Grech: Greening town centres a must to improve quality of life and attract foreign investment

The government must live up to its general election promise and carry out the much-needed investment in the environment, Bernard Grech has told a conference on Malta's investor attractiveness.

The Opposition leader said creating new unique selling propositions to attract foreign direct investment to Malta is a must. He was speaking at the Malta Future Realised Conference, organised by EY, a consultancy and audit firm.

Grech suggested that one of these unique selling propositions should focus on “truly creating green lungs in every locality in Malta and Gozo,” urging the government to move forward on its electoral promise to invest €700 million over seven years in the creation of public open spaces in town centres.

Grech also suggested the creation of diversified tax incentives, re-engineering and transforming our higher-level education model, and re-inventing Malta’s economic system to focus on a low-volume, high-margin model.

Focusing on industries that create quality jobs and deliver high-value contributions to our GDP, is the most important element Grech added.

“We all know the challenges. We all know what things negatively impact the quality of life in Malta. The healing must start and start fast as time is of the essence,” he said.

The Nationalist Party has the political will and is well equipped to contribute and deliver value, concluded Grech. Still, at present, the key to Malta’s future and success is in the government's hands., he noted. “It is up to the government to acknowledge that only a genuinely collective effort will translate to increased quality, improved productivity, reduced cost, and reduced time to market.”