Politics is not about making decisions but about the art of making the right decisions, the decisions that need to be made for our common good and the country's future. Nationalist administrations were always faced with decisions that shaped our future and I am proud to be associated with the party that has been on the right side of history, from Independence to membership of the European Union.

Economy-wise, we were the architects of the modern and sound economy we have today because of the important decisions made in the past to liberalise, privatise and transform our economy from a low-cost labour-intensive industrial base to a better higher-value-added economy. Then, there are also the new emerging service sectors like ICT, the financial services, aviation services and, more recently, the adoption of the euro.

These were tough decisions. Not everyone was on the government's side when the decisions were then taken. Today, we bear the fruit of those decisions because, clearly, our economy could not have withstood the international crisis and the impact of the world recession if we were not prepared.

Had we heeded the advice of those who wanted us to be a Switzerland in the Mediterranean, we would have become a melting Iceland. The choice and the decisions we made have proved important to steer the country's economy and, thus, weather the crisis.

As an open economy, the crisis had its impact on us too. We are still not out of the woods and, clearly, this Budget is addressing investment, growth and jobs if we want to recover quickly from the economic downturn and this is the scenario in which this Budget has been planned.

We believe that the path towards recovery has to be built on the creation of work. This belief is the foundation of our financial policy as mapped out in our Budget for 2010. The three main pillars that constitute this foundation are: the introduction of measures that should catalyse the creation of jobs; the actual creation of jobs; and the preparation of resources and the infrastructure required for further job creation, in the various spheres that make up our economy. As such, that is why we're investing €2.5 billion in our infrastructure, education, social services, promotion, tourism, incentives, structure and all those components that shape our country.

We are transforming Malta Enterprise into an agency aimed at promoting, developing and supporting enterprise in Malta. We want to provide fertile ground for entrepreneurship while also assisting in the cultivation of existent local investment and entrepreneurs. We are embarking on a simplification exercise to weed any thorns, in the form of bureaucracy, which can hinder the development of business. Our focus will be on the indigenous industry, our SMEs and also those foreigners who have invested and want to invest in our country. We want our businesses and investors to look at us as partners in the development and transformation of our economy.

We are committing ourselves towards the vital tourism sector. Our commitment to invest bigger budgets in this sector is aimed at assisting promotion, improving the access to our country and developing new routes and strengthen existent ones.

We want to promote research and innovation to a higher level within our entrepreneurship eco system. We are supporting this through investment and incentives. Other incentives are being targeted to foster creativity and create the necessary infrastructure in this sector of the economy.

All these direct measures are aimed at assisting the creation of jobs. However, our commitment does not stop there. We have embarked on an exercise aimed at assisting more people become part of our economy. We are limited in our resources and we cannot risk that anyone who is employable be left out on the road of recovery. This is the rationale behind, among others, the incentive to provide work experiences, apprenticeship schemes and financial support to ensure that no one is unemployed and not receiving any form of education.

We are investing in structures and incentives aimed at facilitating the return to productive employment of mothers, levelling as much as possible the employment playing field for those who are at a disadvantage and equipping tomorrow's generations for the jobs we are attracting and creating. Financially supporting child care facilities to mothers that need such training is one such example.

To be able to meet the challenges of progress and the advent of more job creating opportunities, we need to make the relevant infrastructural reforms. We are committing a substantial investment aimed at the improvement of our energy supplies, the maximisation of the water resource created and the construction and improvement of a road network able to meet the needs of our population and the country's requirements.

All this is being done without sparing anything needed in our social welfare system. It is our responsibility to support all those truly in need. We do not want anyone to be left behind in our path towards recovery because it is together that we can move forward towards the creation of work by investing in you and our nation.

Mr Fenech is the Minister of Finance, the Economy and Investment.