PN reaffirms 25,000 new jobs pledge

Minister for Dialogue, Justice, and Family Chris Said delivered a press conference where he spoke at length about the Nationalist Party's commitment to create 25,000 new jobs over the coming five years.

However, as one PBS journalist remarked, the press conference itself was scant insofar as new information was concerned, as Said limited himself to delivering an overview of the Nationalist Party's performance over the past five years, and a cursory examination of some of the proposals presented in its electoral programme.

Said reaffirmed the PN government's achievements in job creation, reiterating the 20,000 new jobs creation claim, pointing to the successes in tourism, financial services, e gaming, and also manufacturing.

Said also pointed to a reported issued by the European Commission a few days ago which he said shows that Malta has the second-highest economic growth projection in the entire EU, second only to Estonia.

"This is yet another certificate from the European Commission," Said said.

In order to generate these 25,000 new jobs, Said explained, a Nationalist government would be looking towards the sectors of tourism, manufacturing and SMEs, and research and design, as well as new niche sectors such as life sciences.

With regard to tourism, Said that a PN government would be dedicating a budgetary allocation of €215 million towards this sector, aimed at attracting more flights to Malta, improving hotel series and restaurants, increasing promotion and advertising of Malta as a destination, and more activities to increase the country's attractiveness.

Regarding factories and SMEs, Said said that the government would be allocating an additional 100 million in direct investment, which would go towards increasing exportation, which would lead to additional employment.

He also said that a PN government would generate more assistance and incentives for research and design projects - including grants - pointing towards projects such as the life sciences Bio Park Campus.

Said, a Gozitan MP, also dedicated a considerable portion of his address towards emphasising the importance of stimulating and expanding the Gozitan economy so that more jobs for Gozitans are created.

He said that a PN government would provide incentives to assist hotels as well as farmhouse owners to improve their touristic operations, and also make inroads into niche tourism sectors such as health and religious tourism.

He also pointed to the PN's proposals aimed at incentivising job creation in Gozo, such as ta credits for new businesses in Gozo, and reduced fees for registering businesses in Malta's sister island.

He also emphasised that as much as 23% of Malta's rural funding originating from the European Union would be spent in Gozo.

In several asides, Said hit out at the Labour Party's track record with regard to employment, harking back to past administrations which, in 1987, "won the election" by employing 8,8,000 people with the government, and in 1996 "increased unemployment and introduced 33 new taxes."

He also accused the Labour Party of not having any concrete proposals aimed at job creation, insisting that the PL's electoral programmed "is absolutely devoid of any proposals aimed at creating new jobs."

Said insisted that Labour has been holding back from delivering an actual concrete figure on how many jobs it is pledging to create, saying that "this is proof that the Labour party has given up already on creating new jobs."

Said also reiterated several PN proposals aimed at incentivising more people to enter the job market, such as free childcare, the option to use sick leave when children are sick, and also incentives for pensioners to return to work.

Asked whether the PN is envisaging an increase in the current disability allowance, Said dodged the question by saying that what the PN is proposing is that the disability pension in cases of sever disability "should be at least that of the minimum wage", which he said is "almost double the current rate" of 55% of minimum wage.

He also insisted that the PN manifesto features "a host of incentives and initiatives aimed at people with disabilities" such as incentives so that disabled people who find a job do not lose out on their disability pensions in any way.

Said also fielded questions regarding recent figures issued by the National Statistics Office, which announced that unemployment had increased for the 11^th consecutive month.

Said admitted that unemployment was increasing and that it currently stands at around 7,000, but insisted that "this does not deny the fact that we have created 20,000 new jobs over the past five years."

"If we hadn't did so, the number of people registering for unemployment toady would be far higher," he said, reiterating that this proves that the PN is capable of generating 25,000 new jobs over the coming five years.

He also said that while other EU countries witnessed rocketing unemployment, Malta's unemployment remained controlled.

Said sidestepped a number of questions requesting an explanation of the 20,000 figure, as well as in which sectors the PN is planning to generate 25,000 new jobs.

Fielding questions regarding the contentious parliamentary honoraria restitution, Said simply said "when the reshuffle took place last January, Prime Minister Gonzi was clear on the need of a full refund by the end of the legislature."

"That is what happened."