The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the world as we knew it. It is important to transform these changes into opportunities.

Last month, the government unveiled a technical core group, led by Simone Borg, which is tasked with drawing up a post-COVID strategy by the end of Q2 2021.

The strategy will take stock of our economy, which has shown huge resilience and flexibility in facing the effects of the pandemic. It is important that Malta continues to consolidate the economic sectors that have brought about this resilience such as the manufacturing industry, financial services, gaming, aviation, innovation and creativity as well as ICT, among others. 

It is also important to map out new sectors and niches that Malta could add to the array of economic sectors that already exist. Such new opportunities will continue to build on the existing competencies and skills of our people. 

Our economic model has provided us with significant economic resilience with which to weather the COVID storm as it raged around us in Europe and beyond. We acknowledge the impact of the outbreak but, in doing so, we have to underline the fact that the recent years of judicious financial planning paid off and averted a situation that could have been much worse. All one needs to do is take a look at what is happening elsewhere and compare and contrast.

The government, led by Prime Minister Robert Abela, has acted decisively and wisely. It is widely acknowledged that it took the necessary decisions without delay and those decisions protected the lives and well-being of people, particularly the vulnerable, as well as safeguarding thousands of jobs and the economy at large.

We must also thank the courageous frontliners who went beyond the call of duty and were true heroes in those challenging times. 

COVID has brought new threats and new opportunities. It is important to be aware of both to overcome the first and to capture the latter.

I am certain that Malta will once more rise to the occasion to prove itself one of the better economies in the EU, with a GDP per capita that is among the highest. 

The strategy will take into account changes in society, in our environment and other dimensions of our lives. Through this strategy, we aim to achieve not only a better living economically but also a good way of life in Malta underpinned by holistic human considerations.

We see our ability to adapt to new realities as the fulcrum on which to achieve continued economic success in a sustainable manner that ensures the well-being of the Maltese people- Owen Bonnici

We see our ability to adapt to new realities as the fulcrum on which to achieve continued economic success in a sustainable manner that ensures the well-being of the Maltese people.

This ability to adapt, coupled with the guiding principles set by the government, will guide us in the development of our national post-COVID strategy. Those principles include economic and environmental sustainability; the identification and exploitation of Malta’s comparative advantages; the strengthening of Malta’s resilience and the increase of social inclusion, justice and equality.

We believe in Malta’s ability to adapt and we know that post-COVID realities are only a threat if we stagnate and fail to embrace new opportunities.

This is one of the reasons why research and innovation have been given such prominence on the national agenda, with a ministry specifically set up to focus on these areas as well as to coordinate the development and implementation of the national post-COVID-19 strategy.

That strategy has to be multifaceted and reflect alternative scenarios in order to enable us to respond to post-pandemic realities with diligence and prudence but also with a certain degree of agility. 

We are committed to continuing our work towards the social, economic and environmental well-being of Malta and Gozo and the people that reside within their shores.

We are confident in the knowledge that together we shall, undoubtedly, prevail. We will emerge differently perhaps but better, stronger and more resilient than before.

Owen Bonnici is Minister for Research, Innovation and the Coordination of Post-Covid-19 Strategy.