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A few days ago, Malta Enterprise announced its performance results for 2006 and if the economy is booming, then ME is shooting ahead. It is very encouraging to note what can only be termed as a success story in the sense that this institution has hugely improved on its 2005 results with the creation of hundreds of new jobs and a higher than usual rate in the opening of new factories.
A quick look at the results show that the number of approved projects increased to 89 from 69 in 2005 whilst capital invesetment jumped to Lm 37 million from Lm 29 million in 2005. But the most important growth was experienced in the employment sector where this reached 2,585, more than double the 932 registered in 2005.
A number of new companies also showed impressive growth in 2006 including Actavis, Inspectra, Methode Electronics and a host of others too numerous to mention here indicating that industry is alive and kicking on this island. With all this going on, you would think that we just can sit back as the beast continues to move forward at an unheard of rate.
However notwithstanding all this, much needs to be done at our industrial estates as they go on experiencing the transition to knowledge based instead of production based areas. A case in point is the shocking state of the Marsa Industrial Estate, our first ever of its kind which is now little more than a large factory cemetery. The condition of this vast stretch of land is a disgrace to us all and something should be done about it without delay.
And although ME seem to have done a lot with regards to the bureaucracy problem that permeates our system, stories are still heard of foreign investors who become infuriated with all the nooks and crannies that they have to negotiate to finally open a business in Malta. Let’s not shoot ourselves in the foot when opportunities handed to us on a silver platter simply disappear into thin air.
Turning the corner at last
On Monday, the National Statistics Office isuued its latest round of statistics showing the number of departing tourists for the month of march. And it is more than heartening to finally note that we have turned the corner in this all important sector of the economy with the number of toursist visiting our islands having risen by a whopping 10.8 per cent over the same month last year. Add that to a 6.9 per cent increase in February and a 2.4 per cent increase in January and you certainly have a much needed recovery on your hands.
Last week was another good one for the industry in the shape of Ryanair’s announcement that they have finally opened the Malta route to Bremen, adding Germany to the list of countries on their intineary to Malta. With huge increases registered from the British and Italian markets in the past quarter, the German market was the only one that did not show a substantial increase. Now it looks like this will also come under the low cost route bonanza and hopefully we will be reporting even better figures as June comes round.
All this makes the initial opposition by several quarters to the low cost issue as even more shameful. The same NSO results show that expenditure increased by 3.9, 13.1 and 12.8 per cent in the months of January to March, exploding the myth that low cost passengers do not spend as much as those coming on standard carriers.
With Air Malta organizing its AMITEX fair last week, it goes without saying that there must have been some worred talk within the higher echelons of the national airline at the meteoric rise of the low costs brigade. But it should not have been so. Air Malta is here to stay but all it needs is a leaner and meaner operation to survive in today’s cut-throat airline market. Any resting on laurels or complacency will only bring fatal results – as many have pointed out time and time again. |
