News | Sunday, 29 March 2009

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‘Size matters’ in fighting recession, Gonzi tells PN

Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi yesterday told his party conference Malta’s small size was helping government “keep its finger on the pulse of the nation”.
Referring to the global economic recession, Gonzi told the PN general council, which discussed the government’s ‘Vision 2015’, that Malta would emerge from the present turmoil even stronger by 2010, when the recession is expected to ebb away.
Gonzi said that if the country wanted to look towards the future it had to find its specialisation.
“It’s no longer the time for talking or just investing generally, but to identify those particular sectors in which we are going to specialise, to reap the necessary benefits,” Gonzi said.
Hinting once again to the IT-driven economy heralded by Smart City, Gonzi also listed the aviation sector as one area of specialisation in which the Malta College for Arts, Sciences and Technology has been preparing its students for.
Gonzi said government was looking towards more sectors in which Malta could specialise and be at the forefront of these particular spheres of expertise.
He said Malta was still availing itself of considerable opportunities, despite the waves of the global recession having hit the island’s shores. He said Malta had an edge on IT that allowed the island to compete against numerous large countries. He added that IT was aiding small and medium enterprises to compete with the rest of the world.
“Information Technology has removed many obstacles,” Gonzi said.
But the prime minister said it was the country’s small size that had allowed government to be attuned to the nation’s pulse and to every sector of the country. The Prime Minister said small size allowed the government to be updated on each sector and identify areas that needed government’s support.
“Our small size allows the government to be able to spend every single cent in taxpayers’ money in those sectors which we know will push the country ahead,” Gonzi said.
He added Malta’s size allowed a more prompt action when the country needed to adjust itself to challenges.
Gonzi said Malta’s human resource was still its best advantage, calling it “far better” than most countries’.
He added that European Union membership had granted new opportunities to various sectors of the country. “These last five years have been five years of success for everybody. We have seen how important it was for us to become members of the eurozone and we have now got confirmation from European Commissioner Gunther Verheugen that the euro has been a shield to our country.”
Workshops at the PN’s general council were led by Joe Woods, Malta Employers Association director Joe Farrugia, Nationalist MP Edwin Vassallo, Marion Pace Axiaq and Mark Azzopardi.

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