Expensive foreign experts

We are told that Malta is too small to have experts on large projects. The obvious is ignored. Maltese who have lived abroad and studied at overseas universities are better experts with local knowledge. We are constantly reminded that Malta is small and has a large financial deficit.

If this is the case, how come that overseas experts are employed on large consultant overseas salaries and benefits, thus exacerbating this deficit and promoting the flow of finances out of Malta?

Since Malta is indeed small and the deficit is high, and availability of specialist positions often limited to one, how come that costly Maltese specialist expertise obtained outside Malta due to lack of opportunity of such costly education in Malta is squandered in favour of importing expatriates from large countries with low financial deficits, with funding available for costly specialist education and with large opportunities for specialists' jobs?

The nurturing of scarce human resources to counteract problems of size and financial deficit, is also a factor in the equation for sustainable development. The squandering of costly specialist education in a small state running a high deficit is a large negative sustainability indicator.

Pro-active strategies to promote sustainable development in small, financially weak EU member states should include the optimal use of local specialists educated at overseas universities at par with expatriates rather than squandering such a resource.