The world's leading economies continue to edge away from the recession, even if the recovery period is now known that it will be a longer grind than some had expected it to be. The depth of the international economic recession and the way it evolved had always left unanswered the question as to what kind of recovery we would have.

This has in turn led to two other unanswered question - what will the international economy be like once the recovery is in full swing and what will the individual components of the economy be like. These are very legitimate questions as any crisis brings with it the need to rethink certain concepts, both at a micro-economic level and at a macro-economic level.

In Malta's case (that is given its very small size and the fact that global companies are actually larger than our national economy) the distinction between micro and macro economic issues becomes blurred. The decisions taken at the level of the firm (at its global headquarters) shape our macro economic policies.

For example, the so called stimulus package adopted by government to counter the recession was very much targeted at specific companies. Its acceptance by companies operating in Malta and its resultant success has meant that we did not require a stimulus package that was as large as that of other countries.

This might give some the feeling that once the recovery in the world's leading economies becomes more robust, for us in Malta it will be business as usual. These persons would find it very comfortable to think that nothing will need changing and we can continue doing what we have done successfully in the last few years.

However, if we do agree that this latest economic crisis will force companies to discard their old way of doing things and to rethink their business model, then the assumption that it will be business as usual for the Maltese economy will prove to be totally incorrect. If there is someone out there who is still doubting whether companies will need to rethink their business model, they need only look at two examples - the automotive sector and the air transport sector.

The need for rethinking by companies will arise from a number of sources, such as different consumption habits, different consumer expectations, different attitudes, the increasing focus on the environment, stronger regulation, etc. Such rethinking will determine the investment decisions of firms and the clusters that are built around them. Within no time at all those investment decisions taken at the micro-economic level will start to have an impact on our economy, directly an indirectly, thereby affecting our macro-economic policies. Therefore the need for rethinking is imperative not only for companies, but also for national economies, especially a country like Malta.

The government had already launched the idea that we needed to rethink our economic model in line with what was happening in the international economy. We had essentially realised our political and economic vision through membership of the EU and this was then strengthened further by the adoption of the euro as our currency. There were many that kept constantly asking what should be Malta's role in the world economy, since it is a small economy with no natural resources but with some very significant assets. With time we all came to realise that economic activities for which Malta could have been a natural location, had started to move towards very definitely towards Asia and will continue to do so in the coming years.

Taking full cognisance of this, the government launched its Vision 2015, whereby it sought to identify new economic development opportunities based on Malta's unique assets towards higher value economic growth, job creation and wealth creation. There are still many who may not have as yet fallen in love with Vision 2015, probably because they still perceive it as something too abstract and too distant. I remember we had experienced something similar in 1995 with regard to EU membership. That mood had changed dramatically by the end of 1997. I believe that we could be going through this same process with Vision 2015.

Now government has extended this initiative to Vision 2015 and beyond, with a tag line "a path to a knowledge-based economy". The significance of the extension beyond 2015 should not be seen as cosmetic. It is vital because rethinking an economic model and implementing it is not a five year process but a lengthier one. Even though we started a liberalisation process of the economy 23 years ago, we still cannot claim that this process has been completed, as evidenced by a number of rigidities still present in our economy. Vision 2015 and beyond is necessary because our future economic well-being depends on it. We need to own it as a country by bringing it closer to our lives and by making it more tangible.