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23.01.2020 3 NEWS PAUL COCKS THE number of employees at the most knowledge-intensive firms in Malta has grown from 14,600 in 2012 to 18,200 in 2019, a report by the European Centre for Entrepreneurship and Policy Reform published today illustrates. Out of the 3,600 new so- called brain business jobs, 62 percent have been created in ICT, 23 percent in advanced services, 12 percent in the tech sector and the remaining three percent in creative professions. e report - e Geography of Europe's Brain Business Jobs: 2020 Index by Dr Nima Sanandaji - describes Malta as a leading brain business cen- tre of Southern Europe, with a share of knowledge-intensive occupation even higher than that of France. "e island nation con- tinues to benefit from busi- ness-friendly policy regimes, moving towards a position as a new Singapore of the Mediter- ranean region," the report says. "Talent shortage is however becoming a major concern." In fact, while the growth of brain business jobs has been strong in Malta over time, the two past years have seen slower growth. Instead, countries such as Cyprus and Portugal, which compete by lower wage costs, have surged. Compared to the rest of Eu- rope, Malta has a number of strengths, primarily in adver- tising and market research, pharmaceuticals and film/TV/ music as well as head offices and management. In these areas, as well as in tel- ecom and programming, Malta has a higher share of knowl- edge-intensive firm occupation than the European average. On the other hand, Malta still has a way to go to catch up with the rest of Europe when it comes to areas such as high- tech manufacturing and R&D ) Research and Development). e challenge ahead for Malta is to sustain its impressive de- velopment, encouraging more brain business jobs in areas where it is already strong and in new domains such as re- search and development. "Talent shortage needs to be addressed for Malta to con- tinue evolving as a Southern European knowledge hub," the report concludes. 2019 Country 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 % change Rank 2014-19 1 Switzerland 101 100 99 103 105 106 4.9% 2 Sweden 90 91 94 96 100 102 14.2% 3 Denmark 90 91 85 87 88 89 -0.4% 4 Netherlands 78 80 82 84 87 88 11.9% 5 Luxembourg 82 82 83 82 84 85 2.7% 6 United Kingdom 73 76 88 80 80 81 12.2% 7 Germany 68 70 74 76 78 80 16.3% 8 Iceland 78 77 80 79 78 74 -4.2% 9 Ireland 62 65 70 70 72 73 18.8% 10 Finland 68 68 69 67 70 72 4.8% 11 Hungary 53 56 60 63 67 71 33.6% 12 Norway 65 67 66 66 68 70 7.2% 13 Slovenia 54 56 58 61 64 66 22.0% 14 Estonia 57 59 60 63 63 65 15.8% 15 Latvia 48 52 57 60 63 65 37.0% 16 Czechia 53 55 59 62 63 65 22.0% 17 Austria 60 60 60 62 63 64 7.7% 18 Belgium 57 58 61 58 59 61 8.7% 19 Malta 58 64 67 68 61 60 2.9% 20 France 55 55 56 56 58 59 8.1% 21 Slovakia 44 49 50 53 55 58 32.9% 22 Lithuania 43 46 49 52 54 55 28.5% 23 Portugal 38 40 42 45 48 49 28.8% 24 Cyprus 38 41 44 46 48 49 28.7% 25 Bulgaria 36 39 42 45 46 46 28.6% 26 Spain 36 39 41 42 43 44 21.3% 27 Greece 41 37 38 39 43 43 5.8% 28 Italy 38 39 40 41 42 43 13.1% 29 Croatia 37 37 39 40 42 42 13.4% 30 Poland 31 33 36 37 39 40 29.3% 31 Romania 30 31 33 34 37 38 29.2% Malta a leading brain business centre of Southern Europe, report claims A report on the geography of Europe's brain business jobs says Malta is moving towards a position as a new Singapore of the Mediterranean but issues stark warning on talent shortage National ranking of brain business jobs (per 1,000 working age population) FROM PAGE 1 is, he said, was a consequence of shop- pers' preference for alternative retail ven- ues, such as those found in large shopping malls. "Commerce is very important for Val- letta, but this has taken a different turn in recent years. Restaurants have enjoyed an upward push, but we still need to strength- en retail stores' performance," he said. "Lately, retail outlets in the capital have lost some popularity because shops in oth- er towns remain open later." All stakeholders were now on board, however, for shops in Valletta to open from 10am to 10pm for one day a week, likely Friday. e proposal was well received by both shop owners and residents, with the latter being happy that their town could attract more shoppers, as long as any inconven- ience caused is kept to a minimum. e holding of cultural activities in Val- letta at the same time of the late-night shopping hours is also being considered, Zammit said. He highlighted that retailers wouldn't be the only ones to benefit from the late open- ing times, since restaurants would also have the opportunity to attract more clients. Shop employees should also not see it as a challenge but as a chance to work over- time, if they so wanted. For those employees who didn't want to work more hours, shops could consider re- cruiting part-timers to cover the late-night shifts, he added. Shops in Valletta to remain open till 10pm once a week

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