Over the past days, our Prime Minister used the word surprise twice. First he told us not to expect any surprises in the upcoming Budget. Then, earlier on this week, during a meeting with hoteliers, our Prime Minister was reported as saying that he was surprised by the positive impact of the National Aquarium project in Qawra.

There is a link between the two statements, a fine and perhaps transparent link that ought to be pointed out.

Over the past five years, foreign direct investment into Malta more than doubled. Most of this investment happened within the financial services sector, generating high-end jobs and adding substantial value to our economy.

The influx of new investment, coupled with the Government’s strategy to attract new business to Malta, created wealth and jobs.

This happened against an international economic background that was anything but good.

The previous government’s economic strategy was repeatedly singled out as a high performer on the European platform.

While most of our partners were presenting austere budgets, we presented budgets that contained surprising elements such as tax cuts, higher investment in education, culture, medical care and social services.

Whereas most of our southern European neighbours were struggling to keep their economies afloat, ours sailed on through some of the roughest economic storms. Some of our European partners were baffled and, yes, surprised.

We, on the other hand, were not surprised because our actions were executed in accordance with our plans to safeguard jobs and the well-being of our nation.

We invested heavily to sustain crucial economic activities such as tourism. We invested heavily in education to ensure that our workforce is properly geared to meet new opportunities.

We acted swiftly and tried, with a measure of success, to stay ahead of the game.

We helped industries not by subsidising waste or inefficiencies but by encouraging investment in cost control and higher efficiency.

We did this by maximising the use of EU funds through initiatives such as the tourism grant scheme, aimed at promoting innovation and improved competitiveness among tourism operators, or the solar panel scheme for commercial enterprises aimed at helping industry reduce its energy bills while, at the same time, creating green jobs.

We are witnessing so far a total lack of economic vision

The present Government has put these schemes at risk.

In the case of the tourism grant scheme, the Minister of Tourism has admitted in Parliament that the adjudication of the projects is behind schedule.

In the case of the solar panel scheme, we were told that the call made in summer, offering €5 million in EU funding to industry, was halted “for technical grounds”.

I am sure that these announcements came as a surprise to those who were waiting to invest in these schemes. The schemes promoted investment aimed at creating new jobs or sustaining existing ones.

The Government was so taken up in playing its blatant musical chairs game that it put this investment in jobs, sustainability and improved competitiveness at risk.

We are witnessing so far a total lack of economic vision in the now not-so-new Government.

The enterprising spirit is yet to be seen.

There are concerns that something is amiss and, regrettably, nobody is surprised when unemployment statistics are released showing a 9.5 per cent increase in the number of people registering for work in the month of July.

Exports are also down by 12 per cent.

It may still be too early to sound the alarm but, as a country, we cannot afford to let these early warning signs go unnoticed.

The economy, albeit one of the better performing ones in the EU so far, is starting to crackle and churn.

This is not the agitation of an economy that is being kick-started but, rather, of an economy that is starting to run out of fuel. The death blow will come if the Government, pressed by the European Union, goes into cutback mode.

The key to growth is in investment. This is why the previous government invested in projects such as the Malta National Aquarium. This is why we are not surprised by its positive outcome.

We championed this project and other projects, such as those underway at Fort St Angelo and Fort St Elmo, because we saw in them a huge opportunity for urban regeneration. We saw in them an opportunity for creating new jobs.

Industry is justified in asking: where is this vision now? Where are we heading over the next five years? When will this Government stop administering and start governing? When will it stop being a reproduction artist and come up with something original?

Our economy needs surprises. It needs a constant flow of new ideas and impetus. If not, we will be getting the kind of surprises that we do not wish to get: job losses and loss of business.

Mario de Marco is Nationalist Party deputy leader for parliamentary affairs.