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The dawning of a New Year is a time for resolutions. It is a time when targets are set and hopefully reached throughout the year. It is the time when we all look forward to reaching set goals. .
We believe that the top priorities for Malta in 2005 are: the revival of the economy; reaching an agreement on the social pact; and exploiting all the opportunities offered to us as a country following our admission into the European Union.
We realise this is a tall order. But we are more than conscious that if these goals are not achieved there is the serious risk that our citizens will register a lowering of their standard of living and the country will not keep abreast with the progress being achieved in the other new members of the Union.
Dr Lawrence Gonzi and the two main unions, the GWU and the UHM should put their shoulders to the wheel to try yet again to achieve consensus on a social pact. Social harmony and lack of confrontation is the very foundation for achieving economic revival. There can be little progress unless all the social partners start seeing the big picture.
Self-interest and the protection of ones own turf will only lead to further confrontation. This agreement can only all be achieved in a spirit where all and most especially the government realise that they all have to give a bit in order to achieve much more in the collective and national interest.
This will involve a proper use of the consultation process and a full appreciation of the dangers of one acting unilaterally.
Dr Gonzi’s unilateral decisions on the holiday’s regime is an example of the dangers of acting unilaterally. It has destabilised a good government/union working relationship.
Revival of the economy is intimately connected to winning foreign investment and the confidence of Maltese entrepreneurs. These can only be achieved by making the country competitive and attractive to the foreign investor. Intrinsically this is linked to making services in Malta more efficient, less bureaucratic and cheaper.
It is all but obvious that there is presently a mere trickle of foreign investment, and without it we face a strain on our economy.
Achieving competitiveness calls on the Prime Minister to reduce government expenditure ensure that government induced costs are further pruned. Most especially it is necessary that a lot of the working practices prevalent in our country for donkeys years are modified. It is in this respect that the unions have much soul searching to do. Many of the working practices that they protect tooth and nail are rendering not only our country non-competitive but are directly endangering the jobs of their very own members.
The European goal of increasing job opportunities throughout the Union needs to be followed in Malta too.
Dr Lawrence Gonzi will also be judged on his capacity to control unemployment. Gone are the days when government has the magic wand to create jobs. Government’s role in this respect must be to create an environment which encourages the private sector to expand. It must create the incentives in this sector to grow. It must also encourage the private sector to absorb excess labour from the public sector. A reduction of the manning levels from the public to the private sector will directly serve to revive the economy.
The opportunities looking us in the face from Europe must be grabbed and exploited and the permanent representatives in Brussels has a great responsibility in gauging these opportunities. Much of the enthusiasm for joining Europe was directly linked to the new opportunities it will create for our country. They are there for the taking but one must work for them .We must bear in mind that many of the new members are also trying to exploit these opportunities. There must be more awareness from the private sector and more information from government circles on how best this can all be achieved. The challenge facing our country is its modernisation and its Europeanisation.
Much of the present discontent is directly linked to people still not feeling the benefits of EU membership and indeed associating all the hard measures being taken as direct diktat from Europe. A modernisation process is something our country cannot afford not to carry out.
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