Once again, the government's attention is being drawn to its economic policies which, in the last 10 years, have been by and large concentrated on increasing numbers.

In its presentation of the budget for 2025, the government said that the economy is strong enough for Malta to make a step in another direction - rather than keep on adding quantity, it must move towards more quality.

This, in a nutshell, was the message that the government wanted to put across when, three weeks ago, Finance Minister Clyde Caruana presented the government's plans for 2025.

And beyond, we may add, considering that what needs to be done cannot be achieved in just one year. We need much more time than that to reverse the trend that has been in place since the Labour Party took over the reins of the country, first under Joseph Muscat and later under Robert Abela, who continued to build on his predecessor's footsteps in this regard.

Employer bodies have not been too impressed by what the government has said. In its reaction to the budget speech, the Chamber of Commerce was clear - Budget 2025 speaks about quality, but it does not address it.

In other words, what the chamber was saying is that the government has realised where it wants to go, but does not know how to get there.

At least, we add, the government has finally realised that a change of tack is needed. For years, it ignored what the chamber and other constituted bodies were saying about the need for Malta to take a different approach. What was happening, they frequently said, was taking Malta towards the brink of collapse. The government, they kept saying, was adopting and implementing policies that were unsustainable.

Now, at least, the government has understood that there needs to be a change of policy. But saying where it wants to go is not the same as taking the country there.

The Chamber of Commerce continues to harp on this, in the hope that the government will listen. In comments given to The Malta Independent on Sunday this past weekend, the chamber again insisted that the government has not done enough and is not doing enough.

There is a general consensus, the chamber said, that Malta needs to transition  to an economic model that focuses more on quality and well-being, thereby moving away from the current labour-intensive economy with low productivity outcomes. Bringing in more people has not increased productivity, and the influx of migrants Malta has experienced has contributed very marginally to the skills pool.

"We must reverse this trend," the chamber insists, going on to say that the country must also overhaul the education system to meet with future demands, attract more highly-skilled employees and adopt a labour migration policy that is well thought out and discussed with the stakeholders so as not to cause unnecessary shocks to the system. It also urged the upskilling of present employees, reduce the overstaffing of government agencies and focus more on improving productivity.

The longer it takes for the government to understand this, the harder it will become for the trend to be reversed and for Malta's economy to become more sustainable.

Yes, it's going to be a struggle.