Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/204636
24 Opinion maltatoday, SUNDAY, 3 NOVEMBER 2013 Edward Zammit Lewis Thoughts on the Individual Investor Programme S ince the early 90s, the Labour Party in Opposition had always given its full support to the financial services sector, and cooperated fully with the government of the time, to ensure that the financial services remains on the growth path and become a major component of our economy. This in fact is one of the reasons of the success in this sector. This positive state of affairs has been unfortunately overturned by the recent vociferous opposition to the Individual Investor Programme by the Nationalist Party. This is certainly of no benefit to our country. It is apparent that the current opposition has very confused ideas, and different MPs are expressing different views on the subject. Mario de Marco is in favour of citizenship by investment while others, such as the opposition leader, speak as if the IIP goes against some inviolable principle and, according to him, it can impact on the sovereignty of our country. It is very clear that Malta, as a member of the European Union, has every right to formulate its own rules on nationality and this is in total accordance to International Law (vide Micheletti case – sentence of the European Court of Justice ECJ C-369/90 (1992) ECR I-4239). The government is taking different initiatives to attract direct investment towards our country without putting an The IIP is a serious programme led by worldwide leaders in Citizenship Planning and it should be noted that exactly the same firm was also advising the previous administration excessive burden on the Maltese population in order to solve financial problems inherited from the previous administration. The IIP is a serious programme led by worldwide leaders in Citizenship Planning and it should be noted that exactly the same firm was also advising the previous administration. The due diligence that is intended to be undertaken in each case is very rigorous and will involve database and public searches, background checks and risk weighting and verification. All this will be implemented prior to any decision of approval or otherwise. Furthermore, the Bill presented in parliament as an amendment to the Maltese Citizenship Act gives the right to a Regulator to monitor the IIP. This regulator is directly appointed by the Prime Minister after consultation with the Leader of the Opposition. The regulator will be obliged by law to present a yearly report to the Minister who will then present it to the House of Representatives for its relevant scrutiny. The present administration, of which I form part, has no intention of jeopardising the reputation of our country with regards to financial services that contributes approximately 13% of our GDP. The government has no intention to do so because even when in opposition, it gave all the support provided to this growing sector to flourish further. Our track record proves this beyond any doubt. Moreover, on the contrary to what the PN in government stated in the run up to the March elections, the current administration gave reassurances and further energy to this sector. Undoubtedly, this scheme will lead to funds transferred to Malta that will be 'ring fenced' through the National Development Fund that will be able to generate sufficient income to commence initiatives for the good of the country, especially directed to vulnerable sectors of our society. This is a new way to create new initiatives, but the opposition is unfortunately resistant to change in any manner. Such initiatives are successful in other countries and if we remain passive, we are certainly going to lose interesting opportunities in this area. The present administration already proved it means business when in less than four months in office, it introduced the reinvigorated Global Residence Programme, which programme was met professionals as well. I am more than convinced that in a few years time, this programme will be one of our success stories. It will assert the reputation of Malta as a financial services centre. It will lead to initiatives beneficial for everyone stemming out of the National Development Fund. My appeal to the Party in opposition is not to waste precious time in one press conference after another but to give full support to government in this initiative and bring forward valid changes to improve the programme which will be more than welcome to discuss. This is the new way forward in Maltese politics that we want and have the mandate to bring about. Edward Zammit Lewis is the Parliamentary Secretary for Competitiveness and Growth (edward.zammit-lewis@gov.mt) VACANCIES WITH MEDIATODAY Full-time and part-time sales executives CALL FOR TENDERS As part of the project ESF no. 3.196 – "Gender Balance in Decision-Making", the National Commission for the Promotion of Equality (NCPE) is requesting submissions for the provision of: PUBLICATION REFERENCE: DT-NCPE/03/2013 TENDER TITLE: Services Tender for Research and Policy Recommendation Services for the project ESF no. 3.196 – "Gender Balance in Decision-Making" th Any queries should be sent to equality@gov.mt by not later than Friday 15 November, 2013 specifying the publication reference and the tender title. Clarification Meetings will be held on Tuesday 12th November, 2013 th at 10.00hrs at NCPE premises. Closing Date for submission of tenders is Monday 25 November, 2013 at 10.00 am. All submissions should be hand-delivered to our offices. Terms of reference can be obtained from our offices. It is recommended that interested bidders register such interest with NCPE so that they can be notified immediately of any communication/clarification issued in relation to such tender. NCPE Gattard House, National Road, Blata l-Bajda ĦMR 9010 Tel: 2590 3850 Fax: 2590 3851 E-mail: equality@gov.mt Web: www.equality.gov.mt Operational Programme II – Cohesion Policy 2007-2013 Empowering People for More Jobs and a Better Quality of Life Project part-financed by the European Union European Social Fund (ESF) Co-financing rate: 85% EU Funds; 15% National Funds Investing in your future positively by all stakeholders and is already delivering concrete and positive results in a short period of time. I was surprised to witness former finance minister Tonio Fenech present at a press conference for the reason of criticising the IIP when he was the same person who suspended the Permanent Residence Scheme on Christmas Eve and then introduced the High Net Worth Individual Scheme around nine months later. This scheme proved to be a big failure and only created uncertainty that damaged our reputation in potential foreign markets such as South Africa. The IIP will be beneficial to professionals in this sector working on the same lines as the Authorised Registered Mandatory in the Global Residence Programme. This will provide interesting opportunities for our MediaToday is an independent publishing house. MT is seeking the services of experienced sales executives on a full time and part time basis who have more than 3 years experiences in sales with a local media house or marketing agency. The job offer comes together with a salary and an attractive commission structure. 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