Malta needs to exit comfort zone to achieve growth - Muscat

In an ever-growing competitive world, Malta needs innovative ideas to generate income and wealth, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said.

"The country needs money to fund its ambitious plans and this can either come from taxation or economic growth. Therefore we are launching innovative ideas such as the Individual Investor Programme (IIP). Other countries have set up similar schemes and Malta cannot stand still, we need to attract foreign investment to achieve economic growth."

The government expects to generate up to €30 million from the programme which will market Maltese citizenship to eligible investors, who must pay €650,000 for a passport.

Addressing representatives of the Malta Institute of Management (MIM), Muscat said that in its initial months the government had proved that it was "thinking outside the box" and insisted that Malta cannot overcome the challenges ahead by sticking to past methods.

He explained that Malta overcame past challenges by plucking up courage and taking risky decisions.

"Who would have imagined that Malta could successfully manufacture goods at a time when Malta was isolated in terms of transportation? Who would have imagined that Malta could successfully create a buzzing tourism industry in the sixties and a financial services sector in the nineties?"

He said that Malta cannot remain within its comfort zone to achieve growth, but "we need to be innovative."

Muscat added that the country needed to take it up a notch and improve the quality of service in all sectors, from most humble of professions to the most glamorous.

 MIM president Rueben Buttigieg said the government's first months in office were encouraging and expressed his hope that it maintains the current direction.

He stressed the importance of further investments in training and education and explained that the institute was focusing its efforts on training company secretaries and accountants.