Malta among least competitive states in EU

Innovation is one of Malta's weakest points, according to a global index of the World Economic Forum ranking countries according to their competitiveness.

Malta ranks 19th in the index when compared to other EU member states. The Global Competitiveness Report 2006-2007 says Finland is the most competitive EU country of all.

This information was given at a Malta Business Weekly Le Meridien Phoenicia breakfast seminar yesterday by members of Competitive Malta Foundation - an institute researching competitiveness issues locally so as to offer recommendations to the government and to the private sector.

Competitive Malta partner Adrian Said said the report revealed that Malta's economy was not resilient as was the case elsewhere because it lagged behind in a number of factors such as higher education and training, infrastructure, business sophistication and the macro economy.

Less problematic are areas such as health and primary education, while technological readiness is the only area where Malta is at par with the top countries. Still, among the EU25, Malta ranks penultimate when considering the percentage of graduates in science and technology.

Among Malta's pluses were a strong institutional set-up, few barriers to trade and the soundness of banks. Yet, the burden of government compliance was huge, as was the case for the overall infrastructural quality. For former British Conservative MP Simon Coombs, who has been living in Malta for the past three years, competitiveness was about getting down to the basics.

Some sore points were the dirt around Malta, bad roads and signage, lack of enforcement of health and safety regulations and the general shabby state of the environment.

It was pointed out how a potential investor from South Africa who was planning to move his financial services company and all his assets to Malta had changed his mind after being choked by the exhaust fumes of three buses while walking on the Sliema front.

Simple solutions, such as imposing a tax on construction left half-finished for months all around the islands, were doable and would greatly improve the situation, Mr Coombs said.

Most of those present agreed that such problems, which left their impact on the economic statistics that determined the country's competitiveness ranking, were easily identifiable and could be tackled. Though the same issues have been raised for a number of years, there did not seem to be the political will to change.

Competitive Malta suggested better use of the structure of the Malta Council for Economic and Social Development, which should become a think-tank and an advisory body to the government, developing a fully-fledged growth strategy for a period of five to 10 years.

It was suggested that membership of the MCESD should be extended to non-governmental organisations and to the university.