environment for the benefit of current and future generations.
10. Support investment in digital infrastructure, skills and services. Close the digital divide to ensure all members of society and all forms of businesses, are fully able to embrace digital technology to improve the way we live and work.
11. Ensure the availability of critical, physical and social infrastructure such as food, water, energy, health and medicine as well as digital, air and sea connectivity. Strengthen disaster recovery preparedness, critical capabilities and ecosystems to enhance resilience.
12. Strengthen and prioritise a compliance and enforcement culture. Nurture a national conscience built on purpose, public interest, good governance, transparency and accountability.
Strategy of the people
This Strategy, which will be published before the end of June 2021, has to come directly from the people in order to be best suited to take Malta to the next steps in a changed, post-pandemic world. Having a strategy drawn up by experts, however experienced they might be, behind closed doors is simply not enough: it has to be the strategy of the people where everyone has the opportunity to share his views and contribute towards the same.
The Government, throughout the pandemic, has taken the necessary decisions to save both the lives and the livelihoods of people. This, in turned, protected our economy, so much so that Malta is only one of three EU countries which saw an increase in employment in 2020 rather than a decrease.
In other words, we are looking towards the future from a position of strength, in the full knowledge that the Government wants to keep changing Malta for the better. We have this fantastic opportunity, triggered by this calamity of huge proportions called covid-19, to carve our own future in a changed post-pandemic world.
In this manner we can change threats into opportunities and strengthen the areas that give us competitive advantage and added resilience.
Let build a better Malta in which we want our future generations to live in.