Malta lacks ‘powerful sense of what it’s about’ says former Blair enforcer

Alastair Campbell on Malta's attractiveness • Video by Ray Attard

What does Malta stand for? This is the question that government and businesses together should be working on if the island wants to increase its attractiveness to foreign investors, according to former British Prime Minister’s spokesman and director of communications, Alastair Campbell.

“Malta doesn’t have a bad image at all but it doesn’t have that powerful sense of what it is about,” the former Blair enforcer told MaltaToday.

Campbell, known for his political acumen that secured three consecutive electoral victories for Tony Blair, is in Malta for a conference organised by top accountancy firm EY marking the 10th edition of its Malta attractiveness survey.

Still active in politics in Britain and overseas, he now splits his time between writing, speaking, charitable fundraising, consultancy and campaigns – Campbell’s personal website says.

During the conference, Campbell will be talking about the importance of an overall image and brand to small countries like Malta that have to fight much harder to be heard to be seen and to be listened to.

Out came the two most ‘popular words’ about Malta when asked what were the first things that came to his mind about the island: “sunshine and the European Union”.

“Probably the first word I would think of as a European is European Union… so now it is probably between sunshine and the EU,” he said, quipping that the first time he came to Malta the weather was “absolutely dreadful”.

Campbell’s first visit to Malta was in 1989, as a journalist covering the Bush and Gorbachev summit. This, he added, was most probably the most powerful memory of Malta he had, highlighting how personal experiences determined one’s image of a country.

Explaining that an image and a brand should make a country to stand out from the rest, Campbell said most countries, just by hearing the name, elicit the same sense of it worldwide.

“If I say China, Russia, Britain or France and we all write down what we think of them, we would find that the impressions would be similar. Malta doesn’t have a bad image at all, but it doesn’t have that powerful sense of what it’s about.”

Campbell said the government and businesses had to ask themselves what they want people to think about Malta. “Is it tourism, a nice place to live in, the weather or the welcoming factor?”

Having already read the EY Malta attractiveness survey, Campbell opined that Malta’s fundamentals are very strong, the government seems to be doing well and economic numbers are good.

But that message, he insisted, needs to be out there more than it is now. According to Campbell, that message can only be delivered if everybody signed up to the same basic sense of what the country is trying to communicate as a country.

“That doesn’t have to be a political thing… it doesn’t have to about Labour or Nationalists. Businesses can support government in trying to projecting a sense of Malta as being a good place to work and do business.”

He suggested that foreign companies located in Malta, and which are committed to stay on, could be part of the campaign – “like an ambassadorial role”.

“In what has become an incredibly competitive and globalised economy, what people around the world think when they hear the name of a country or city really matters,” Campbell insisted.

So what is the key to remaining attractive?

“I think stability, training and education. Business should also have the understanding that if they come to Malta they will be taken seriously, that they will be listened to and be able to communicate what they’re trying to do to the government.

“[Businesses] want support for capital investment and I think they also do want a sense of this being a nice place to live in and to be based in. They also want to know that the country has the workforce. [Malta] does have all of these things and you could be out there with that message much more aggressive than you are.”

Asked which economic sector Malta should be concentrating on, Campbell candidly admitted he didn’t have the answer to that question. He however recognised that whether it is tourism, the gaming industry or manufacturing, a lot of changes were underway.

Featuring Malta’s top decision-makers in the public and private sectors and high-profile international speakers, ‘50 years of FDI – Looking forward’ will focus on foreign direct investment in Malta, how the scenario has changed over the years and future prospects.

For over a decade the annual EY survey has been a watershed, widely recognised by business leaders, the media and major public stakeholders as a key source of insights into FDI in Malta.

The conference, with a line-up of over 50 speakers, includes Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, Opposition leader Simon Busuttil and Poland’s former prime minister Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz.