There is no time to waste –

RACHEL ATTARD – HEAD OF MEDIA AND COMMUNICATION STRATEGIST, THE MALTA CHAMBER

The unjust war in Ukraine and the Covid-19 pandemic are leaving their impact globally on energy prices and food supplies. This is now a known fact! Everyone in the world is in the same boat facing the same currents and Malta’s economy is affected by all this. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has raised a red flag to all countries that the months ahead are going to be difficult. The IMF also stated that global economic growth is expected to be 3.2 percent this year, while going down to 2.7 percent the following year. This is a 6 percent decline from 2021. Further predictions by the IMF include an 8.8 percent increase in inflation this year and a further 6.5 percent in 2023.

The Malta Chamber, through its various conferences, press releases, media coverage and meetings with various ministers, Government entities and the Opposition, has in the past months flagged the above issues and warned that the two major challenges in our economy will be inflation and human resource shortages, particularly in the private sector. Following a number of consultation sessions with various stakeholders, The Malta Chamber published more than 120 recommendations in its Pre-Budget document. In our proposals, which we are highlighting in this edition, we suggested measures that the Government should implement in its Budget for 2023 so as to help the business community and the public at large, cushion the impact on their businesses and quality of life.

A growing concern that the local private sector is facing, is the lack of human resources and skilled labour. Although technology and investment in digitalisation helps alleviate the problem in some sectors, there are various sectors that are highly dependent on labour, such as the health sector and the tourism industry. The number of Maltese nationals working in the tourism industry has declined steadily over the last 10 years. Today less than a third are Maltese nationals. Any increases in the number of tourists coming to Malta will have to be met by further increases in third country nationals working in our tourism industry. The same applies to the health and care industry. On top of the already daunting task of recruiting employees, employers are facing another major challenge, that of retaining foreign workers. These workers are constantly being poached by the public sector or leaving for more attractive offers in other European countries such as the UK and Ireland. Unless our country manages to attract workers and retain them, the future growth of the private sector will be severely hindered. Inflation is the other major concern that our business community is facing. The geopolitical disruptions and volatility in international markets are set to remain for the coming months and are leaving a number of casualties. Europe is trying to walk the tightrope to balance energy and supply chain limitations with climate change concerns, and has not been very successful so far.

There is no magic formula for Malta to avoid this global disruption but as The Malta Chamber President said in the 18th edition of the Malta Attractiveness Survey (MAS) organised by EY Malta, “Our competitiveness has always rested on a combination of investmentfriendly government policies and diligent human resources. Legitimate business is about hard work and smart ideas. It requires capable people.”

As this edition of the Commercial Courier shows, there is no room for waste of resources in this current challenging economic climate. While entrepreneurs try their best to mitigate the rising global costs, so must the Government and its entities to be more responsible when it comes to public funds. This is certainly no time for waste and there is clearly no time to waste. n

“ Europe is trying to walk the tightrope to balance energy and supply chain limitations with climate change concerns, and has not been very successful so far.”