Malta may have stepped up its initiatives in research and development but it could do much more to have a thriving economy based on this sector, according to the EU Commissioner for Science and Research Janez Potocnik.
"Countries with a high level of investment in research and development (R&D) are the ones that prosper in our interconnected, global and competitive world," he said in an interview in Brussels ahead of a two-day fact-finding mission to Malta, which started yesterday.
The Slovenian commissioner said R&D could be the key to unblocking the economic crisis and Malta, like other EU member states, could tap into this sector to secure its economic future.
He pointed to the US and Finland, which took the bold and strategic decision to invest massively in different high-tech sectors. It was a wise decision, because a few years later they were among the champions of the information and communication technology revolution and still highly competitive despite the economic downturn.
The EU attaches a lot of importance to R&D and in 2000 its leaders agreed on the Lisbon Strategy for growth and jobs, focusing specifically on this sector. They even set out a precise target saying that by 2010 an average of three per cent of EU gross domestic product had to be invested in research.
Although it was unlikely the EU would reach its own targets by the end of next year, Mr Potocnik still felt this was a success. "This target has been a strong incentive for member states to increase investments in R&D. Today, the European challenge is to build a sustainable economy based on knowledge and environment-friendly technologies," he said.
"R&D is obviously part of the solution and Malta must use its skills and its assets to contribute to this effort," he added.
Malta is still very far away from reaching the EU target and is among the member states with the lowest investment in this sector. This is not only attributed to public investment but also to low levels of private input.
According to the latest EU figures, in 2007 Malta's investment in R&D reached just 0.54 per cent of GDP and the government has set a target aiming at a minimum 0.75 per cent by next year.
Asked to assess Malta's progress, Mr Potocnik said the island clearly had to do more because its "research intensity" remained one of the lowest in Europe. This had to be put in perspective, he said, since the economic structure of the countries had to be taken into account.
"However, Malta should and could do better. The government knows it too, having established its own national target of 0.75 per cent of GDP by 2010," he said.
Over the last few years, Malta implemented several initiatives to support greater involvement by universities, SMEs or research organisations. Incentives directed towards the private sector were particularly important because Malta was suffering from having too few businesses involved in research, he said, and this was a real barrier to new innovation, development and growth.
Mr Potocnik acknowledged that these targets may be out of sync since the EU was passing through one of its worst economic recessions but said that, despite the downturn, the EU was providing all the assistance it could.
"I know this may seem like we are putting a lot of pressure on member states, many of which are struggling economically at the moment, but they are not alone," he stressed.
The Commission developed a number of programmes to help member states in their endeavours. In the research area, the framework programme for R&D (FP7) with a budget of about €54 billion for the 2007-2013 period, the cohesion and structural funds and other intergovernmental programmes all provide substantial financial and technical support to Maltese regions, universities, researchers and companies.
Although the Commission believed good work was being done through Malta's participation in EU projects, notably in the spheres of ICT, sustainable development, social sciences or support to small and medium enterprises, Malta could also take some extra measures, he said. One move that could be advantageous for Malta could be to further open its research system, which would attract talent from all over Europe and, in turn, make the country more attractive for private R&D investment.
"At the end of the day, it's about making Malta more competitive globally and research can help," he said.