At the annual EY conference on Wednesday morning, Opposition leader Alex Borg stated that everyday life can grow more difficult as an economy can grows larger, and hence, the challenge on the cards for lawmakers such as himself is "to ensure that economic success becomes human progress."

Opening his speech, Borg cited Prime Minister Robert Abela in his recent visit to New York, where he said that economic growth should be judged by the opportunities it creates in the lives of all people. Borg said he agrees with this principle completely and that "if that is the standard we set abroad, that must be the standard we set for ourselves locally."

Borg referenced that while Malta has its strengths - such as internationally competitive businesses filled with talent and determination and entrepreneurs who have built "huge" enterprises - it also has young people struggling to see how they can purchase a home and start an independent life and employees whose purchasing power is decreasing with inflation and increasing costs.

Borg said that the people deserve a government that is courageous enough and prepared to confront the constraints now threatening the country, noting that his Opposition shall spend its time on these benches to gain the confidence to govern.

He commented that, as business leaders understand "instinctively," one cannot convince a Board of Directors that all is going well by only showing them the strongest figures while leaving out rising costs and operating figures.

He added that when discussions behind closed doors reveal financial pressures, this information should be shared openly because "the people outside deserve to know the same truth as those inside the room." Hence, Borg said that leadership is about having the courage to say what is working, what is weakening, and offering solutions to turn around the latter.

The Opposition leader praised Malta's marginally increased FDI attractiveness, though noted that "the warning signs are substantial." He cited the results on skills shortages, that 69% of those surveyed struggled to find specialised talent locally, and that 59% labelled Maltese infrastructure to be inadequate. Borg said that these national aspects matter when investors are considering whether or not they should open business operations in a country.

"An attractive country must be one that works. We cannot ask investors to believe in our potential while asking them to absorb all costs from our shortcomings," Borg said.

Borg calls for Malta to introduce a national productivity agenda

The Opposition leader told those present at the Mediterranean Conference Centre on Wednesday that he wants Malta to establish a national productivity agenda with clear outcomes and "KPIs of some sort."

"We need to help existing businesses become more productive. Malta's future depends on improving enterprises already here and attracting new ones," Borg said, stressing that all businesses and enterprises have the opportunity to give greater value.

The Nationalist Party leader said that politicians must take action on the fact that only around 3% of Malta's gross value added (GVA) between 2015 and 2025 came about due to productivity increases. He said that during this period, Malta's GVA increased by 82% - 70% of which was attributed to labour increases.

"This does not raise Malta's economic achievements, but it tells us that sustaining them requires different emphasis," he said, "For years, expanding the workforce has increased our economy. But increasing workers cannot increase our quality of living."

He ascertained that the demands in place around Maltese infrastructure, accommodation, more schools, better healthcare, services, water, and energy must be planned and financed for - especially for a small island state like Malta. Otherwise, capacity issues can have consequences, he said.

"Plan infrastructure around the economy and the population we actually have," Borg stated, noting that transport, energy, water, and waste management are crucial competitiveness factors.

He commented that while Malta's steady debt-to-GDP ratio is useful information, it does not offer the full picture to the realities being experienced on the ground. Borg told those in attendance that one must ask how resilient public finances are if the country has weak infrastructure, even if fiscal performance appears positive on paper.

Borg called for efforts to be done to reduce unnecessary bureaucracy and raise productivity in workplaces, stating that skilled professionals should not need to waste entire working mornings by navigating avoidable administrative delays. In addition, "an employee should not have to spend hours inputting information when a digital system can do that in minutes."

He said that there is a cost to everything - be it due to bureaucracy, traffic, or other - and that someone must always pay for these costs, whether through higher operating costs for employers or through lost opportunities for workers to earn higher wages.

Borg continued that "our economic ambitions must start from our classrooms" and cited recent PISA results that showed decreasing performances in Maltese 15-year-olds' reading, mathematics, and science.

Noting that last year's annual budget saw an equivalent of 12.6% of Malta's GDP allocated towards education, when the EU average for this allocation is around 9.7%, the Leader of the Opposition remarked that the Maltese education industry has many difficulties and vacuums that must be addressed without blindly increasing funding.

He also mentioned that if Malta encourages more economic activity, then politicians must explain how the country will accommodate it, as "success must be measured by the service delivered."

Borg concluded that "what we need now is the discipline to confront our weaknesses."