WATCH: Joseph Muscat And Adrian Delia Speak At EY Annual Attractiveness Event
The EY Malta’s Annual Attractiveness Event is taking place today at the InterContinental Arena Conference Centre. Malta’s position in the international business arena faces new and evolving challenges, and this conference gauges Malta’s attractiveness to international business owners, and the various things that influence their choices.
Ronald Attard, the Country Managing Partner of EY Malta, opened the event by commenting on the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia as an attempt to “intimidate the body and soul of our nation” and that they at “EY have decided to repulse this negative message” and stressed that “Malta should remain the Malta we treasure and love: safe, peaceful, and welcome to all”.
He also commented on how her murder may shatter our traditionally positive image abroad, and put our reputation at risk.
Simon Barberi, the Director of EY Malta, said that business owners were shown to have a lot of faith in the banking sector in Malta, and that the manufacturing sector was losing most faith. He also noted that while Malta’s fiscal incentives and the stability of Malta’s corporate taxation models were still seen as attractive, the transparency of Malta’s legal and regulatory parameters were down by 12%.
Leader of the Opposition Adrian Delia discussed the strong points of Malta’s economy, among them the construction, iGaming and tourism sectors, and pointed out that the current Government’s plans were putting Malta’s international reputation at risk. He also showed concern about Malta’s national security in the wake of last week’s tragedy.
Prime Minister Joseph Muscat also referred to last weeks “horrific” murder, saying that “last week’s events have touched me in a way I’ve never felt before.”
He continued by saying that Malta’s economy was doing well, and said Malta’s “employment problem” wasn’t that there is high unemployment, but that business owners were finding it hard to find employees to fill specific roles. He said there was a need for more workers in Malta.
He also referred to the incoming “digital revolution”, and noted that in the future employees will need a “high level of cognitive and interpersonal skills that AI will not be able to match” in their increasingly specialised roles, and some sectors, like the education sector, needs to start preparing for these changes today.
You can find the full schedule of today’s event by going here.
Do you think Malta remains an attractive place to open a business? Let us know in the comments below.
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