Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/922844
maltatoday SUNDAY 7 JANUARY 2018 Opinion 22 'P rosperity' is generally defined as a state of success. It is a term, especially used to describe a prolonged period of economic well-being. That is exactly what we, as a nation, have experienced over the past four years and are expected to keep enjoying in the short to medium term, as a minimum. But make no mistake, as none of this has come by coincidence. Besides building upon and consolidating a number of economic sub-sectors, such as gaming and financial services, the biggest mindset change that the Labour Administration has introduced is the vastly different approach to the process leading to the yearly Budget, moving away from the simple typical and purely accounting, year by year and narrow approach to the birth of a much wider and comprehensive national economic plan. Notably it maintains the ambitious economic objectives for the longer term in perspective besides consistently also addressing identified and ongoing social issues. The ultimate objective of running a budget surplus is today a reality, and many budgetary measures and initiatives were developed with this ultimate important objective in mind. Very few, including national and foreign economic observers, believed that this was actually possible but today we are actually in a national financial position that very few of our European counterparts can boast about, and that includes unprecedented extremely low unemployment levels on which we have recently also surpassed an economic giant like Germany. Quite a feat coming from the smallest nation within the EU. This comprehensive approach was also adopted in other sectors that required immediate attention upon taking office in 2013 such as the energy, health, transport and infrastructure sectors, among others. As a result, households and businesses are today enjoying lower energy tariffs, besides a more reliable service. We witnessed a reduction in medical waiting lists and the introduction of further key medicines required for cancer treatment that are now provided free to patients; while also successfully completing on time and on budget major important infrastructural projects such as the Kappara junction, and immediately embarking on a larger one such as the Marsa project. As a result of this economic success, we also managed to address many social issues. We are constantly enacting legislation to ensure further social equality within a developing and changing society. For the first time in many years, we introduced increases in the minimum wage and pension payments, all measures designed to ensure that the nation's current economic prosperity is being enjoyed by people in the different strata of society. As a result, we have also achieved an important objective of reducing poverty levels on a national basis. The rental property market is today a very vibrant and dynamic market in its own right, where many are regarding this sector as an alternative investment opportunity. However, this also brought about other social issues and challenges and, in this sense, Government is now in the phase of implementing new projects of social housing. Further legislative developments are also in the pipeline for a consultation process to ensure that the challenges in this sector, that are the by-product of the national economic growth, are also effectively addressed. All this progress and growth is further complemented by the outstanding performance of other sectors, such as our traditional strong economic sector of tourism, where although the official statistics by the NSO for the whole year 2017 have not yet been released, it is quite clear that the tourism inf low will reach the 2.3 million mark, a target that was unthinkable just a few years ago. I am confident that we will continue experiencing more value and sustainable growth in this sector too. We must also be vigilant and carefully monitor the ongoing Brexit process, while clearly assessing any impact and opportunities that this major development will definitely bring about to our economy. Our bright economic performance, that somewhat goes against trends being experienced in other European and other nations, is not going unnoticed internationally and we must also be prepared to face possible challenges and debates in the international fora in this respect. We have to safeguard at all costs vital sectors to our economy such as financial services and remote gaming. The possible biased and partisan 'attacks' will also be further fueled by those who locally and arrogantly, somewhat cannot accept that Malta is going through this economic expansionary phase under the firm leadership of a Labour administration and, for the sake of purely causing partisan damage to the Prime Minister and the Labour party, are also ready to sacrifice economic benefits enjoyed in the short and long term by all our population. Indeed, the Labour Party in Government since 2013 has managed to totally eradicate the traditional taboo nourished intentionally by its political adversaries that Labour is not good for the economy. We have clearly proven the opposite. However, the main challenge for us remains to ensure that our current and future economic prosperity keeps reaching all members of our society, especially those more in need on different levels. As the Labour Party in Government, that is precisely what we stand for and I firmly believe that we are very well on track to ensure that this is exactly what we will deliver – prosperity with a purpose. Edward Zammit Lewis is a Labour MP Prosperity with purpose The Labour Party since 2013 has managed to totally eradicate the taboo nourished intentionally by its political adversaries that it is not good for the economy. We clearly proved the opposite Partisan 'attacks' will also be further fueled by those who locally and arrogantly cannot accept that Malta is going through this economic expansionary phase Edward Zammit Lewis We have witnessed major important infrastructural projects such as the Kappara junction