Apro-business app-roach does not necessarily mean the merger of business with the State or that the State serves the selected business. The Nationalist Party policy document ‘Economy for the People’ advocates a more independent economy, free from the restrictions of State decisions. A business can be more productive if left to its own plans.
Malta has the right credentials to attract, retain and bolster investment but now, to be competitive on a global level and transform Malta into a world class business district, we need to transform our model from an investment-friendly location to a growth-centric business hub.
Every government does what it thinks is best for the country, but as the old proverb goes, “hell is paved with good intentions”, which holds well to this government, especially when it decides to introduce regulations and creates some authority to control abuses, with often times the abusers forming part of the same authority.
Needless to say, 2016 saw Malta’s reputation being seriously dented mostly by the Panama scandal and government-appointed officials or close affiliates of the Prime Minister meeting privately with foreign heads of state or companies.
This can be avoided through the introduction of an Act making any government meeting directly or indirectly with other heads of state in secrecy illegal. A similar law, the Logan Act, is in place in the US.
On the other hand, the PN has taken into account the removal of obstacles impeding enterprises and also put forward proposals such a 10 per cent tax rate for small businesses, which will surely see an improvement in this much neglected and extremely important sector of the economy.
The PN is resolved to bring about an economic transformation in which the economy will be truly meant to serve the people
Businesses can use the capital to further improve their on-going commercial activity and offer a better product or service. This is the first step towards empowering our citizens and enterprises to be the protagonists of our country’s economic transformation.
Our vision is to elevate Malta and Gozo as the regional meeting point of choice for hosting global events and milestone conferences. Gozo has an opportunity to become a regional cluster for the aggregation of B2C-centric services in the digital space and social media marketing. Gozo can host commercial spaces aimed at creating international hotspots of industrial attractiveness. This niche will lead to create quality jobs based in Gozo for Gozitans and also for those who want to work and live in Gozo.
George Orwell in Politics and the English Language said politicians are “designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind”. This may go well in describing the current state of the government.
Our need to maintain a sound rule of law and due process will not be enough. Rather we need to go beyond these and introduce economic transformation and economic freedom.
Through its vision the PN is instigating a paradigm shift in how policy formulation is to be conducted in Malta: from top-down structures to a widely shared ownership of policy priorities, key drivers and core anchor measures.
The PN is resolved to bring about an economic transformation in which the economy will be truly meant to serve the people and not to rule them: an economy which is geared to deliver solutions for our social challenges.
We want to enable more of our people to participate in productive, quality-driven employment and empowering our workforce to earn significantly higher real income.
Our mentality is to promote and reward enterprise ambition and entrepreneurship.
Ryan Mercieca is a Nationalist Party candidate in the 13th district.