Malta’s ranking by the World Bank on the ease of doing business is not expected to improve when the 2013 report is issued in the coming weeks, according to Finance Minister Edward Scicluna.

Malta ranked 102nd out of 185 economies in the 10th edition of the report, just ahead of countries like Papua New Guinea and Pakistan. Malta was also the lowest ranked of the 27 EU member states at the time.

He was speaking at a conference organised by EY to mark the 9th EY Attractiveness Survey, which found that 88 per cent of companies in Malta which have a majority foreign shareholding find Malta attractive for foreign direct investment.

Prof. Scicluna was not being negative – quite the contrary. He quoted numerous other rankings which showed that Malta was doing well and improving. However, he was trying to make the point that it would be “foolish to rest on our laurels”, adding that economic competitiveness was “a moving target that we must keep constantly in our sights”.

Stressing that the perception of Malta was very important, he said: “My message to you today is that we will continue to build on what we have, while at the same time seeking to tackle those sectors which are in need of modernisation.”

He also stressed that Malta needed to diversify if it were to become more resilient to the impact of a shock in any sector.”

The keynote speaker was the former Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende, an EY partner, who jested about one of the many times he had visited Malta. He said that he had been waiting in the queue for the Gozo ferry with many others, when a blue car overtook those waiting.

He said he was told by ferry staff that it was the Gozo Minister, and jested that, although he was the Dutch Prime Minister, he still did not get priority boarding.

He used his many anecdotes to make serious points about country perceptions and about what leads to success.

His main point was about the need to work as a team and to focus on areas where the country has a competitive advantage which would allow growth, and to accept what he termed “creative destruction”, the tough but unavoidable decisions taken in times of great pressure which clear the way for new growth.

“Be self critical and ask what can be improved. The success of the past is no guarantee of success in the future,” he warned.

One of the most controversial exchanges was between the president of the Malta Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry David Curmi and University Rector Juanito Camilleri. The former lamented a “total disconnect” between what the university was teaching and what industry needed – later downgraded to just a “disconnect”, with the rector pointing out that 800 of his 1,500 lecturers were not pure academics but people who worked in the industry. Prof. Camilleri also pointed out that a number of courses had been set up specifically after consultation with industry, while others were of such limited demand that it was simply not feasible to even consider them.

Mr Curmi appealed to social partners to support the painful reforms still required, saying that the country was losing competitiveness because of rising labour costs – another jibe at the lack of a link between COLA and productivity – and labour flexibility, with the country going backwards when it came to employment relations on the “excuse of precarious employment”.

The CEO of Playmobil Matthias Fauser, the chairman of the Chamber’s manufacturing group, said the sector accounted for nearly half of foreign direct investment and around 20,000 jobs, warning that it was important not to tie the too much of the economy to sectors which were more volatile and which would relocate all or part of their activities very quickly.

Mr Fauser listed eight specific points which should be safeguarded by national policy, starting with a stable provision of energy and competitive rates, and covering incentives, a skilled labour force, efficient transport links, suitable factory space, access to finance, and support for internationalisation.

The conference was sponsored by the Malta Chamber for Commerce, Industry and Enterprise, Finance Malta, Malta Enterprise and the Lotteries and Gaming Authority.