A citizenship and visa agency will be set up by the Government next month to speed up processing of applications, which is often a source of complaint and frustration for potential investors, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said yesterday.
Dr Muscat was addressing the annual business luncheon organised by the Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry – an annual appointment which gives the business community the chance to hear the Government’s views on the economy.
This year’s luncheon was the first with the new Prime Minister and was “sold out” two weeks ago, Chamber president David Curmi said.
Dr Muscat stressed the Government’s willingness to allow the private sector to become involved in any sector where it would do a better job, including the utilities sector.
The catchphrase he used during his speech, delivered off the cuff, was “legislative agility”. He said this was Malta’s competitive advantage. However, he stressed that more had to be done to make the country the immediate investment destination which potential investors thought of.
“Once they know what Malta has to offer, we are in a great position because we have a killer product,” the Prime Minister said.
Mr Curmi spoke about the need to balance deficit cutting with economic growth and said that while structural reform was enough for the long term, more was needed in the shorter term, the main priority being to ensure competitiveness, which he described as “the be-all and end-all” of the issues at stake.
“The Government needs to tackle issues which are a bottleneck to growth. There are decisions that need to be taken now. We cannot afford to waste any more time,” he said.
The Chamber is setting up a think tank of businessmen and council members which would be responsible for drawing up a five-year strategic plan by October. The think tank would act as the point of reference for dialogue with the Government, he said.
He said businessmen were cautiously optimistic about the future, saying they were aware that the environment around Malta was bleak and not inspiring. However, they wanted to stress that they were willing to do their part to help the economy grow.
“This is the message we would like you to take: give us the right environment to grow and prosper and let us do the rest,” he said.
And this is exactly what the Prime Minister promised in his reply, saying that the involvement of the private sector was not a luxury but a necessity.
“However, I would urge you to consider strategic partnerships. In our tribal community, we need consolidation – perhaps not of companies but of partnerships for closer collaboration, working together to come out with a more holistic product,” he said.