At the Round Table conference with the theme 'Competition - situation in Malta', jointly organised by Parliamentary Secretary Edwin Vassallo and the Economics Department of the University of Malta, FOI director general Wilfred Kenely emphasised that the economy's resources should have a stronger focus on new policies for education and training, research and development, innovation and new technologies, clustering and venture capital, among others.

Although progress has been registered in these areas, there still remains a lot more to be done. Mr Kenely then referred to the promised reform in the ports, which did not lead to the required results, as well as the liberalisation in the fuels market, which has still not taken place.

These delays inevitably continue to put pressure on industry as a consumer of both services.

Mr Kenely's intervention also stressed that the country's financial resources must be channelled to where they are truly needed. Reforms on government spending are therefore required, particularly in areas like subsidies, education, health, pensions and public entities, not to mention the inefficiencies that have burdened the Maltese population over the years, especially those related to the public sector in general and even more in situations where public entities benefit from a monopolistic status.

Government expenditure should be linked to results achieved, rather than using resources that can be allocated to the improvement of the economy's competitiveness and flexibility, in addition to the increase in productivity.