The Labour Party is to analyse the socio-economic situation in Gozo and will then present a plan for its development as an island region to the European Commission.

Speaking during a conference on ‘Vision for the Development of the Island Region of Gozo’, Dr Muscat said that the PL would ensure that remedial action would be taken because the island had lost a lot of funds as such a plan was not presented by the government.

The government, he said, had been expected to present a report on Gozo prior to the EU’s 2006 budget and another before that of 2012. But it failed to keep its promise to Gozitans.

The Labour Party, he said, cared about Gozo’s economic and industrial development and was continuously updating its regional plan for the island, published in May 2006.

He said that Gozo was missing on foreign direct investment and this was resulting in unemployment and a lower gross domestic product.

While unemployment stood at 551 in 2003, it reached 676 in 2008.

Gozo, he said, was feeling the recession much more than Malta and it was worrying that at the end of March there were 2,088 people working a reduced week.