The Nationalist Party wants to help importers and exporters through a national fund, while the Labour Party is blaming businesses for Malta's economic issues, PN leader Bernard Grech said on Sunday.
Grech was reacting in a radio interview to Labour MEP Alex Agius Saliba's request for the EU to investigate Maltese food importers for antitrust violations.
On Thursday, Saliba wrote to the European Commission saying that the handful of food importers who dominate the Maltese market have informally formed artificially high price benchmarks, which enables them to exploit inflation and increase their profits.
"The PL has given up on addressing the country's issues. Robert Abela and in this case, Alex Agius Saliba's only weapon is to attack people," Grech said on Sunday morning.
During the last electoral campaign, Grech said, the PN had proposed a €40 million fund to help food importers absorb their costs instead of passing them on to consumers.
Because Malta is an island, import and export costs are higher, he said.
The fund could also be used to help exporters, the PN leader said.
"Our country can only move forward economically if it continues exporting," he said. Exports must be strengthened," Grech said.
"For us, businesses are important partners who we want to see invest and create more wealth in the country, and we want to see how we can help them do that," Grech said.
Borg Manché resignation
Grech referred to the resignation from the Labour Party on Saturday of Gżira mayor, Conrad Borg Manché
He said that the PL has "big internal problems" and Borg Manché was another example of a disaffected mayor saying that the Labour Party no longer worked in the interests of workers.
On Sunday, the Gżira mayor said he had no option but to quit because his party disrespected him and his locality's people over many issues for too long, and he felt that the party did not represent socialist values anymore.
"There is an implosion in the PL," Grech said.
But, he added, he was not focused on the PL's problem but on how the country could move forward.
The PN wants to move from an economy of "cheap labour" to an "economy of quality" he said.
Robert Abela's government was sustaining an economic model that required "burdening the country with tens of thousands of foreign workers," Grech said.
In contrast, former PN governments had attracted high-paying industries such as financial services, pharmaceuticals, and gaming, he said.