In place of pique

Only recently, the Malta Business Foundation, together with the EU's Representative Office in Malta, organised a conference that discussed whether the EU is listening to enterprise. It was an opportunity to meet up and discuss the recent past and to seek and analyse the proper way forward.

In the run-up to EU accession and over these past two years, many of us have cited the success stories of other member states. Yet I believe not enough of us have looked closely around us to see that even locally, we are seeing a growing number of success stories.

EU membership is helping us broaden our horizons, is offering several opportunities for growth, is opening up new avenues for innovation, and is making available endless possibilities for us to look beyond our shores and venture into our now broadly extended European home market. And, maybe, this is the challenge we need to grasp... considering the European market as "home".

European membership is also bringing along a number of challenges and is clearly a catalyst of change in many aspects. It is surely also placing more and more competitive pressures on each and every business; but competition is something we should embrace and not shy away from. Competition is, in its very essence, an opportunity that offers the ambitious entrepreneur that added drive and motivation to move on, upgrade standards, improve efficiencies and, ultimately, ensure a stronger business base.

Yes, it is true that EU membership has also brought along some pains, but I contend that many of these pains are helping us in doing away with those complacent and feather-bedded practices along with those protectionist policies we have seen for far too long. Indeed, such pains are what I call growth pains.

These growth prospects and expectations are realistic, achievable and within our reach. They are there and ours for the taking, however, if we truly want to move along this expected rising tide of prosperity, there is one critical aspect we still need to address in a more decisive manner.

Business organisations, trade unions but, most of all, our political leaders need to recognise that we need, indeed we must, work more hand in hand. We need to put aside partisan politics and any of our territorial stances and put together a truly national effort.

My vision of Malta Incorporated is that of Malta being cited as a success story in the years to come by fellow Europeans but this can truly be achieved only if we optimise on the synergies that all political, business and union leaders can undoubtedly put together.

Let us not be disheartened by our smallness and limited resources; we have the capabilities to make up for these limiting factors. There is enough evidence to show us that fragmentation in initiative and resources is the real limiting factor with lack of coherence, resulting from our territorial tendencies, being our worst enemy. We need to, and must, act more and more as truly national ambassadors in our own right. We need to rise to the occasion to be able to transform this vision into reality.

During EU accession negotiations we were more structurally focused with a clear objective - EU membership. Today we need to establish a more nationally concerted and target-driven post-accession strategy. Admittedly, this is a complex and broadly encompassing task, but nonetheless something that we strongly need.

Returning to whether the EU is listening to enterprise, I am convinced that if there is a concerted effort to make the best out of EU membership, not only would we ensure that the EU will listen, but also that we will convey the right and coherent messages.

It is clear that we have yet to see the best of EU membership, but this will not simply happen on its own. We still have to work hard towards achieving this goal. Not even when considering the undisputed benefits arising from the millions of euros coming our way via EU funding, we still need to go way beyond to truly make the best of EU membership. Yes, we can do it but to really unleash our entrepreneurial potential we need to work more as one. EU membership has assured us access to fertile ground, but it is now up to us to sow the right seeds, and ensure that we benefit from a successful harvest.

Malta Incorporated will truly work if, and only if, we make a national effort to make it work.

Mr Aquilina is president of the Malta Business Foundation.