PN says Maltese industries can't compete with current freight expenses

Nationalist Party chief spokesperson Peter Agius said that Maltese industry requires state aid in order to compete at a level playing field with the other European competitors.

He said that through an exercise the PN carried out, transport costs were found to put Maltese factories at a price disadvantage of around 6%.

“A new PN government would immediately address the competitive disadvantages that factories, companies and importers face when exporting or importing products,” said Agius.

He said that the cost to export a pallet of Maltese products costs 44% more than the transportation of the same pallets from Sicily to France. Agius said that for just one shipment, an extra €1,600 would therefore be added to the price of the Maltese product.

He added that for pharmaceutical products, an extra 6% in transportation costs means that the Maltese product has to be at least 6% cheaper in order to compete. “For manufacturing products of a lower value, the impact on the transportation costs would be much higher,” Agius added.

PN candidate Joseph Grech said that it is fundamental for Malta to provide a sustainable system for exports and imports. He highlighted the PN proposal to create a €40 million fund to provide direct aid to operators in the first year alone.

Stefan Caruana, a PN candidate, explained that higher freight costs translate into higher prices for the Maltese consumer and an impact on the jobs in these industries.