Simon Coombs was the UK Member of Parliament for Swindon in Wiltshire between 1983 and 1997. Before that he was a marketing executive with British Telecom, and subsequently helped to set up the Institute of Customer Service.

After further political activity, he retired in 2004, and decided to live in Malta each winter, renewing his family's connection with the island. He joined Competitive Malta in January 2006, and in conjunction with Adrian Said, chief co-ordinator of Competitive Malta, is now developing a programme of initiatives that focus on making Malta more competitive.

This is being done with the support of the World Economic Forum on the basis of the foundation's status as a partner institute of the forum.

Why did you come to Malta?

My grandfather served here in the Royal Navy in the 1930s - the family lived in Sliema, and my mother had wonderful memories of the island as a small girl. I first visited in 1976 for a holiday with my parents, and then visited twice in a parliamentary capacity.

I had dinner in Marsascala in 1994, and, although it was pitch dark, I knew it would be a good place to live! When the time came to choose a place to spend our winters, Malta was the obvious, safe, sunny choice.

So for you, Malta was competitive?

Indeed it was. I should also mention that I had collected Maltese stamps since I was eight years old, and so I knew a great deal about the islands and their history before I came here.

I was born close to the great natural harbour at Portsmouth, so somewhere near Grand Harbour was an obvious choice for a second home.

What was your parliamentary connection with Malta?

I was treasurer of the Anglo-Malta Parliamentary group for a number of years and visited here in 1994 and 1996. I was also chairman of the Conservative tourism committee, and took an interest in the way Malta was selling itself as a holiday destination.

It was obvious that the islands were very popular with the British, but at the same time competition from other countries, with equally good climates and more money to spend on marketing, was going to make things tough for Malta.

How do you think we're doing?

Better than you sometimes allow yourself to believe! Most countries spend their time running down their people's efforts to be successful, but the truth is always more favourable than they realise.

I've been very impressed by the work of companies like Viset at the Waterfront, pushing Valletta up the cruising destination charts, and MIA making the air connection bridge to Malta so smooth and agreeable.

Where the problem lies is with the way we allow the islands, particularly Malta, to remain dirty, untidy, unkempt-looking. We really need a big effort to clean up our act, with government, unions, business and ordinary people pulling together. Rubbish tips all over the countryside, unprotected and unfinished buildings, litter in the streets - they all go to create a Third World impression for visitors, if they ever leave their swimming pool!

What else can we do to make Malta more competitive?

Malta has to take advantage of its size and location. We can be a bridge between the rest of Europe and Africa, we can be a microcosm for innovation and value-added industries, we must use fully our highly skilled workforce, and we must get rid of some outdated industrial practices and attitudes.

SmartCity needs to go ahead quickly, and to act as a magnet for inward investment of the sort that will play to our strengths. And the government must continue to improve infrastructure, especially the roads and public transport.

We need to persuade more visitors to choose Malta as their holiday destination, and then to encourage them to see more of Malta than their hotel or timeshare. It will be the people who see more than their swimming pool who will come back to Malta and spread the word about what we have to offer.

Some of them may also be the ones who sow the seed of inward investment in the future, although we mustn't rely solely on that method of attracting investors. Malta needs to strengthen its overseas promotional effort in countries like Israel and India, where entrepreneurs are looking for an entry-point into Europe.

Which leads us onto the introduction of the euro - how will we get on in the Eurozone?

The UK has kept its own currency, for various good reasons, so my personal experience of the change to a common currency is limited. Despite all the efforts of the Maltese government, there is the danger of inflationary price changes in 2008, and perhaps more significantly in the longer term, there is a real challenge to the Maltese economy through our loss of control over our interest rate.

Governments have learnt how to use interest rates as a major instrument of financial regulation in recent decades. Without that instrument, it becomes even more important for Malta to be competitive, innovative and positive in its outlook.

What aspects of your Parliamentary experience are relevant to Malta?

I first volunteered my services to Competitive Malta to help establish a new, formal link between the Maltese Parliament and the business community. We are making slow but steady progress in this, and I hope that after the forthcoming general election, we shall be able to launch an organisation that will achieve greater mutual respect and understanding between Parliament on the hand and industry and commerce on the other.

From the point of view of policy, Malta is already well down the road of privatisation, but there is plenty more to do in deregulation, greater openness in government and the encouragement of positive attitudes towards change.

Reports of vandalism at Mater Dei Hospital lead me to suspect that not all Maltese people are ready to face the challenges of the future in the right way. I know that the future is not as scary as some people might think and I hope to be able to help Malta face the future in the right frame of mind.

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