Five new jobs must be generated for each one lost, PM says

Five new jobs have to be generated for every one lost, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said yesterday.

Speaking at a political activity in Sannat, Gozo, he said employment is the number one priority for the government and this should not be overshadowed by issues like the controversial extension of the St John's Co-Cathedral Museum.

He explained that, since many local factories exported their products, they were vulnerable to the global drop in demand, something that was not in the government's control.

Dr Gonzi insisted that the country was still managing to remain strong throughout the global economic crisis, and this was thanks especially to the fact that Malta adopted the euro and joined the EU.

Malta had succeeded in facing international challenges thanks to the sacrifices made before this year. More sacrifices were to come but we should not be afraid of them.

"I cannot guarantee that there will be no job losses. What I can promise is that the government is working day and night to generate jobs. This is our number one priority," he said.

He said the opposition should stop trying to waste people's time by raising petty issues. He criticised those who doubted the competence and seriousness of the Malta Resources Authority and said that in the same way it has been regulating fuel prices for the past four years it should continue regulating the prices of water and electricity.

The unions' biggest disagreement with the utility tariffs regime was that the eco reduction for single-person households was not enough. Dr Gonzi insisted that this did not make sense because the focus should be on helping those most in need, like families and those below the poverty line.

Malta needs to continue improving and diversifying its tourism product in order to remain competitive in a time of slowing demand.

Speaking at the same event, Finance Minister Tonio Fenech told workers of ST Microelectronics not to lose faith because if they do so their productivity will drop and the Maltese government will lose its bargaining position.

He said the government has to persuade ST to remain in Malta rather than move its business elsewhere, as has already happened with factories in many European countries that were moved to Asia. But this can only be done if workers continue to be productive in the face of uncertainty, he said, stressing that subsidising industry was not an option. He said the media should be careful in their reporting of such events because they should not jeopardise the future of workers by generating more uncertainty.

Parliamentary Secretary for Tourism Mario de Marco said that in order to remain competitive in 2009, which would be a very challenging year for tourism, the country needed to invest in three things: accessibility, marketing and the final product.

cperegin@timesofmalta.com