Let’s retain focus on prosperity

Our political leaders have, over the past months, made repeated statements recognising the private sector as the “motor of the economy”. At the same time, they have also declared that the role of the public sector is to support, regulate and ensure the necessary legal and physical infrastructure for business to flourish.

These statements of support are welcomed by the Maltese business community with the hope that both leaders mean business. At the same time, the Malta Chamber appeals to the same political leaders to pursue their political goals with the least possible harm to the business community.

As a start, they must ensure that promises made to the country and the private sector in particular are realisable and sustainable. Promises are to be made within the country’s financial constraints and the general regulatory parameters laid down for us as members of the European Union and the eurozone.

A clear, stable and efficient legal and regulatory framework is a sine qua non for investment. Therefore, political leaders must be clear at all times about their future plans for the country. For the private sector to invest and generate jobs, it must be confident that laws and policies are stable and certainly not subject to drastic or retroactive change.

To this end we, the business community can draw encouragement from the fact that there is general consensus on matters that are of direct and fundamental interest to our members, such as industrial policy, consumer and competition policy, financial services and tourism. It was also encouraging to note, last year, that a Bill was passed unanimously in Parliament to pave the way for a consolidation of public revenue departments.

Irrespective of the distractions we have been served with as of late – both locally and abroad – the business community needs to remain well focused. As entrepreneurs, we know that our survival and success depend only on how competitive our businesses are. We must prioritise on those factors that give us the edge over competition and remain focused irrespective of external decisions that may be taken and which we know are beyond our control.

To a certain extent, this was the underlining message coming from recent reports on the Maltese economy by international institutions, namely Standard & Poor’s and the International Monetary Fund.

These reports strongly recommend that, in the face of a deteriorating external environment, Malta should focus on those factors that strengthen competitiveness.

The message has to be clear: We cannot take the well-being of our economy for granted!

Industry and political leaders have often worked closely in the past in the interest of preserving our competitiveness. The experience gained in monitoring and responding quickly and effectively to the turmoil in 2009 should serve us in good stead to face up to the difficulties ahead.

As we did then, the private and public sectors must remain mutually reinforcing at all times be­cause the external environment, in particular, dictates so.

It is the role and, indeed, responsibility of our politicians to create the right environment for healthy economic growth. We, as entrepreneurs, will res­pond with our tangible projects and investment. If we are mutually reinforcing, private enterprise can continue to retain and fulfil its role as the lifeblood of our economy.

The author is president of the Malta Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry