Muscat tells MCESD citizenship scheme will make Malta ‘leader’

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat has said that the Individual Investor Programme, which will sell Maltese citizenship to non-EU nationals, will make Malta leaders in an area in which "other countries will certainly follow".

"The country needs to make a choice on whether to stick to the past ways of generating economic growth, or look towards the future," Muscat said.

"This scheme is an example of such a shift in mentality."

The prime minister, flanked by several members of his cabinet, was addressing the Malta Council for Economic and Social Development (MCESD) at Castille.

He said that the government was envisaging €1 billion in total revenues from the IIP, which has been capped to 1,800 applicants, stressing that this was as much as Malta would receive in EU funds in seven years.

He said that the earnings will be set aside and put into a sovereign wealth fund, which would act in a similar way to the Central Bank.

"In the months and years to come, through such a scheme, Malta will have proper means for substantial financial investment," he said.

Muscat said that whilst the discussions on the IIP with the Opposition had not been fruitful, there was a need for such talks with the PN.

Originally capped at €650,000, the sale of the Maltese passports to wealthy non-EU nationals has seen the government and the opposition in a tug of war. On its part, the Opposition has insisted that it is "against the sale of Maltese citizenship in principle, while the government argues that the IIP scheme will ultimately be of benefit to Malta's coffers.

Following weeks of negotiations between the government and the opposition, the requirements of the contentious scheme were changed but the two sides could not reach an agreement, with Muscat citing the five-residency period as the main bone of contention.

Nevertheless, the government's recent discussions with stakeholders saw the scheme's requirements changed from the previous €650,000 donation, adding a new €350,000 property acquisition and €150,000 purchase of government bonds. The scheme will no longer be exclusively led by citizenship experts Henley & Partners.

Yesterday, in a meeting with the same MCESD, Opposition leader Simon Busuttil said that in order for the government and the opposition to strike a consensus on the contentious citizenship scheme, the government had to "address the Opposition's stand."

Muscat, however, placed the blame on the Opposition for not being able to accept a position of compromise.

 "We (the government and the Opposition) spent a lot of time in discussion and it is clear for all to see that the government has shifted from its original proposal and made significant changes," he said.

However, Muscat accepted that there were still public misconceptions about the scheme. He said that even today, a local service provider could seek permission to attract clients without having to go through Henley and Partners, whilst stressing that these service providers will not be keeping money owed to the country, for themselves.

The prime minister also said that due diligence would take a minimum of six years to be covered, and that this could even take up to two years, deeming the Opposition's request to not grant citizenship until Parliament debated certain legal notices as "making no sense".