An ‘open Malta’ must stamp out corruption to attract business – Busuttil

Simon Busuttil reiterates full support to government at EU level in defending Malta’s turf on tax harmonisation but urges government to prepare 'a Plan B'

Opposition leader Simon Busuttil
Opposition leader Simon Busuttil

Malta needed to stamp out corruption if it wants to be really open for business, according to Opposition leader Simon Busuttil.

Addressing the EY attractiveness survey, the PN leader said it was important for Malta to manage its reputational risks.

“Malta has painstakingly built a solid reputation over a quarter of a century. We cannot lose this because of poor governance. We need to stamp out corruption because this is not just bad for business but also for our country’s reputation,” he said.

“Being ‘open for business’ also needs a level playing field for all, where there are no businesses that are more privileged than the rest.”

The PN will announce a good governance package before end of year.

Busuttil urged the government to seriously tackle the problem of internal mobility resulting from severe traffic congestion.

“Traffic may well be the result of our economic success. But if we don’t do something about it now, it risks becoming a potential hazard to our economy sooner than we might think,” he said.

Busuttil said paying for transport for children who go to Church schools and Independent schools would affect some 25,000 schoolchildren and has the potential of reducing thousands of private cars off our roads each morning.

“It would cost a fraction of the €30 million that we are now spending on public transport,” he said.

Over the past 11 years, Busuttil said, the economy had changed radically – “a true root-and-branch-overhaul” – and Malta was now reaping the fruit of clear vision but also the fruit of a tough endurance test.

“I welcome the fact that the current administration has kept the economy moving in the same direction as the previous one and this should serve us a lesson: that political convergence on major national issues are hugely beneficial to our economy and our society.”

The PN leader warned there was no room for complacency.

Becoming the first party in Opposition to do so, the PN recently launched a pre-budget document. He said, the party’s financial and economic team – led by PN deputy leader Mario de Marco – proposed a number of ideas and alternatives.

“We did so well before the end of our electoral cycle because I do not believe that good ideas should be kept in your pocket. You should share them immediately, even if they might attract criticism - but that’s good because it makes for a healthier debate,” he said.

Busuttil is a “firm believer” that parties competing for power should be open about their plans for the future.

Turning to the economy, Busuttil said there was no doubt that the economy was continuing to register steady growth.

“That’s good and I welcome that. But I want growth to be sustainable and not fuelled by practices that are unsustainable, because this could become a major headache when the going gets tough,” he said.

The PN leader said GDP growth was being fuelled by a higher than normal Government expenditure. “I would prefer the Government to unleash the potential of the private sector to the full rather than play itself such an active role in the economy through greater public expenditure.”

While unemployment was going down, “the 25-year-long trend of decreasing the head-count in the public has been reversed.”

 Government, he said, has increased its own workforce by more than the manufacturing, transportation, wholesale, retail, financial services, construction, accommodation and food services put together.

“Taxpayers who have to foot an additional bill of no less than €100 million on public service salaries alone. And that’s quite apart from the fact that when the Government adds so many workers to the public sector, it is also reducing the pool of workers available to the private sector, thereby fuelling artificial pressures on wages that can be avoided.”

He said he would spent kind of money differently; on infrastructure, on investment incentives for new economic niches, on education, on training and re-training of workers and on renewable energy programmes.

Busuttil reiterated that the government was buying cheaper electricity thanks to the investment in the BWSC power station and interconnector.

On tax harmonization, Busuttil reiterated his full support to government at EU level in defending Malta’s turn: “But even as we do so, we cannot live in denial and we must therefore have a Plan B, for the longer term, which starts to wean off our economy from its reliance on advantageous tax regimes.”