The Chamber of Commerce said today it was dismayed that Finance Minister Edward Scicluna in a recent debate appeared to be downplaying the signals given by independent statistics on manufacturing industry.

In a statement, it said that it welcomed Prof Scicluna's remarks that that all efforts need to be directed at improving the country’s competitiveness, by such measures as treating COLA responsibly, reducing energy tariffs and clamping down on excessive bureaucracy.

However, it did not agree with the minister's remarks that the reason for declining exports was a drop in external demand.

"Rather, the Chamber attributes the situation to declining competitiveness levels mainly due to increased operating costs and improved competitiveness in certain overseas countries where the need to defend competitiveness has surpassed all other priorities," the Chamber said.

"The statistics which the minister doubted were released by Eurostat and show that Malta’s combined exports to EU and Extra-EU states declined by 27% in the 12 months to August 2014. But even the export figures released by the National Statistics Office (NSO) show a decline, albeit by a significantly lower magnitude. In fact, NSO reports a 3.6% decline in exports between 2012 and 2013 (full year) and again by 1.0% between 2013 and 2014 (quarters 1 and 2)," the Chamber observed.

The Pre-Budget Document published by the Ministry of Finance showed that Gross Value Added (GVA) in manufacturing declined by 4.1% during the first half of this year when compared to the same period last year.

Real Labour Productivity per person Employed between 2008-2012 experienced a 3.3% drop compared to an increase in the Eurozone (1.0%) and the EU27 (1.1%).

The NSO's Index of Industrial Production had been in constant decline since February 2013 with a slight exception for September 2013. In its latest reading for September 2014, the Index stood -7.1 per cent.

"It is therefore the duty of our political leaders and all stakeholders to make a concerted effort to halt this process of deteriorating conditions in the manufacturing sector," the Chamber said, calling for an  exhaustive discussion about Malta’s competitiveness.


 

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