A citizenship and visa agency will be set up by the government next month to speed up the bureaucracy in that sector, often a source of complaint and frustration by potential investors, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said this afternoon.

Dr Muscat was addressing the annual business luncheon organised by the Chamber of Commerce.

Dr Muscat  stressed the government's willingness to allow the private sector to become involved in any sector where it would do a better job than the government.

The catchphrase he used during his speech, delivered off the cuff, was 'legislative agility'.

He said this was Malta's competitive advantage. However more had to be done to make Malta the immediate investment destination which potential investors thought of.  

"Once they know what Malta has to offer, we are in a great position because we have a killer proposition," the prime minister said.

In his speech Chamber president David Curmi spoke about the need to balance deficit cutting with economic growth and said that while structural reform was enough for the long term, more was needed in the shorter term, the main priority beign to ensure competitiveness, the be-all and end-all of the issues at stake.