Prime Minister Joseph Muscat has called Malta's recent economic success under the Labour administration an "economic miracle".
He said this in relation to how this government has focused efforts on creating a strong economy that can withstand external shocks, rather than wasting time on concentrating solely on the possible fallout of a number of unfavourable events, such as the decision by citizens of the United Kingdom to leave the EU, and the "heavy handed" measures already carried out by the newly elected President Donald Trump association.
Dr Muscat made reference to Moody's, a private economic rating agency, praise of Malta's economic progress, and said that this shows how this government has concentrated on "fixing its own roof," rather than on external events.
His address came during a conference addressed by CEO of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) Paul Dreschler, Stefano Mallia from the Malta Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry and himself, on the future of businesses in a post Brexit world. The Malta Independent has been made official media partners of the event, which seeks to discuss matters of trade, economics and competition in an ever-changing, fast paced world.
He spoke of the number of different scenarios that have been studied in a post Brexit world, but ultimately intimated that a strong economy would be the tool to withstand any external shocks.
While studying for the scenarios that the world is currently experiencing, Dr Muscat said that it is not possible to stop the negative aspects from emerging, but that being prepared for them goes a long way.
Dr Muscat believes that the decision by citizens of the United Kingdom to leave the EU reminds "us that our citizens are always sovereign and we should be listening to their pleas". He tied this in with his belief that ignoring the aspect of "social Europe" could have contributed to widespread anti EU sentiment across member states, and called for a renewed approach that would bring politics closer to the people.
The fact that there have been a number of developments, which cannot be viewed in isolation, was stressed, along with anticipated the different outcomes of near-future elections in key member states. He called for all to analyse the "new bigger picture" in its entirety.
He made note of the number of economic achievements in Malta's recent economic history, such as foreign investment for the year 2016 was 50 per cent higher than the whole of 2012 (the final year of the previous Nationalist Party government).
Dr Muscat condemned Mr Trump's "heavy handed" approach on a number of issues he has tackled in his first days in office.
An emphasis on an inferior deal for the UK was made, where Dr Muscat further elaborated on how this deal should be inferior from the viewpoint of the EU, but does not necessarily have to be the case for the UK.
He was surprised at the resilience of the British economy, for experiencing that huge shock without any major economic impact.
More soon
Photographs by Jonathan Borg
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