PN pledges new economic niches for Malta's youth in the wake of negative EU wellbeing report

The Partit Nazzjonalista (PN) has has expressed concern at the findings of a recent study which reported that young people in Malta had been ranked the least happy in the EU, criticising the governing Labour Party for failing to add any new sectors to Malta's national economy.

The Wellbeing of Children and Young People in Malta report published on Wednesday found that under-30s in Malta are the unhappiest in the European Union. The scores for that demographic puts Malta at 57th  in the world, behind every other EU state.

The publication of that study was preceded by other grim statistics which indicated that two out of every three youths wanted to seek a better future abroad.

The PN said that its concern was magnified by what it described as inaction on the part of Robert Abela’s government to provide the age group with more enticing local prospects.

“It would have been better had the Labour government, in 11 years, created at least one new economic niche that caters for today’s world. Instead, the Labour government preferred to import foreign workers and continue to chip away at the salaries of Maltese workers.”

Harking back to its time in government, the opposition Nationalist party pointed out that it had introduced new local industries to the economy, in particular the pharmaceuticals, gaming and maritime sectors.

The party promised that it would create ten new economic sectors, if elected, by investing in currently untapped economic niches such as the metaverse, robotics, 3D printing, AI, e-sports and video game production.

“Our young people want to have a cleaner environment, to live in a safe country and in a country which has not been seized by corruption. Areas where, over the past 11 years, the Labour government has failed…” said the PN.

The statement, which was signed by Bernice Bonello, Shadow Minister for youth, Albert Buttigieg, the Shadow Minister for the family and Social Security and Graziella Attard Previ, Shadow Minister for Equality, Civil Liberties and Children’s Rights, ended with a promise that a new PN government would “work to improve quality of life.”