Opposition leader Bernard Grech said Wednesday that the real problems in this country need to be addressed seriously in order to gain and maintain Malta’s reputation.

“Gone are the days of trying to preach to the gallery or to say what people want to hear. Gone are the days which have been spent avoiding the real issues that need to be addressed. On the contrary, we need to see what Malta requires in order to gain and maintain its reputation,” Grech said.

During a meeting with the Malta Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday, Grech was presented with a number of proposals for the 2022 Budget.

Grech said that in the coming weeks, the Nationalist Party will be presenting its own pre-budget document which looks into a number of pillars that this country needs to seriously address.

He also mentioned how the party has come up with an integrated logistical support plan for the local industry. This includes looking at how importers and exporters can be supported by getting the necessary funds.

Chamber of Commerce President Marisa Xuereb said that the main challenge is to get Malta out of the FATF grey list as soon as possible, nothing that the longer Malta is grey listed, the serious the consequences will become.

“The solutions we need to find must be profound not only with changes in laws but a change in culture,” Xuereb said.

Another challenge she highlighted is that of human resources as these are forcing some businesses to close part of their business as they do not have enough resources to work with.