Business resolutions for New Year

On the last day of the year, allow me to put together some resolutions for the New Year, all of which have a business or economic dimension.

Entrance into Valletta

During 2010, the government launched the project that is meant to change the entrance into Valletta. It is a known fact that it will incorporate three projects, namely the rebuilding of the Opera House; the building of Parliament house where today there exists a square; and the implementation of the Piano design to the actual entrance.

One may agree with all or part or none of the components of the project. However, we should all agree that Valletta does not merit the presence of hawkers selling bread and confectionery items at its entrance.

I would have thought that once the project got under way these would have been removed. Alas it was not to be. 2011 must be the year when hawkers are prohibited from peddling their wares at the entrance into Valletta. Otherwise how can we be taken seriously as a country when we speak of our cultural heritage and how this heritage adds value to our economy?

Planning

Two weeks ago the government of New South Wales, Australia, held a stakeholders’ briefing about planning for Sydney’s growth over the next 25 years. The event was called Planning for Sydney to 2036.

Should not this serve as an example to get our planning act in order? Do we really need to take decisions that, if anything, demonstrate a total lack of planning?

I believe that our recent history has shown that, when we plan something right, we get the result we want. I am referring to Malta’s entry into the European Union. It required a great deal of coordination and planning to negotiate the acquis communitaire and to win the concessions that we did.

So what stops us from embarking on a comprehensive long-term planning exercise, that needs to be flexible enough to take into account changes that occur around us, but that is strong enough to provide a sense of direction to the economy?

I hope no one makes the mistake of thinking that a long term for the country is equivalent to central economic planning.

Relationships and ethics

During the coming year we need to make serious effort to bring back relationships into business. To do this we need to put ethical behaviour at the forefront of our business dealings.

It is unacceptable to continue thinking that all is acceptable for the sake of the bottom line. Unless we bring relationships back into business and subject our economic operations to the common good, then it is useless to speak of social policies. It would just be eyewash.

Again in this case, we need to make a clear distinction between accountability and the pursuit of results at all costs. It may sound strange, but I strongly believe that today we have lost a sense of accountability because we have lost the value of relationships in business.

The common good

I have already made reference to the common good in the previous point. The economy requires us to look at the common good and not at the specific interest of one sector as opposed to another.

It may sound like a hackneyed phrase – but we need to start looking at the bigger picture. This is not only a job for the government and the political parties. It is also a job for the social partners.

How can we speak of the need for civil dialogue or the need to involve the social partners in national decision making, if the non-governmental organisations are continually pushing their own agenda and ignoring the common good? An economy thrives on the basis of social cohesion.

These thoughts may all look very idealistic. They may be; but they also touch on very practical issues.

When we speak of the need not to take the positive performance of our economy for granted, these are the issues that we need to take into account.