When addressing a meeting with the Chamber of Commerce, at a meeting held at the beginning of a legislature, Prime Minister Robert Abela urged the Chamber of Commerce to submit recommendations aligned with the principles of the Malta Labour Migration Policy so that our country’s economic model continues to allow for more added value without the need for more workers.
The Prime Minister pointed out that there is a discussion in the country where some argue that the Government has been too aggressive with the implementation of the Labour Migration Policy. Dr Abela stated that the options before the country are to continue to evolve the economic model with sustainable economic growth based on quality. This is aligned with the country’s national plan, the Malta 2050 Vision.
Dr Abela, who was accompanied by a number of Ministers, explained how the Government is focusing on a more digitalised economy. He also said that the economic model that has been implemented in recent years, also thanks to those in business, has led to the Maltese economy experiencing the highest economic growth in the European Union. “This is the starting point. Without the growth rate that we had, the opportunities and priorities that we are talking about would not have been possible,” said Dr Abela.
The Prime Minister recalled that this economic growth has enabled the Government to continue attracting investment and creating jobs. “This is while around us in Europe we are seeing a situation where many governments are under pressure precisely because they are not managing to attract investment and therefore create jobs.” He therefore said that the Government’s duty will remain to work to improve the country’s infrastructure and services.
It was here that he spoke about the Government’s work in the electricity sector. “For decades, no investment has been made, neither in the generation nor in the distribution of electricity. We, as a Government, set out in 2013 with a substantial investment in a new power station that runs on LNG, we completed work on the interconnector and an unprecedented investment in distribution began. Dozens of kilometres in which the cable systems began to change,” explained the Prime Minister. While recalling that new distribution centres have been built, Dr Abela acknowledged that there is still more work to be done to continue strengthening the system and making it more resilient.
Dr Abela gave a guarantee that investment work in electricity distribution will continue, and indeed will be further accelerated.
Also present at the meeting were Ministers Silvio Schembri, Miriam Dalli, Clyde Caruana, Jonathan Attard, Jo Etienne Abela, Keith Azzopardi Tanti and Glenn Bedingfield and the Head of the Secretariat of the Office of the Prime Minister, Colonel Dr Mark Mallia.
Photos: DOI/OPM
