Malta’s priority remained to reduce its deficit to under three per cent and being complacent was the worst mistake the country could do, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said this morning.

Opening the third annual conference of FinanceMalta, Dr Gonzi said Malta’s financial system came out of the global turmoil caused by the recession relatively unscathed thanks to a robust and stringent framework and law.

The sector, he said, handled billions of euros and at present employed 7,000 people. Statistics spoke for themselves and the country was on the right track to reach its goals and ambitions.

The sector continued to grow even in 2009 and the aim was for its contribution to hte GDP, which in 2009 was 12 per cent, to double to 25 per cent in 2015.

Whilst in the past Malta’s small size was a disadvantage, it was now an advantage. The country had an economy where the government could sit down with companies, discuss their financial troubles and offer tailor-made solutions.

Malta, Dr Gonzi said, was one of two EU countries that reduced their deficit in 2009. But reducing it to under three per cent remained a priority.

Education and human resources was the key to Malta reaching its 2015 vision in all seven sectors where the government wanted Malta to be a centre of excellence.

Malta, the Prime Minister said, had a very low female participation rate. The country had a pool of human resources who needed to be invested in and incentivised to work because there was a career involved.

FinanceMalta chairman Kenneth Farrugia said that last year had been a challenging one for the sector but positive times were emerging. The world economy was on the path to recovery but it was still very sluggish.

He said that last year there had been an increase in the number of international banks and 105 new authorised funds, an increase of 25 per cent. A total of 20 investment service licences were granted, making a 50 per cent growth over the past four years. This was very positive considering that the financial sector in other countries had shrunk.

Mr Farrugia said that human resources always remained a challenge. He called for more visibility of financial services with students when they came to choose their preferred subjects in secondary school.

He also said that the vocational training programmes and degrees related to financial sector needed to be aligned with the needs of the industry.