Developers urged the Opposition to be "pro business like the government" at a meeting on Wednesday.

In a courtesy visit, Malta Developers Association president Sandro Chetcuti told Nationalist Party Leader Adrian Delia to be more like the Labour government when it came to facilitating the "creation of wealth".

"It is a statement of fact, as you like to say, that the PN used to be pro business in the '90s but then had started to change and eventually stopped being so. I hope you are also pro business as this current administration has proven to be," Mr Chetcuti told Dr Delia.

He went on to qualify that being 'pro-business' did not mean being unscrupulous - after all, the taxes from the creation of this wealth helped fund many social measures like free healthcare, he said.

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Weighing in on criticism that over-development was ugly, the construction magnate said he and his members had absolute faith in architects, who he said were artists in their own right.

On his part Dr Delia said development was often seen as being in conflict with the environment: "You either see it as living your life in the shade of a tree or in the shadow of a high rise."

This conflict should be set aside as the matter needed to be debated seriously, the PN leader said.

Mr Chetcuti agreed with setting this conflict aside and said it stemmed from "agendas". Development, he said, did not have to go against the environment.
Giving an overview of his priorities, Dr Delia said he wanted to focus on long term planning for the industry, as well as for a plan to protect the vulnerable from a volatile market.

The press were asked to leave for the rest of the meeting that was held at the PN headquarters.

READ: Why did Delia and Said meet developers but not us, NGO activists ask