Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Enterprise president Anton Borg speaks to Anthony Manduca about the economy, the state of the environment and the importance of good governance

The Malta Chamber of Commerce shares the view that the economy is currently doing well, yet this does not allow the country to be complacent, Chamber president Anton Borg has warned.

“Within the laurels of our success, can lie the seeds of trouble ahead. The country must remain vigilant to address areas in the economy that still require attention, and that can perform better.

“Manufacturing keeps lagging behind due to the business environment which does not provide adequate compensation for the permanent geographical disadvantages of producing from a small remote island State. Malta’s cost competitiveness remains an issue, and needs to be taken seriously in order to safeguard the existent manufacturing industry that remains, and if we want to attract new lines of production to our shores,” Mr Borg says.

While he says the economy is expected to maintain its positive trajectory in 2016, he stresses that “it would be foolhardy to expect the sun to shine forever”.

He adds: “We need to invest now in new niches such as research and development in order to start reaping the fruit in the future, when the economy may not be doing so well. We also need to invest further in our human resources and continue to boost our internationalisation efforts.”

Asked about the areas of the economy which the government needed to focus more on in 2016, Mr Borg points out that in its ‘Economic Vision 2014-2020’ the Malta Chamber had identified, besides manufacturing, a number of sectors such as financial services, ICT, filming, life sciences, health services and education services “as economic pillars that are best suited for Malta’s economic reality, and that can be further developed into prosperous sectors”.

Manufacturing keeps lagging behind

He says the 52 recommendations within the same document seek to promote human development, support the further development of business and enterprise, call for the building of an innovative infrastructure and promote partnerships between the government and enterprise.

“Upon the recommendation of the Council under then President David Curmi, the entering into a public private partnership by the Malta Chamber in order to assist companies to go for internationalisation was unanimously approved by members at an Extraordinary General Meeting. The setting up of Trade Malta as per our recommendation 32, seems to be giving the desired results. The Malta Chamber is constantly seeking the implementation of the recommendations within this document in order to maintain Malta’s competitiveness and the country’s prosperity.”

Asked whether he was concerned about the state of the environment and whether he thought the government was excessively pro-construction industry, Mr Borg points out that the Chamber has already made it clear that the environment is an important resource that needs to be safeguarded.

“Reservations about development in ODZ land remain. In its Economic Vision, the Malta Chamber expressed the view that ‘the building and construction sector should be directed towards channelling investment in regeneration as against the continued and unnecessary development of green field areas’. Moreover, the Malta Chamber believes that it is imperative that decisions made today take into account the welfare of future generations”.

He adds: “We believe that we can take the opportunity of the current strong economy to help our construction industry to re-address its skills towards the regeneration of run down areas, adopting a long-term approach that safeguards the environment.”

Regarding large investment projects, Mr Borg says the Chamber recommends that the government should task technical experts to finalise a strategy that clearly identifies possible areas and locations to accommodate large-scale FDI projects in such a way that these dovetail with existent local plans “so as to ensure a holistic approach to planning issues”.

‘It should be a race to the top’

During a recent meeting with the Leader of the Opposition, Mr Borg had highlighted his concern over media reports about poor management of public funds, poor decisions and conflicts of interest. How serious is the problem of a lack of good governance in Malta and what effect does this have on business confidence, Malta’s reputation and international investment?

“Good governance is an important element that constitutes investment conditions a country needs to offer to prospective investors. The Malta Chamber’s comments must be interpreted in this context. The Malta Chamber levelled its concerns to successive administrations, and has expressed its belief that there must be healthy competition between the incumbent and alternative governments with regards to governance, rule of law and standards.

“There is scope for both sides of Parliament to improve in terms of which side can offer the best policies while upholding excellence and quality in everything it does. It should be a race to the top rather than a race to the bottom,” he says.