The government has worked tirelessly to fight off the COVID-19 pandemic and save thousands of lives and livelihoods.
COVID-19 is cruel because it has ferociously affected humans but also because it has attacked the most beautiful thing about being a human: our social communication, which is at the very heart of what we do, how we think and how we act.
Through the effort of our frontliners and by following the wisdom of science and research, we have, as a country, successfully managed to shield ourselves from this invisible enemy by following restrictive measures and go on the attack against the virus by means of a very efficient national vaccination programme.
The government has also, from the word go, swiftly intervened to literally save thousands of jobs by delivering financial assistance to all workers whose place of work was hit hard by the pandemic.
Economies around the world suffered greatly from the impact of COVID-19 and most countries will, sadly, experience severe challenges to financially recover from its effects.
In contrast, our economy, bolstered by the unprecedented financial aid packages moved forward by the government, showed resilience.
One statistic is enough to drive the point home: we were one of three EU countries which did not see a decrease but rather an increase in employment levels during 2020.
International experts are clearly saying that Malta’s economy is expected to bounce back better post-COVID-19 than most of the other EU member states.
Truly, we are looking towards the future from a position of strength. But the fact that we are looking towards life after the pandemic from this good position should not and must not mean that we can just settle to robotically switch back to life before COVID-19.
The pandemic has been a catalyst for accelerating shifts that were already altering societal and business behaviours such as digitalisation and sustainability. It has also brought to the surface and amplified other challenges, such as mental health, social inequality and other societal challenges.
Quoting Boris Johnson, history teaches us that events of these magnitude are the trigger for an acceleration of social and economic change- Owen Bonnici
Large-scale events like this provide an opportunity to build a fairer and more inclusive society, transition to greener and more sustainable practices, protect Malta’s environment and natural assets and create a more competitive and resilient economy for present and future generations.
The steering group in charge of the national post-pandemic strategy recently launched a consultation document which seeks to obtain feedback from the public about 12 thematic areas which we believe should underpin the strategy that will be issued before the second quarter of the current year.
These areas seek to provide directions and answers to three burning questions which we believe are important at this moment in time: How do we improve quality of life and well-being? How do we sustain business and employment and drive a strong recovery? How do we remain resilient and competitive?
Participation from the public at large is very important because we want to have a post-pandemic strategy which is intimately linked with the people living in this beautiful country. We want it to be the strategy of the people, built in a spirit of openness and consultation.
Quoting British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, history teaches us that events of these magnitude are the trigger for an acceleration of social and economic change because we human beings will not simply content ourselves with a repair job. That is correct.
The post-pandemic strategy is an opportunity to provide a vision for the future to build better our country of today and of tomorrow.
Let us do that together.
The public is invited to participate in the consultation process by going to www.consultation.gov.mt and filling the relevant online form before the end of May.
Minister for Research, Innovation and the Co-ordination of the post COVID-19 Strategy