The Malta Chamber of Commerce is calling for a national agreement on a number of strategic priorities, arguing that Malta needs to look beyond the next election and take decisions that can shape the country over the coming decades.

Chamber president William Spiteri Bailey made the call during a pre-Budget meeting with Opposition Leader Alex Borg, where he presented the Chamber's proposals for the 2027 Budget under the theme "RESET and LEAD".

The proposals contain more than 150 recommendations, divided into measures which the Chamber believes should be addressed during the first year of the legislature and longer-term structural reforms.

Spiteri Bailey said Malta was at a crossroads, having achieved significant economic success and shown resilience in the face of various challenges. However, he questioned whether the economic model that had brought Malta this far was the same model that could deliver the country to where it wanted to be in 10 or 20 years.

He identified productivity as one of the most pressing challenges facing the country.

Malta could no longer rely on increasing the number of workers and hours worked to drive economic growth, he said, arguing that the country needed to create more value from every worker, hour of work and euro invested.

Spiteri Bailey pointed to a 0.1% increase in labour productivity compared with a 4.4% increase in worker compensation, warning against discussions about shorter working weeks before productivity had been improved.

He said productivity should become a national priority, with investment in skills, training, technology, innovation and a more efficient public sector.

The Chamber's proposals include developing higher-level skills to expand sectors such as information technology, science, research and financial services, while also encouraging greater digitalisation in traditionally labour-intensive sectors.

Spiteri Bailey also called for national agreements covering transport and energy, saying both required strategies extending well beyond a single parliamentary term.

Malta needed a 20- to 30-year transport strategy that would not be fundamentally changed every time a government changed, he said.

On energy, he said subsidies were important to protect families and businesses but should not remain the country's long-term solution. Greater investment was needed in clean energy, efficiency, energy storage and a stronger electricity grid.

He also called for parliamentary reform to create a more professional, effective and independent legislature, including full-time MPs and a parliamentary research service.

"National interest must come before political interest" on issues affecting Malta's long-term future, Spiteri Bailey said, stressing that the Chamber was ready to work with government, the Opposition, social partners and civil society to build consensus.

He said Malta could not "start again every five years" and urged political parties to agree on the direction the country should take even where they disagreed on individual measures.