With its back to the wall trying to fend off relentless attacks on its impropriety and low governance standards, it is not surprising the government misses no opportunity to make the most of any favourable report that comes its way.

It is not without good reason either if it brags about the improvement made in rankings in the latest World Economic Forum competitiveness index. The new placing, 40th out of 138 countries, is quite creditable. It is good news not just for the party in government but also for Malta. It means the country has advanced eight places.

However, while it is fair to recognise the improvement made, it is also necessary to take note of areas that are lagging behind or which can be improved upon. To put the situation in perspective, the country is still considered one of the laggards because no fewer than 16 of the EU’s member states fare better than Malta.

Two sticking points are the inadequate educated workforce and inefficient government bureaucracy. The second shortcoming features in practically all economic analyses. As pointed out by an academic in this newspaper only a few days ago, it is not just the education system that needs to play its part in solving the problem but the economic sectors themselves too.

Young people just out of formal education can be further trained in the skills required in in-house training programmes, dovetailed to the individual firm’s requirements. A number of firms have been successful in doing this, usually through their own in-house resources and/or in association with foreign accredited bodies. Wider use of internship schemes will also help.

A big problem is the cohort of young people dropping out of school without even having basic education skills. A very disturbing finding in the report is the poor work ethic in the national labour force. This may be due to various factors, including, for example, poor motivation resulting from inferior working conditions or to poor educational level. Greater attention ought to be paid to this in employment drives. Reducing the number of people out of work is important but the exercise should not be simply aimed at cutting numbers but at finding appropriate, fulfilling jobs for those wanting to work.

A world-class education system is one of the main factors that drive Switzerland to the top competitiveness ranking. Other aspects are its stable, transparent and effective institutions, sound and healthy public finances, an attractive tax system, excellent infrastructure and connectivity, business sophistication and what is considered as an exceptional capacity for innovation.

Switzerland has held the top ranking for the eighth consecutive year. It is ahead of Singapore and the United States. These are followed by the Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.

Malta’s finances are constantly improving, with the deficit down to 1.5 per cent of gross domestic product, but there are some disquieting areas that need to be taken care of rather urgently. One of these is the state of the road infrastructure. Malta’s ranking stands at 100 out of 138, which is quite bad. There has been an improvement in some arterial roads but, generally speaking, much remains to be done to bring the road network up to the required standard.

With regard to institutions, the island’s worst showing is on “favouritism in decisions of government officials”, a matter that ought to be of great concern, particularly at times when the administration is also in the dock over regular cases of slippages in good governance practice.

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