Labour’s spokesperson for IT, Leo Brincat, has called for a stronger role for Malta to become a recognised outsourcing destination and increase the presence of call centres in both Malta and Gozo.
“While recognising the inroads made to open more call centres, we have to maximise the potential of the islands as a business processing centre which can positively exploit our abilities in IT, and our international communication networks.”
Brincat said Malta was not yet on the map of the world’s best outsourcing destinations.
“This is clear because Malta appears nowhere amongst the world’s 30 best destinations in this type of sector in a report by financial consultants Gartner. Even in the list of 13 other countries which did not qualify for the top 30, Malta does not feature here either. This means we are not amongst the best 43 destinations according to this influential source.
“The same can be said for the best 50 countries identified by the prominent company Kearney. Malta does not feature in this list either.”
Brincat said Malta’s size should be no hindrance to clear this obstacle. “Why do Baltic EU states like Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, as well as Commonwealth islands like Mauritius and Singapore qualify? A new Labour government is committed to put Malta on the map in this regard.”
The Labour MP said a professional survey should be carried out to identify the opportunities this international market offers, and to examine Malta’s level of competitiveness in the face of international competition.