The Labour Party and the Nationalist Party came out with their first major proposal on Monday, and both hit the ground running.

The PN have pledged to invest €1 billion to generate 10 new economic sectors. This is a large amount of money. Half will be paid through public funds, the party said, while the other half will come from loans from national and foreign institutions.

The sectors mentioned include metaverse, due diligence, specialised manufacturing, 3D printing, AI applications, e-sports, production of video games, the sport industry, energy and social enterprises.

If the party manages to attract and generate some of the sectors it promised, and if Malta successfully manages to set up a base for some of them, this could be extremely beneficial for Malta in the long run. But the borrowing aspect could cause a bit of worry.

Regardless, attracting new economic sectors is very important in order to diversify the economy and bring high paying jobs to the island. There are two ways one can look at this proposal in terms of its impact on voters. Either they will view it as a positive proposal that looks to the longer-term vision for the island, or it might receive a lukewarm reception as people might not see it as affecting them in the immediate future.

The Labour Party came out with five pledges on Sunday, but focused on its major Green proposal on Monday. It pledged €700 million for green spaces over a period of seven years. It mentioned a number of proposals related to this main measure, including that St Anne's Street in Floriana would be turned into a public garden and traffic would be redirected underground. It made a number of such major proposals.

This could be in reaction to the criticism the government has received over the years for its favouring development over the environment. It is now trying to project an image that both go hand in hand and that it cares about the environment. Regardless of what it has proposed, this will be a difficult task. Proposing green open spaces is not enough. The government must tackle the uglification of the island through the style of buildings being constructed. Indeed this is also something the PN will have to tackle.

 Both parties kicked off their campaign with major proposals on two major topics, one on the economy, and one on the environment. Over the next few weeks, they will need to lay out their full vision for the future of the country and as each day passes, the voters will have a better understanding of what those visions are.

What is sure is that voters must not be blinded by major pledges, and must also assess the track records and recent histories of the parties involved. The voters must also try and read between the lines of said pledges.