|
Indicator |
Ranking 2013-2014 |
Ranking 2014-2015 |
Change |
|
Health and primary education |
15 |
20 |
-5 |
|
Quality of primary education |
9 |
12 |
-3 |
|
Quality of education system |
8 |
16 |
-8 |
|
Technological readiness |
16 |
21 |
-5 |
|
Financial market development |
34 |
36 |
-2 |
PN spokeswoman Kristy Debono said there was no sense in the argument by Finance Minister Edward Scicluna that Malta's ranking had gone down because Malta did very well last year. A serious government always aimed to further improve results.
Dr Debono urged the government to take the results seriously and to ensure that Malta was a competitive investment destination.
GOVERNMENT: PN LACKS CREDIBILITY
In a reaction, the Ministry for Economic Affairs said the PN statement lacked credibility as it left out the fact that according to Eurostat, the Maltese economy was the fastest growing in the EU .
As for the World Economic Forum index, Malta placed 47th out of 144 countries, following substantial progress in 2013. Malta was still ahead of Italy, Hungary and Slovenia.
The ministry said the government intended to roll out new initiatives to help business, reduce bureaucracy and improve competitiveness. That included reducing utility tariffs for businesses by a quarter.
The ministry also pointed out that in the first six months of this year, Malta Enterprise approved 17 foreign investment projects.