Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1263290
25.06.2020 5 EDITORIAL BusinessToday is published every Thursday. The newspaper is a MediaToday publication and is distributed to all leading stationers, business and financial institutions and banks. MANAGING EDITOR: SAVIOUR BALZAN EDITOR: PAUL COCKS CONTRIBUTING JOURNALIST: MASSIMO COSTA BusinessToday, MediaToday, Vjal ir-Rihan, San Gwann SGN9016, Malta Newsroom email: bt@mediatoday.com.mt Advertising: afarrugia@mediatoday.com.mt Telephone: 00356 21 382741 M alta's international reputation has been sul- lied for too long and the risks of this having a significant impact are real. e Council of Europe's Moneyval task force is expected to deliver its verdict after the summer on Malta's efforts to combat financial crime. e risks of Malta being put on the grey list are very real. is is a prospect the country and the business community want to avert. If Malta is placed on the grey list, the jurisdiction's risk level will increase, making it harder and more laborious to attract quality investment. Businesses will have an additional burden to deal with in their linkages with foreign counterparts. e lack of action against former minister Kon- rad Mizzi and Joseph Muscat's chief of staff Keith Schembri when their names cropped up in the Pan- ama Papers, the serious allegations of corruption and impropriety linked to major public projects, the assassination of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, the murky links between big business and politics being exposed in court proceedings linked to the murder, have created serious repercussions domestically and abroad. Robert Abela's administration over the past six months has shown its willingness to address some of these serious failings. e method of appointment for police commis- sioner has changed and the newly appointed chief has already made the right moves by appointing a new leader for the economic crimes unit. e police must be given all the resources it re- quires to be able to tackle financial crime and cor- ruption with a target to achieve meaningful prose- cutions. e government has also received the green light from the Venice Commission for proposed consti- tutional reforms that will strengthen good govern- ance and the rule of law. And this week, Abela forced Konrad Mizzi's re- moval from the Labour parliamentary group after the latest allegations of corruption linked to a wind farm project in Montenegro. Mizzi's removal was four years late – he should have been forced out in 2016 when the Panama Pa- pers scandal erupted – but it bodes well. While Mizzi's legal responsibility for the Mon- tenegro wind farm project is up to the police and the courts to determine, political responsibility de- mands otherwise. Politicians must not only be clean but seen to be clean. Mizzi can defend himself in every forum without acting as a millstone for the government and the country. Good governance and the rule of law are essential ingredients for business to thrive in a healthy en- vironment that encourages enterprise, innovation, new investment and competition. Malta's international reputation may be an in- tangible concept for many but the business com- munity feels the real impact of it in its talks with foreign counterparts and dealings with financial institutions. Abela's government must persist in its drive to en- sure the rule of law prevails and the highest ethical standards are demanded of those in power. Only this course of action can start to repair the bad image abroad that has been created and which is causing an unnecessary hurdle for businesses. Cleaner politics for better business Konrad Mizzi