Prime Minister Joseph Muscat yesterday said he was “optimistic” that an agreement on the citizenship scheme would be reached with the European Commission.
He said the first meeting last week with the Commission was “positive” adding that the Opposition’s criticism and actions to oppose the Individual Investor Programme had “backfired”.
“I must thank the Opposition because their actions backfired and the majority of people in Malta are in agreement with this programme and, like us, believe this is the way forward for Malta to create unprecedented wealth, which usually takes15 years to generate,” he said.
Referring to the Opposition’s pleas to reopen talks in a bid to reach consensus, Dr Muscat said: “You played this game. You played this card. It backfired and now we started talks with Europe.”
He said the government did not shy away from discussions with the European Commission and was questioning why Brussels was reacting this way to Malta’s citizenship programme but did not lift a finger when other countries introduced theirs.
Addressing a political activity in Żebbuġ, Dr Muscat said Malta was aiming to be a “trend setter” and “a destination of first choice for European and global investors” when they were looking at penetrating the European or North African markets.
He noted that the HSBC chief executive had acknowledged Malta’s potential to become another Singapore or Dubai. “That is our vision. Malta will be changing the way it attracts foreign businessmen,” he said.
Dr Muscat said Germany had not stopped helping their giant car producers despite action by the EU on the quality of the air conditioning units they were installing. Similarly, Malta would go ahead with its programme. “I am optimistic that we are yet to see the best days of this programme and its benefits for this country,” he said.
Dr Muscat also referred to the refund of VAT paid on car registration fees, a major electoral promise, and how the government was delivering on all its major pledges.
On the parking problem, especially in Valletta, Dr Muscat said free car entrance to the capital after 2pm led businesses to agree that the move had contributed to the best Christmas sales in seven years. The government was also working on the extension of the MCP car park.