The Nationalist Party will be proposing amendments to a legal notice on the setting up of Xjenza Malta as it believes that the government is not addressing the problems the country is facing in the sector.

In a statement signed by spokespersons Claudette Buttigieg and Ryan Callus, the PN made reference to the Legal Notice 112/2024 on the establishment of the Xjenza Malta agency which will assume the functions of Malta Council for Science & Technology, currently.

It said that it light of the critique and suggestions in the Peer Review - Maltese Research and Innovation System (2019), the legal notice, as proposed by the government is not addressing the problems the country has in this sector and will “certainly” not be the solution the country needs.

The PN said that the Opposition has a legally-stipulated time to suggest its amendments to this legal notice. It said that, in fact, that it is the intention of the Opposition to propose a number of amendments with the aim of not only having a debate in Parliament on this change, but rather to obtain a national consensus on the direction the country must take in research and innovation.

The PN said that, as already indicated in the past few days, the Opposition deems the Research and Innovation sector as a primary pillar on which the Maltese economy should be based since it is a sector that can offer quality jobs without threatening the environment and increasing the population.