Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1421048
P KF has been active down the years to promote Malta overseas and did make use of opportunities pre-Covid to visit international business centres (see picture of meeting in Zurich with the A.I. and CV labs sector). Other adventures included the vision to travel to the USA and meet business promoters in M.I.T and Silicon Valley to activate the concept of venture capital and business angels in Malta. As mentioned in the Bible, some seeds were sown on fertile land and gave fruit while others fell on barren rocks and withered. With hindsight, Malta paid us lip service when PKF was instrumental to attract an internationally acclaimed US business accelerator. In contrast, Castille showed open arms for attracting Electrogas, a US Crane Cur- rency Printing outfit, Vitals Health Care, Montenegro wind farms, Pilatus, Nemea and Sata banks, Sadeen American Uni- versity, etc but PKF's initiative was given a miss. One hopes that better prospects await this sector of research and innovation when the election is over and the gov- ernment will allocate sufficient funds to nurture it. In the meantime, one cannot but laud the hon Silvio Schembri minister for the economy and industry on his drive to launch "e Malta Economic Vision 2031". is visionary roadmap is based on various public consultations to reshape the country's economic model. At best it aims to achieve inclusive and sustainable growth for the long-term. It identifies five pillars of wisdom which make up essential ingredients for a holistic plan. e ener- getic minister is hopeful that the non-par- tisan document will lead us to Nirvana in 2031 - one that embraces a fail-safe for- mula to trailblaze a future record-break- ing journey. Brave words are used by Mimcol which is piloting this project. In a nutshell, it waxes lyrical about this panacea which will jettison us from a post-pandemic crisis and morph us smoothly into a dy- namic and economically strong, socially inclusive, and environmentally conscious nation. One augurs Mimcol well in its quest to draft this latter-day Magna Car- ta. It guides contributors by defining a Sustainable Economic Growth plan being one focused on delivering quality-of-life improvements and increased resilience. It encapsulates four sub sectors which are the quintessential building blocks of a holistic plan. e essential catalysts in the Petri dish comprise high quality infra- structure and investment, education and employment, environment, high stand- ards of accountability, and governance and rule of law. e unprecedented disruption caused by the virus continues to wreak havoc on economies across the globe. While some hubris concerning the economic damage may have pushed Malta to dig deeper in the State coffers which as a consequence it borrowed €1.5 billion to fund recovery of hospitality sector while giving a cash stimulus to ailing companies. Still, there is no denying that as the health and human toll slows and a milder Covid pandemic ensues this winter, the economic damage is evident. Many agree that it represents the largest economic shock the world has experienced in dec- ades. In Malta, nostalgically we recall how the splurge in domestic demand that fired the surplus years during the "L'Aq- wa Zmien" moniker has suddenly disap- peared and badly hit the lower-income and pensioners cohorts. A recent survey by EY shows a nega- tive picture for Malta in its quest to at- tract FDI. Quoting, Ronald Attard, EY's Country Managing Partner, he said that the results of the survey come as a warn- ing. In his words, he remarked that a significant part of international investors interviewed are telling us that Malta is currently unattractive for Foreign Direct Investment. Malta's greylisting played a part in shap- ing this perception when last June, Malta was put on the grey list of the anti-money laundering watchdog - the Financial Ac- tion Task Force (FATF). Back to the Eco- nomic Vision 2031 topic, it goes without saying that to achieve a broad-based re- covery, companies and policy makers will need to move with the same alacrity they used to respond to constraints imposed by COVID-19 and, in doing so, enable higher productivity growth, better jobs, and expansive consumption. Many party apologists wax poetically about the promises in Budget 2022 to join the digital and the Green revolution. Most predict the incidence of 5G broadband will increase productivity in the private sector to be matched by better working conditions. Post Budget commentaries all point that the ten-year Economic plan cannot flourish unless business leaders and policy makers solve current worker shortages. is can be resolved by weaning the red tape at Identity Malta when registering work permits for foreign workers. With hindsight, apologists remind us of Joseph Muscat's elusive Midas touch that tem- porarily turned pre-2013 annual govern- ment deficits into respectable surpluses. is recovery was attributed by econo- mists to have resulted due to a smart mix of sporadic liquidity oozing from the IIP scheme (selling passports by Henley & Partners), a rampant construction spree and an uptick in foreign workers. All three factors fuelled a spike in demand. Definitely, the 2031 Economic Revival plan cannot risk taking the same route. Certainly, enabling a sustained rebound in consumer spending will require step- ping up retraining opportunities for workers displaced by the ailing hospital- ity, Air Malta, retail and English language sectors. It is advisable to avoid a two-speed re- covery - one that widens inequality while delivering tepid growth. Naturally, probi- ty guides us to start owning our €8 billion debt, while concurrently have spare cash to fund education, healthcare, national security, welfare benefits. In conclusion, although fatalism will not help us overcome the Covid challenge, overconfidence during this election mode must also be kept in check. If we kick the can down the road, it may delude us in thinking that the problem will go away or even better that an enlightened electorate will choose a redeemer to navigate our ship of state. Kicking the can down the road George Mangion George Mangion is a senior partner of an audit and consultancy firm, and has over 25 years experience in accounting, taxation, financial and consultancy services. His efforts have seen PKF being instrumental in establishing many companies in Malta and ensured PKF become one of the foremost professional financial service providers on the Island 8 OPINION 21.10.2021 "There is no denying that as the health and human toll slows and a milder Covid pandemic ensues this winter, the economic damage is evident"