Labour government will guarantee infrastructure to facilitate business

Labour MP Chris Cardona reiterated the Opposition's call for less bureaucracy, which is stalling investment. He pointed out that the World Bank's doing business report confirmed that Malta is the most difficult place to do business in Europe.

Cardona noted that bureaucracy and slow-paced procedures are discouraging investment and stressed that a new Labour government will guarantee "stability and an infrastructure which does not block investment."

He said: "Malta placed last out of the eurozone countries, with all other countries achieving a substantially better ranking than Malta."

The recently published report places Malta 102nd out of 185 economies surveyed by World Bank

Cardona underlined the findings of the report which says that starting a business, access to credit, dealing with construction permits, access to utilities and enforcing contracts have made Malta the least business-friendly country in the eurozone.

Malta placed 176th in getting credit facilities, 167th in construction permits, 150th in starting a business, 121st in enforcing contracts and 111th in access to electricity.

The MP said while the process to start up a business in Singapore lasts three days, in Malta it takes 40 days.

"Even worse, while in Singapore it takes 130 days to enforce contracts, the same process in Malta requires 40 procedures and 505 days to complete," Cardona added.

"The appeal of businesses and industry is very clear: leave us alone to work," Cardona said, as he explained that are simply demanding less bureaucracy and faster processes to enable them to generate growth.

He explained that a new Labour government will reduces excessive bureaucracy and expenses for business while addressing the energy challenges faced by businesses and attract more value added industries and encourage research and development.

Asked what kind of industries a new Labour government will attract, Cardona said: "We will not exclude any industry.  The manufacturing industry is on the up all over Europe and we do not exclude anything, including textiles."

While saying that a new Labour government will build on the positive initiatives undertaken by the Nationalist administration such as micro-investment schemes and Business First, it will speed up Mepa permits, fill in trade gaps on the current educational system and address the slow procedures in starting up businesses.