Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi yesterday spent close to two hours outlining the government's work over the past year, the results of which he described as giving rise to cautious optimism.
Speaking at a news conference marking the government's second year in office, Dr Gonzi said this was his first year as Prime Minister and the first year of Malta in the EU.
"It was an intense year in which the government was criticised for doing too much. But we have no time to waste and we hope to do more this year," Dr Gonzi said.
Signs were encouraging and it was very positive that economic growth last year was of 1.3 per cent; growth was negative in 2003.
"In the convergence plan presented to the EU we had projected 1.1 per cent growth but we did slightly better.
"The results make us optimistic - cautiously optimistic as there is still much more that needs to be done. But we are on the right track and we should not be afraid of making the necessary changes," Dr Gonzi said.
The Prime Minister said Malta was being scrutinised by the EU as well as by credit rating agencies and all the reports were favourable.
"We have been urged by the EU to keep consolidating the budgetary measures we have taken. We are determined to make the country more competitive on all fronts," Dr Gonzi said.
Dr Gonzi said the quality of life of the Maltese had improved and statistics showed that the number of Maltese who went abroad had increased by 16.6 per cent in a year while over Lm88 million were spent by those going abroad. Internet subscriptions increased by 12.3 per cent and the number of mobile phone users went up by 6.4 per cent.
Inflation has been stable since 1998 and the value of exports rose by Lm234 million. Money in circulation increased by Lm117 million while bank deposits went up by Lm579 million.
Dr Gonzi said the government was enforcing more discipline in public expenditure and the collection of public funds. It had brought in Lm11.5 million by attacking abuse in income tax, VAT and social benefits. Increased tax collection efficiency also netted Lm22.7 million.
The reforms in Gozo Channel, PBS, Air Malta, Water Services Corporation, Enemalta, Maltapost, Malta Shipyards and Tug Malta had cut expenses by Lm8 million annually and the Financial Monitoring and Management Unit was controlling the purchase of vehicles, travel-related expenses and redeployment of staff, among other issues.
Dr Gonzi said foreign investment had increased by 27 per cent over a year and, though there was never enough of such investment, it was encouraging to know there was more interest by foreigners in Malta.
The financial services sector was one in which there was substantial growth and the potential existed for more growth. Tourism saw more growth and there was capital investment in this sector by the private sector and others that had been spurred by the government. Dr Gonzi said the government has also launched the port reform. "Everybody expresses concern about the high tariffs in our ports and a radical reform has to be undertaken," he said.
Turning to agriculture and fisheries, Dr Gonzi said there were big challenges and farmers had to compete but local produce was superior so they had to improve their produce and maintain competitive prices.
"They have to change. They have to realise that what was acceptable 10 years ago is no longer acceptable. The government is putting millions of liri at their disposal. Some changes have been made but more needs to be done," Dr Gonzi said.
He said Malta had a high home ownership rate and the value of property sold last year showed an increase of Lm85 million over the previous year.
"One has to be careful about the amount of loans couples take because this too has an impact on families," Dr Gonzi said.
He said the government looked beyond the next election when taking decisions and had launched a White Paper on pension reform.
The country was facing several problems, including that of illegal and irregular migration and the government was tackling this on various levels from the diplomatic level to taking measures domestically. "But everyone has to keep in mind that each irregular migrant that lands on our shores is a human being who often has a tragic story to tell and the Maltese who show so much compassion for people struck by disaster thousands of miles away should show compassion with these migrants too," Dr Gonzi said.
The government had also worked on education and apart from physical work on 40 schools and the building of eight new ones by 2005, the government was also looking at the Matsec system and other reforms in the education sector.
Unemployment was falling and although there were still many genuine people looking for a dignifying job, the decrease in the number of unemployed was an encouraging sign.
The government had embarked on a lot of environment-related projects and was striving to manage the biggest problem of all, dealing with waste.
Several roads were being re-done and most of the work was possible thanks to financial assistance through the EU.
"It is very positive that Malta has kept its Objective One status and will still make use of cohesion funds between 2007 and 2013," Dr Gonzi said.
The government intends widening social dialogue and will be creating a new forum for civil society while dialogue meetings involving ministers will be regularly held at Castille in future so that people can speak about what they expect from different ministries.
Asked whether there was something he wished the government could have done, Dr Gonzi said he would have preferred the health and the pensions reforms to move at a speedier pace.
"Although going fast is not necessarily always best, we know that each day that passes the challenge facing us becomes bigger," Dr Gonzi said.