It is a given, across all ages and across all strata in Maltese society, that, presently, one of the two main headaches and causes of heartburn is the trenchant cost of living, the other being corruption.
Surveys show it. Thousands of home visits confirm it.
Most of the staggering cost of living increases are due from external causes. I’m being as objective as can be.
The terrifying increases in the cost of shipping and transport of merchandise from Malta make our industry less competitive than its European counterparts when exporting, and those related to imports to Malta are the direct cause of most of the painful increases in prices of food and daily essentials.
We know what the problem is. Or, at least, the main cause.
I became even more convinced and determined of the vitality of the proposal of the PN, launched last September to stem this runaway increase in the prices of what we import, during the seminar organised by the Chamber of Commerce last week. I was there representing the opposition. The government was absent. Again. Sadly.
Some facts from a very recent survey conducted by the Chamber: over 70 per cent of respondents feel that the EU is not conscious enough of the logistical challenges Malta faces as a small peripheral island state. Read: the government is not being assertive with the EU. That is what incompetence breeds.
Ninety per cent said that transportation issues are hampering the viability of manufacturing operations in Malta. Almost 60 per cent said that food prices in Malta are inflated by 20 per cent as a direct result of transportation costs. A quarter of respondents believe that as much as 30 per cent of food prices is due to this factor.
A staggering 98 per cent said they believe that the cost of essential products, such as foodstuffs and medicine, has risen by 10 per cent over the last six months.
Now remember that 11 per cent of employment in Malta is in the manufacturing sector. Industrial leaders, thousands of them, some large and many small- and medium-sized, employ more than 22,000 families. More than that, they indirectly employ thousands more through subcontracting. For instance, a particular large company based in Malta, employing more than 1,000, has more than 30 subcontractors all of whom are very small enterprises.
90 per cent in a Chamber survey said transportation issues are hampering the viability of manufacturing in Malta- Jason Azzopardi
A 2016 study, locally conducted, showed that while the Belgian and Italian industrial employer had merely an average of two per cent and six per cent respectively in transport costs, their Maltese counterpart had almost 20 per cent for the same transport.
Since 2012, Malta has annually been going down the Logistics Performance Index of the World Bank. From 43rd place in 2012 with Croatia lagging behind us, we are now 69th worldwide and the EU member state occupying the last place in this index. This should be a matter of grave concern to all of us.
During the seminar I attended last week, which the government avoided, I reiterated the PN’s signal proposal for an annual fund, starting with €40 million, specifically dedicated to industry and manufacturing in the country in order to counter the increases in transportation costs.
Don’t forget. The price to transport a container for a Maltese manufacturer, importer or exporter has gone up within the last two years from €1,500 to €17,000. That painful increase is piling up the cost of living when we buy our food, clothes, home appliances and medicines.
During my intervention in this seminar, I quoted chapter and verse from the Articles of the Treaty of the EU, which should be the basis for Malta’s request to the EU for this annual and national fund to be set up. I did this to show how much thought and study the PN has invested in order to come up with this proposal and solution.
I repeat. The PN’s proposal, launched seven months ago, for this €40 million national fund has been met with silence from the government. The government couldn’t care less.
The government was again absent and silent during the seminar specially organised to discuss the main headache of our industry leaders. It couldn’t care less.
The PN was present. The PN consulted. The PN proposed. The PN is ready to take this forward to make sure that the EU is made well aware of our small island’s peripheral and structural handicaps.
The PN’s past in successfully negotiating our accession to the EU is a guarantee of our competence and resilience to achieve the best for Malta.
We can only do this if you entrust us.