Interesting research projects proposed to the University often fall by the wayside because of insufficient funds, according to Anton Bartolo, who heads a knowledge transfer service within the University of Malta.

Shortage of funds was one of the main challenges faced by the University when it came to embarking on collaborative research with industry, Dr Bartolo said.

He maintained that although Malta Enterprise had a research and development funding programme, it did not encourage enough collaboration with the University.

Dr Bartolo was speaking during a conference that looked into the challenges and opportunities for Malta offered through the Europe 2020 strategy adopted by the European Council a few weeks ago.

The strategy sets five main objects for the EU to move towards a smart, sustainable and inclusive economy by 2020. One of the goals aims to invest three per cent of the EU's gross domestic product (GDP) in research and development.

"Malta will not reach the goal by justifying its investment of under one per cent of the GDP," Dr Bartolo said during the conference organised by the Malta Chamber of Commerce, the Malta-EU Steering and Action Committee and the European Commission representation in Malta.

Dr Bartolo said University needed to work more closely with the business community to address a mismatch in terms of the expertise required.

One of the problems was that large industries were often subsidiaries of companies based abroad. When it came to local companies, research and development was still not a priority for many.

Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said the global economic crisis reinforced the need for an EU strategy.

He said Europe 2020's goals echoed those listed in the Vision 2015 campaign launched by the government three years ago. Both were economic strategies that focused on sustainable growth and job creation.

The string of investments announced over the past weeks were "no coincidence" and were testimony to government's commitment to achieving these goals, Dr Gonzi said.

EU Commissioner for Health and Consumer Affairs, John Dalli, praised the 2020 strategy for being "sensitive to different departing positions of member states". He highlighted that health and consumer policy played an important role in achieving the goals agreed on by member states.