The strategy for our economy for the coming years is now fairly well mapped out. The certainty of EU membership, and the opportunities that such membership brings, together with the full awareness that long-term sustainable economic growth can only happen if we manage to position ourselves as a centre for international business, are the basic ingredients of this strategy.

On their own, like ingredients in a food recipe, they do not mean much. Blended together, they provide us with a clear guideline for our path to economic prosperity.

In fact, an important point of discussion is whether Malta is in Europe but on the periphery of Europe, or is it in Europe but serving as a bridge with north Africa, or is it an integral part of Europe and that is it. The discussion may seem to be academic because we should no longer be questioning whether Malta is to become a member of the European Union or not - this is now a given variable, even if it still has to sink in for some people.

In effect it is not as academic as one may think because although it is now an accepted fact that our country is a member of the European Union, and as such, our economy shall continue to become integrated with the rest of the EU even more than it is now, the way we position ourselves shall have an impact on whether we shall exploit fully the opportunities that EU membership presents.

That Malta is on the periphery of Europe is an undisputable fact. The geography says it - we are the southernmost member of the EU and we shall continue to be so as anything further south becomes Africa. However, this does not mean that we should be considered as frontier land (to borrow a Disneyworld term).

The present 15 member states of the EU want us as members also because we are on the periphery and it would be far better for them to have Malta as part of the EU than outside it.

Staying outside the EU would have meant Malta being relegated to no man's land status with all the problems that such a status could bring.

Taking on the status of frontier land would mean that we would end up not being an integral part of the decision-making process and the benefits that would accrue to us would be minimal, just enough to keep us afloat; but certainly not enough to prosper. Up to a certain extent, this is what happened to Ireland and to Scotland during the first years of EU membership. However, being on the periphery could also mean that we are the stepping stone to the European market.

This suddenly changes the whole perspective because a stepping stone can never be too far away from the centre of the decision-making process or else it loses its steadiness.

Again the examples of Ireland and Scotland are important in this regard. They became significant centres for international business the minute they positioned themselves as important stepping stones for US and Japanese companies.

So, yes, we are on the periphery, but as an important stepping stone that is well connected to the centre of Europe. This makes us attractive to foreign investors as business needs such stepping stones.

Does this mean that we cannot be a bridge between the rest of Europe and north Africa? One may claim that if we are part of the EU, how can we serve as bridge with north Africa? This point about the bridge in the Mediterranean is no new concept, and in effect we never wanted to recognise a basic fact of life - namely that a number of European countries did not need a bridge to north Africa because they already had their well-established connections.

Moreover the north African countries were not interested in using Malta as a bridge to get into Europe as they wanted to deal directly with the main European economies and not with a country that, in reality, had little to offer them.

On the other hand, a bridge needs a strong anchor for it to be steady and EU membership provides us with this anchor. We have clout with the north African countries because we are now members of the EU, and the fact that the geography places us as the southernmost member of the EU means that we are the ones who are best placed to reach out to the southern part of the Mediterranean sea.

This means that our EU membership has transformed our peripheral location from the status of frontier land to the status of a steady stepping stone and of an effective bridge.

All this implies that Malta's strategic location can bring about a number of economic advantages - not if we harp on seemingly romantic notions that may have been in vogue 30 years ago, but if we manage to prove that our being an integral part of the EU makes us the natural home base for business in the Mediterranean region.