The title of this week's contribution is the title of a document published by the government last weekend in preparation for this year's budget. In fact, the subtitle of the document clearly states that this is a pre-budget document. However, it is not a document that looks simply at the year ahead of us but, rather, it is a document that looks at the next five years.

This in itself is a key message. With the major political issues having been resolved over the last years (the last one having been membership of the European Union), the country and, more so, the economy can no longer afford a change of direction with every change of government.

Stability is required. It is, therefore, a document that provides a vision for the next five years with the objective of achieving a consensus on this vision. This would enable economic operators to stop focusing exclusively on the short term but to look as well into the medium term and the long term. This is because the changes that our economy has to go through because of the evolving international business environment go beyond the normal economic cycle.

Another key message of the document is the use of a word that pervades throughout the document and is the fundamental issue in the concluding section of the document. The word I am referring to is "excellence". It is very evident that the business identity that the government wants to develop for this country is one based on excellence, generated by creative enterprise, fruitful investment opportunities and more and better jobs for a trained workforce.

Some might think that this is nothing more than the use of a cliché. It is, in effect, a natural continuation of policies adopted in the last 15 years. The transformation that our country underwent bears witness to this. However, it also answers those sceptics who exclaimed after Malta became a member of the European Union: "Now what?".

One section of the document deals with the recent developments in the Maltese economy. This section simply places the challenges the economy is currently facing into perspective. It is in the following section entitled Competitiveness: The Basis of our Strategy that the document picks up momentum. The competitiveness strategy is based on five pillars:

1) The mobilisation of investment by ensuring that scarce resources are not diverted away from productive investment in the econom;

2) The upgrading of the workforce skills through a series of initiatives related to, among others, language skills, use of ICT and the expansion of science and technology education;

3) The reinforcing of the entrepreneurial culture by removing unnecessary obstacles or costs to the business sector;

4) Ensuring flexible markets by putting to final rest the concept of job protectionism; and

5) Boosting of innovation.

Underlying this strategy is one key feature - the recognition that the role of the state is not to create wealth directly but to create the appropriate environment that is conducive to the creation of wealth.

The juicy parts of the document are in the fourth section which describes the budgetary thrusts for 2006 in support of the declared vision of excellence. The specific measures can never be announced before the budget is actually presented in Parliament.

On the other hand, the document lays down the seven fundamental principles on which the eventual budget measures will be based. In this regard one should be expecting some interesting changes as the public sector is made more accountable to deliver more efficiently and more effectively in order to contribute to economic growth, as we seek to attain a balanced position for public finances, and as the government seeks to accelerate the necessary reforms in the supply side of the economy by removing rigidities in the labour, product and capital markets.

The commitment to lifelong education, the protection of the environment and the provision of social services that realise the goal of social inclusiveness remain intact.

It is important to appreciate that the objective of this document is to inform civil society, as well as the social partners, what the government's priorities in the forthcoming budget are. It is an evolution of the process of consultation that had been started in the preparation of previous budgets. However, whereas before the consultation process took place exclusively within the Malta Council for Economic and Social Development, this is now being extended to engage all society.

I believe that the government is being very bold in taking this step, a boldness that reflects a conviction in one's capabilities.

It is hoped that the debate on this document goes beyond the usual political rhetoric or the scoring of brownie points and focuses on the key economic messages it contains. Maltese society deserves nothing less than this.