Editorial

If the contribution by Charles Mangion, deputy leader of the Malta Labour Party, on the role of manufacturing industry, carried in The Times the other day, was meant to somehow shore up the bad impression left by an MLP delegation at a recent meeting with industry's representative body, it failed miserably.

Dr Mangion is of rational mind but his contribution this time left an unfavourable impression, one that Labour would do well to discard. It well reflected Labour's obsessive urge to quibble even on matters over which there would seem to be agreement!

Of course, this is all done in the name of politics, but are not the two parties going to extremes? Is it true, as Dr Mangion has argued, that the present government "keeps talking down the manufacturing industry as though it could have no viable role in the future of our economy"? It does not seem he is correct, more so if this is based on comments reportedly made by one minister after the closure of a textile firm some time ago.

Investments Minister Austin Gatt had been misinterpreted when he spoke about industry at the time. The run of his argument was that the island's future in manufacturing lay in going up the scale, that is, going for a higher value-added content in the making of goods for exports. He was right, of course, but for political reasons others sought to twist his argument beyond recognition.

Who would want, today, to see Malta going for low skill, labour intensive and low capital manufacturing? Malta's aim, Dr Mangion argues, should be to have highly skilled, highly paid people working in manufacturing. But is not this exactly what the country has been aiming at for a number of years now already? If Labour want to politically attack the government over industry, it should focus on matters that have, over the years, helped add costs to industry, or which have put obstacles in the way of attracting foreign direct investment, not on its policy.

In terms of policy, there would appear to be no myths. It has been explained often enough, even as recently as March this year, in a document called National Strategic Reference Framework. Malta's strategic direction, it says, focuses on increasing the value-added by Maltese enterprises.

The document adds: "This resolve requires a shift to economic activity where knowledge intensity created greater value-added and assumes a central role in the production of goods and services. Besides supporting existing high value-added enterprises, Malta aims to continue focusing on the identification and development of new high value niche sectors both through local and foreign investment".

It is pity that Dr Mangion had to write that "another myth that needs to be challenged continuously is that we can all prosper on services and it is therefore time to let manufacturing die a natural death" just weeks after the announcement of the SmartCity project and of other new investments in manufacturing. It would seem that the myths that really need to be challenged are those brought up by Labour.

More or less, the country is talking the same language in matters over manufacturing industry, but politicians sometimes lose their way in their bid to win political points. In the process, there is much unnecessary politicisation even of matters over which, as already remarked, there would seem to be general agreement.

In the end, what counts most is the extent to which the country can deliver the goods and, in this respect, removing myths, real or imaginary, is essential for progress.