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maltatoday | SUNDAY • 16 AUGUST 2020 10 COMMERCIAL EY's Malta Attractiveness Survey shows how investors have been reacting to COVID-19 EVERY October, EY Malta pre- sents the results of the annual Malta Attractiveness Survey during an event that is known for hosting more than 1,000 of Malta's top CEOs, entrepre- neurs, investors, advisors, busi- ness and government leaders to discuss all matters related to for- eign investment, business and technology. The 2020 event has been transformed into a virtual experience, now called Fu- ture Realised, and the survey has been updated to focus on the challenges being faced by companies as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Ronald Attard, EY Malta's Country Managing Partner, said: "Giv- en the ever-changing nature of the pandemic, ongoing global economic crisis and uncer- tainty in the market, we want to present a few survey re- sults, which over the last few years has proven to be a really important indicator on what the country is doing well and where we need to do better. This year's focus will place ex- tra emphasis on exploring the possibilities for Malta to thrive despite its inherent insularity in a world which is more con- nected remotely. We also want to take the opportunity to ex- plore the benefits of pursuing sustainable and longer-term value goals – this is the mo- ment to reset the Island's am- bitions." EY's Attractiveness Surveys are widely recognized as a key source of insight into foreign direct investment (FDI). By examining the attractiveness of a country as an investment destination, the EY surveys are designed to help businesses make investment decisions and governments remove barriers to growth. The exercise is carried out in several countries across the world and a report for all Eu- rope was released last May. The Malta Attractiveness Sur- vey data was gathered through- out June 2020, during one-to- one interviews with top FDI decision-makers here in Malta. A total of 57% of FDI compa- nies have stated that the finan- cial impact of COVID-19 has been negative so far, while 21% stated it was positive and an- other 22% saw no change. The sectors worst hit include hospi- tality (100%) and manufactur- ing (79%). Insurance (57%) and other financial services (33%) are the sectors which provid- ed the highest amount of posi- tive replies. Fifty-six percent of companies estimate they will make a full recovery to 2019 levels in one year or under. A total of 40% believe the re- covery process will take more than 1-3 years.Around half of investors have not changed their 2020 investment plans as a result of COVID-19. Sev- enteen percent have delayed their plans until 2021, 12% have decreased their plans slightly, and 10% have substan- tially decreased their plans. A total of 7% have completely cut back on their 2020 invest- ment plans. Remote working arrangements have dominated the last few months, with 77% of respondents indicating that they have implemented some form of remote work in their business. Positively 99% of these com- panies said that they adapted quickly but a majority (53%) have not seen an increase in productivity. Still, 68% will adopt remote working for the long-term and 18% will reduce office space as a result of this new way of working. The top three trends that companies believe will acceler- ate over the next three years as a result of COVID-19 are digi- tal customer access to services (78%), adoption of technology that automates manual human processes (61%), and a focus on sustainability and climate (57%). Comparing the Mal- ta and Europe Attractiveness Surveys, the top three trends proved to be similar but dif- ferences can be seen with Mal- tese investors placing greater emphasis on geopolitical ten- sions (28%) while European investors expect the reversal of globalization to play a bigger role (56%). Apart from COV- ID-19, this year's survey asked what are the main societal is- sues being tackled at company level. Respondents indicated education, skills and training (74%) diversity and inclusive- ness (60%) and environmental sustainability (51%). The full report and results, including the overall attractiveness index and the scoreboard on various criteria, will be released next October during the highly an- ticipated Future Realised Week taking place between October 20 – 23. For more informa- tion and to register check out w w w . e y . c o m / e n _ m t / e v e n t s / future-realised-malta-2020.