Sixty three per cent of respondents in Ernst & Young's 2008 Malta Attractiveness Survey believe the perception of Malta as a location for the development or expansion of their company's activities will improve over the next three years. Of these, 13 per cent believe the prospects will improve "significantly".
The survey, launched last week, was conducted between April and May and saw the participation of 72 executives of foreign-owned companies based in Malta.
Fourteen per cent of the participants believed the prospects will neither improve nor deteriorate, while only 13 per cent believed the perceptions will deteriorate. Ten per cent did not know how the perceptions would fare over the next three years.
The reasons for the positive perceptions over the next three years are wide-ranging and vary from sector to sector. Malta's membership of the eurozone and its adoption of EU policies are some of the reasons for the positive perception by the banking and financial services sector. Other factors include accessibility to the local market, an attractive financial setting, good opportunities in Malta's neighbouring countries, a general expectation of improvement, such as political stability, environmental improvement, capability to attract expatriates and prospects of improved air links and continued growth since Malta will remain attractive.
Within the iGaming sector, the reasons for a positive perception include the fact that Malta is very regulated and offers protection to players; activities will be developed and expanded due to increased interest from foreign clients; the sector will improve if there is no monopoly with respect to opening betting shops; EU membership brought increased business opportunities and made it easier to bring over employees from abroad; Malta's attractiveness will significantly improve provided that the Lotteries and Gaming Authority will not hinder entities from further developing their activities and the SmartCity project will lead to a leap forward in the country's infrastructure, which should mean additional investments by internet providers to secure greater bandwidth and stability of connection.
Executives in the ICT and telecoms sector believe SmartCity is evidence of Malta's commitment towards IT. There will be some synergies for companies to benefit from, including cost reductions, human resource availability and improved quality. Other positive factors include the country's economic growth, the fact that investment in Malta as an IT hub has increased, the drive to improve the situation with respect to the availability of human resources and further investment by individual companies.
Within the pharmaceutical sector the reasons for a positive perception over the next three years include the reforms at Mepa and the law courts which would improve the company's performance, the introduction of new banks which would accelerate the company's growth and a favourable patent situation.
Among executives within the high-technology manufacturing sector possible assistance from the EU, Malta's adoption of the euro and EU environmental compliance are among the main reasons why they believe their companies will expand. Other factors include the improvement of the environment, increased overall optimism, focussed government priorities, the core benefits of the Business Promotion Act are to remain in place, the availability of skilled workers will improve (thanks to Mcast) and the development of new technologies will allow Malta to keep attracting investment despite the increased attractiveness of low-cost countries in terms of labour-intensive production activities.
The survey, launched last week, was conducted between April and May and saw the participation of 72 executives of foreign-owned companies based in Malta.
Fourteen per cent of the participants believed the prospects will neither improve nor deteriorate, while only 13 per cent believed the perceptions will deteriorate. Ten per cent did not know how the perceptions would fare over the next three years.
The reasons for the positive perceptions over the next three years are wide-ranging and vary from sector to sector. Malta's membership of the eurozone and its adoption of EU policies are some of the reasons for the positive perception by the banking and financial services sector. Other factors include accessibility to the local market, an attractive financial setting, good opportunities in Malta's neighbouring countries, a general expectation of improvement, such as political stability, environmental improvement, capability to attract expatriates and prospects of improved air links and continued growth since Malta will remain attractive.
Within the iGaming sector, the reasons for a positive perception include the fact that Malta is very regulated and offers protection to players; activities will be developed and expanded due to increased interest from foreign clients; the sector will improve if there is no monopoly with respect to opening betting shops; EU membership brought increased business opportunities and made it easier to bring over employees from abroad; Malta's attractiveness will significantly improve provided that the Lotteries and Gaming Authority will not hinder entities from further developing their activities and the SmartCity project will lead to a leap forward in the country's infrastructure, which should mean additional investments by internet providers to secure greater bandwidth and stability of connection.
Executives in the ICT and telecoms sector believe SmartCity is evidence of Malta's commitment towards IT. There will be some synergies for companies to benefit from, including cost reductions, human resource availability and improved quality. Other positive factors include the country's economic growth, the fact that investment in Malta as an IT hub has increased, the drive to improve the situation with respect to the availability of human resources and further investment by individual companies.
Within the pharmaceutical sector the reasons for a positive perception over the next three years include the reforms at Mepa and the law courts which would improve the company's performance, the introduction of new banks which would accelerate the company's growth and a favourable patent situation.
Among executives within the high-technology manufacturing sector possible assistance from the EU, Malta's adoption of the euro and EU environmental compliance are among the main reasons why they believe their companies will expand. Other factors include the improvement of the environment, increased overall optimism, focussed government priorities, the core benefits of the Business Promotion Act are to remain in place, the availability of skilled workers will improve (thanks to Mcast) and the development of new technologies will allow Malta to keep attracting investment despite the increased attractiveness of low-cost countries in terms of labour-intensive production activities.