The Individual Investment Programme (IIP) announced by the Government elicited a number of comments, some favourable, and some, like those from the Opposition, rather critical.
The Opposition opines that the programme is not an investment programme but a cash deal in return for Maltese citizenship, along the lines that some Caribbean and other countries offer. In brief, if a foreigner pays €650,000, he or she would be considered for Maltese citizenship and all the advantages and obligations that this brings with it.
It is important to emphasise that this status, in addition to including such advantages afforded to the Maltese in the country itself, would also give the individuals concerned access to the European Union facilities and institutions.
This European element is certainly bound to be the most attractive card of the programme, be it for business purposes or political reasons.
This is not an original proposal by any means. Other countries, to mention some of these in Europe like Spain, Portugal, and Austria, that are, like Malta, part of the Schengen agreement, and Cyprus and Ireland (non-Schengen), also offer some kind of incentive to attract rich foreigners to their countries. Of course the Schengen countries sometimes restrict access to other Schengen areas.
However, most of these countries require some sort of investment to make applicants eligible for permanent residency or citizenship. This is not necessary, so far, in the Malta programme, and appears to be the main criticism of the IIP.
It is still too early to gauge whether the Maltese incentive will be successful and from which countries most of these potential applicants will come. Based on the experience of other countries, one could expect that there would be some candidates from the Middle East, Russia and China.
As regards the quotation from Shakespeare in the title, one thing is clear, namely that the horse in exchange for the kingdom has to be a golden horse!
Malta always has been a source of interest with foreigners. In my experience abroad, whenever I mentioned Malta either in the context of an invitation to hold a meeting there or simply to visit the country, the response was always more than enthusiastic.
Malta always has been a source of interest with foreigners
On the other hand, sometimes I did not need to bring up the subject of Malta myself because I was approached many times by colleagues and by people I did not know asking for information on the island.
Therefore, both in my personal capacity and officially when representing Malta, I made various proposals to attract people of means to our islands. A few of these people managed to settle in Malta and Gozo, even when there were no special incentives to attract them.
One proposal was for Malta to follow the practice of Austria, Sweden, Hungary and Spain in Europe and other countries outside Europe like Tunisia, India, Thailand, Chile and Singapore, and exempt retirees from the United Nations and its Specialised Agencies from paying taxes on their pensions if they settle down in Malta and Gozo.
Other countries in Europe such as Luxembourg, Italy, Finland, Germany, Norway and Poland also offer some form of tax benefits on such pensions.
Eighteen international organisations form part of the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund (UNJSPF), including the United Nations, WHO, ILO and Unesco. Staff members of these organisations receive pensions that often prevent them from settling down comfortably in New York, Geneva and Paris because of the high cost of living.
Some of these staff members after years in international organisations do not return home to their countries but look for alternative places to retire.
For this reason the countries mentioned above try to attract these people who buy homes and bring their savings to the new countries of their retirement.
Such an incentive could supplement well the IIP and would not require promises of any citizenship outside of the normal laws of the country.
Also few know that such people would not be a burden on the Maltese social security system since they would carry their own UN or agency medical insurance.
The corps of retirees from international organisations is a viable market that has been exploited by, among others, the countries referred to above.
Usually these individuals integrate well in the economic and social sectors of the new countries and supply a source of unique international experience that may contribute to the advance of the receiving countries.
Malta might wish to look into exploiting this market.