Most of the companies being set up should be able to start operations within a week rather than the present average of three weeks, Parliament was told yesterday.
Chris Cardona, Minister for the Economy, Investment and Small Business, said the government was striving to make that possible.
Concluding the debate on his ministry’s budget, Dr Cardona said prospects for the manufacturing industry were improving. Salaries had increased and lower utility bill rates helped industry. Business First assisted 700 self-employed and 1,100 businesses received €8.8 million in direct benefits.
Referring to the €11 million granted by Malta Enterprise to TRC Entertainment under the previous administration, he said he suspected the former finance minister was ill-informed on the due diligence exercise and on the evolving situation regarding TRC.
Opposition economy spokesman Claudio Grech said the continuity in the country’s broad economic direction and policies was contributing to the positive scenario. He referred to the need for diversification in view of the heavy dependence on financial services, the improvement registered in terms of new companies setting up shop here and flourishing, bottlenecks in access to finance and labour supply challenges.
Malta should open its doors to the talented and not only the rich, Mr Grech said.
Malta dropped seven places in the competitiveness index, Kristy Debono (PN) said, adding that the rhythm Malta had set in research and innovation seemed to have stalled.
Robert Arrigo (PN) said the IIP scheme was riling businessmen since they saw new citizens normally coming from countries where check-ups were difficult to conduct. Competitiveness and Economic Growth Parliamentary Secretary, José Herrera said that while the foundations were good, the necessary changes had yielded results.
Mobile phone penetration stood at 130 per cent and the broadband service had to be upgraded. Maltese industry was entering the online shopping world.
Dr Herrera said the Gaming Authority was being restructured to ensure its services remained up to date. It had to remain agile in a rapidly evolving sector while consolidating its social responsibility. In this regard, a nationwide educational campaign had been launched, Silvio Schembri (PL) said. A helpline had been set up for people with gambling problems.
Charles Mangion (PL) also took part in the debate.
Budget that serves the economy
This year’s budget was a tool to develop the potential of Malta’s economy by tackling energy, improving human resources and reducing bureaucracy, Finance Minister Edward Scicluna said in Parliament.
During the debate on his ministry’s budget, he said the government was controlling public expenditure. It was not targeting a budget surplus yet but taking a growth-friendly, consolidation approach.
There was scope for increased efficiencies in the public sector where industrial relations presented certain challenges, he said.
Mario de Marco (PN) said the Opposition considered the budget’s goals to be economic growth, improvement of the citizens’ condition and the safeguarding of future generations. This year’s budget had failed on the last two.
The strong foundations laid by the previous administrations resulted in a consistently faster growth rate than the EU average for the past eight years, he said.
Since March 2013, recurrent expenditure had increased by 22 per cent compared to the 11 per cent of the previous administration. The government, said Dr de Marco, has been borrowing €500,000 daily.
This budget’s biggest weakness was the lack of vision for the renewal of the economy making the best of the emerging economic and social realities.