PM calls on Maltese to seize opportunities in 2007

Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi yesterday called on the Maltese to seize the opportunities which the new year was bound to offer, particularly as Malta's euro adoption neared.

The Prime Minister was speaking at the President's Palace in Valletta where he and his Cabinet exchanged New Year's greetings with President Eddie Fenech Adami.

Dr Gonzi said that last year the country had risen to its challenges and proved its resilience. A number of changes had been implemented, among them pension reform, and the country had managed change well. The coming year would bring a number of new opportunities, which could be exploited with the input of each individual. The year had the potential of bringing about another leap in the quality of life.

The President too had a positive view of 2006. "If I had to describe it I would say 2006 was a year of harmony within the democratic dialectic," Dr Fenech Adami said. Also calling on him were Archbishop Joseph Mercieca and Archbishop-elect Paul Cremona, Anton Tabone, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Chief Justice Vincent Degaetano, judges and magistrates, Opposition Leader Alfred Sant, MPs from both sides of the House, former presidents, permanent secretaries and other senior civil servants and public officials, trade unionists, mayors, representatives of the political parties and civil society and members of the public.

The Prime Minister and Mrs Gonzi also exchanged New Year's greetings with members of the public at Auberge de Castille in Valletta yesterday morning.