The European Commission is acknowledging that Malta is on the right track to improve its industrial competitiveness, Economy Minister Chris Cardona said in his initial reaction to the European Commission’s Industry Competitiveness Report for 2014.

He shared the optimism shown by the European Commission with regards to the positive effects that measures introduced by government to boost business in Malta were leaving on the sector.

The report places Malta as ‘a leader in export performance’. It also acknowledges that Malta ‘has performed well on access to finance in particular for SMEs’. The upgrade and maintenance of business parks, the government’s commitment towards more research and development and Malta Enterprise schemes to boost business potential were other aspects positively mentioned in the report.

Dr Cardona acknowledged that there were well known long term problems that hindered the competitiveness of industry in Malta.  However, the fact that the European Commission acknowledged the government’s efforts to overcome such hindrances was very positive and gives credit to such initiatives, he said.

The minister expressed his agreement with Commissioner Nelli Feroci that although European Union states, including Malta, made serious efforts to improve industrial competitiveness, there was still a lot to be done.

He said the government was aware of the challenges and concerns of industry and would continue to invest its energy towards improving competitiveness and meet demands.