A business breakfast organised by the Labour Party yesterday ended more or less on a note of consensus that Malta needs some sort of all-encompassing strategic plan, but the social partners want to discuss details now.
"Who wouldn't agree with what the speakers have highlighted, the general secretary of the Union Haddiema Maghqudin, Gejtu Vella, said referring to speeches by Labour leader Alfred Sant, his deputy Charles Mangion and Adrian Said from Competitive Malta. "But we have to move away from platitudes to tackling the painful issues now."
The conference, titled Malta Today: Need For A New Plan?, was organised as part of a series of consultation meetings the Labour Party is holding with stakeholders in order to draw up its policy documents.
Dr Sant argued that Malta urgently needs a business plan that streamlines the country's efforts towards proper economic growth rates. "Boosting the rate of the economic growth is the biggest challenge Malta is facing in my view," he said, in reply to a question of what Labour intends doing about the social burden faced by large sections of the population. "Unless the economy is running we will remain at the end of the line in Europe."
Nonetheless, while negotiating economic regeneration, he said, Labour would invest substantially in education, where some of the most negative trends are being registered.
"I think the fact that we haven't been able to fill the EU Commission posts assigned to Malta so far says a lot. I am not trying to instil a sense of inferiority complex here but we have to take this issue seriously."
A number of questions from the floor pressed Dr Sant for details.
The general secretary of the General Workers' Union, Tony Zarb said the union would be ready to discuss any plan with whoever but will be insisting that the burden be spread evenly.
"We need to speak of the details," the UHM's Mr Vella said. "Two years ago we had suggested the social pact which did not materialise; now we need to sit down and pull the rope together, but it won't happen unless we start dealing with the issues."
Other questions honed on remarks by both Dr Sant and Dr Mangion that bureaucracy needed to be reigned in. "How do you plan to streamline the system while maintaining transparency?" a PBS journalist asked.
In response, the Labour leader said that streamlining authorities in reality leads to more accountability. "I just cannot understand how we have taken to introducing a regulatory framework modelled on that of countries such as Germany. We have to tailor such systems to our needs."
In reality, some sectors were being dealt with by an array of different authorities and ministries, a situation which is less accountable and leads to bad management, he continued.
Dr Sant mentioned business promotion in this connection, saying that the way the task was being dealt with by an array of politicians and authorities resulted in a very ineffective effort. "We need a short list of deliverable priorities over a short period of four years.
"We don't see everything as black but we have to be realistic. Instead of a long list of priorities we need to focus on a short list which is deliverable."
Still on the business promotion subject, he said Labour would be ready to have a task force, made up of the government and representatives from the tourism sector, to prepare a report on how tax can be revised to revamp the industry.
In the short-term, a surge in tourism business will help the country kick start its economy while investing in the success stories in the industry will help sustain long term growth, he added. "We will set up a high level contact group between the industry and the government which would help identify projects with a good track record and we will help them develop further, while at the same time we will explore and look for new opportunities."
As for labour force flexibility, Dr Sant mentioned an assurance system which would help workers to be able to cope when affected negatively by restructuring. Asked to elaborate, he said the government could offer tax breaks to companies employing workers who have been affected by restructuring.
"It will not be painless but at least its managing the pain," he said.