The government hopes in the coming weeks to conclude talks leading to major investments which would create hundreds of jobs, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said at a PN mass meeting this evening.
"This country is succeeding and will continue to succeed," Dr Gonzi said.
"The talks which we hope to conclude in the coming weeks will continue to show that Malta remains an attractive investment destination and that everyone should take courage for the future."
Dr Gonzi was speaking at the highpoint of the Nationalist Party's activities to mark the 45th anniversary of Independence on the Granaries in Floriana.
He stressed that the international economic crisis was not over yet and its waves were still pounding Malta and other countries. The past year had been very difficult for the world, with financial and economic crises, record oil prices and H1N1. The government had intervened directly to save 2,500 jobs, despite raising the deficit, he said. But Malta and its government had remained strong and he wanted to encourage everyone for the future.
Dr Gonzi said his message was one of courage. The hallmark of George Borg Olivier, the father of Malta's Independence was his confidence in the Maltese people and their future, and it was this confidence which he wanted to renew.
Malta had passed through testing times since Independence, including years when freedom was threatened, but it had emerged stronger. As a result Malta could take its place in the EU, thanks, especially, to the work of Eddie Fenech Adami, who had opened doors to Maltese young people which others had wanted to keep closed.
It was in the context of what had been achieved in the past 45 years that he had called for Independence Day to be declared the National Day, Dr Gonzi said. This would be a sign of maturity, in the same way as the country had agreed on the appointment of the President.
He did not intend to impose anything. The National Day had to be the result of consensus, Dr Gonzi said, and he was not excluding talks on how the other milestones in Malta's history could be celebrated better. He would await reactions to his proposal.
Concluding, Dr Gonzi again referred to the economic situation and said the people should ignore people who tried to discourage them. He hoped the Opposition would not discourage the people from making the changes which the country needed, whether it was with regard to wind farms, the bus service, gas, the dockyard or the power station.
He could say that there was strong interest in the sale of the dockyard and investment in public transport.
While the past year was a difficult one, in the past eight months there were 1,800 job dismissals but there were 2,454 new placements.
There were now 3,400 people aged over 61 who were in full time employment and over 5,000 were working part time.
Of the 1,500 dockyard workers who had taken early retirement from Malta Shipyards, 900 had found new jobs, 360 were no longer registering and most had retired, while only 240 were still registering for work, Dr Gonzi said.
LABOUR REACTION
The Labour Party in a reaction to Dr Gonzi's speech said it lacked vision.
The PL said Dr Gonzi had not taken up Dr Muscat's challenge for an immediate debate in parliament on the power station extension contract, if he was sure he had a stable government.
While he had spoken on the international crises, Dr Gonzi had not said how the biggest crisis in Malta was caused by the power tariffs, the PL said.