The Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association (MHRA) said that it firmly believes that Government has one clear mission – to ensure that Malta keeps winning.

Over the past weeks MHRA has called upon the PL and the PN executives to understand that Governmen’s role must be the support for the engine of the economy, and not the engine itself. Mr Tony Zahra, MHRA President re-affirmed that “civil society needs to be more participative in the running of the country since the consequences of mistakes at this level can easily be seen through the disastrous state some of our neighbouring economies are in today.”

“Accordingly, MHRA as a major stakeholder of the economy prepared the following key strategic principles for consideration by political parties to include in their manifestos as a commitment towards all Maltese citizens to ensure that Malta keeps on winning through: job creation, economic growth, and long-term prosperity:”

1. Reinvent Government: MHRA’s call is to systematically embark upon a re-engineering programme of business processes across public organisations to ensure that they become reflective of today’s technological developments, demands by entrepreneurs, citizens’ needs, demographic and social realities and available public funds. The resulting new structures and processes must be complemented by policies in various fields that complement each other and be spearheaded by competent public officers who are well trained to perform assigned tasks according to positions held. MHRA believes that a new Government should further embrace corporate governance practices mainly related to: a) Fiduciary/Fiscal Accountability; b) Managerial Accountability; and c) Programme Accountability.

2. Support Entrepreneurs, Innovators and Research: MHRA acknowledges that to-date Government has a strong record of support for entrepreneurship, research and innovation but according to MHRA Malta can and must do better on this front by: a) Increasing access to funding for research and development by small and medium sized companies; b) further refocusing the operations and structures of Malta Enterprise, MEPA, MCESD and other relevant public authorities to further support businesses to develop innovative products and services; c) enhancing access to venture capital financing by high-growth companies so that they have the capital they need to create jobs and grow; d) inculcating a culture amongst youth that appreciates the value of these factors; e) supporting research, education and training with new funding for universities, institutes and research institutions.

3. Encourage Sustainable Development: MHRA acknowledges that over the past years Government has worked to streamline and improve regulatory processes however, more needs to be done. MHRA believes that the new Government needs to commit to further reforming the regulatory system related to the sustainable development of our infrastructures so that reviews are conducted in a more timely and transparent manner, while balancing between the need to safeguard our environment, responding to social realities and sustaining economic priorities. This will increase business confidence and enhance investment and job creation.

4. Support and Promote Export Opportunities: Since Malta joined the European Union, trading opportunities with EU members states and trading partners have opened and triggered economic growth. New opportunities have also been created with North African countries in particular those who have gone through the Arab Spring Revolution despite difficulties related to political and economic stability still exist. Accordingly, MHRA believes that the new Government must intensify efforts to support local entrepreneurs to export their products and services by further: a) re-focusing current incentives and efforts on this front; b) incentivizing the setting up of high value added manufacturing operations and multinational service providers such as those operating in ICT and financial services; c) supporting local entrepreneurs who aim to grow their operations by offering them easier access to industrial land which can be organised into specific clusters to facilitate co- operation and synergy.

5. Invest in Training, Education and Opportunity: MHRA calls on the new Government to better utilise Malta’s workforce and make Malta’s labour market more adaptable as this will help ensure Malta’s long-term economic growth. MHRA believes that the following strategic actions will ensure further success on this front; a) re-focus investment made in capital to support the delivery of training and education towards innovative initiatives and projects to assist more young people in gaining tangible skills, competencies and experience; b) further promote schemes that aim to connect workers to potential employers who can offer better employment opportunities; c) further invest to enable more Maltese with disabilities to obtain work experience within small and medium-sized businesses; d) introduce a number of targeted, common-sense changes to Employment National Insurance (NI) to make it a more efficient programme that promotes job creation, removes disincentives to work, supports unemployed Maltese and quickly connects people to jobs; e) ensure that working opportunities complement the requirements to ensure the preservation of a strong family nucleus in our society and economy.

6. Ensure a Sustainable Social Programme and a Secure Retirement: MHRA believes that the new Government has to take concrete steps to ensure sound public finances by reviewing policies and operations to ensure fair and sustainable funding in support of the provision of health care, education and other services for all Maltese. According to MHRA social programmes must be generous for those members of society who qualify for assistance due to circumstances which go beyond their direct control, but radically reduced for those who are not productive in the economy by not actively participating in available opportunities. Furthermore MHRA believes that the new Government should embark upon a structured programme to incentivize citizens to opt for private services in the fields of education, health and other sectors including pensions. Indeed MHRA believes that the new Government must address with a sense of urgency the Pensions Policy and embark upon its implementation in the coming five years.

7. Recover the Sustainability of our Energy Sources: MHRA is not satisfied with the manner the Enemalta issue is currently being handled so we are calling upon the new Government to extract it from the governing establishment and delegate it to an independent technocrat body to ensure the sustainable recovery of our main energy source.

8. Sustain Tourism for Growth: MHRA has on various occasions this year commended all stakeholders, including the entrepreneurs, the Ministry for Tourism, the Malta Tourism Authority, Air Malta and the Malta International Airport and others, for their concentrated efforts to ensure a record year for the Tourism Industry. More significantly, the success achieved over the past year by the local tourism industry contributed to positive results across the wider economy. But this is a game that never ends. Whilst it is important to celebrate success for the achievement of positive results, MHRA reminds all that the local tourism industry is highly sensitive to any changes in the economic, social, environmental, technological and political spheres. Also, MHRA’s greatest concern is that increasing costs are leading to serious sustainability issues which in the medium term may hamper the tourism industry and in the long term cripple it.

Therefore MHRA believes that the new Government needs to:

1. Restore sustainability in the hospitality industry by;1) increasing arrivals in the shoulder and the winter period to give increased revenues without increasing costs; 2) lowering the utility rates by 4 cents a kilowatt; 3) reducing VAT from the hiked up 7 per cent to the original 5 per cent.

2. Sustain Tourism Product Development by; allocating adequate funding to MTA so that it is sufficiently empowered to increase seat capacity from underserved markets, particularly in the winter and shoulder seasons. MHRA is also urging the new Government to respond better to the needs of small businesses in particular small hotels and restaurants which are growing in presence and also in importance to the general economy.

The MHRA also acknowledges that a number of EU funded projects have and will continue to see to the upgrading of the product, particularly in relation to rehabilitation of heritage sites and other amenities, new road infrastructure and landscaping, and the organisation of popular events. MHRA supports Government in pursuing this line of direction however it must also address the maintenance and up-keep of public areas and infrastructures.

Other related proposals in this context relate to actions that aim to: strengthen the internal transport function; invest in the development of new and upkeep of current beaches; encourage innovation in the tourism industry; ensure safety and security; sufficiently empower and fund Local Councils as key stakeholders of the tourism industry; and conserve and promote traditional local crafts;

3. Grow Accessibility by; pursuing with its support in the restructuring process of Air Malta. Concretely, MHRA reiterates that Air Malta must retain its role in the economy and accordingly hold a very strong share of the tourism market. The restructuring process however must also happen in tandem with initiatives that support Low Cost Carriers (LCC). Complementing these actions the new Government also needs to address with urgency issues related to the issuance of visas to tourists coming from non-Schengen countries which has become a stumbling block to further growth in new markets.

4. Invest in People by; supporting initiatives that aim to upgrade their skills and hence enjoy better career prospects and working/wage conditions.

5. Ensure Fair Competitiveness by; addressing issues like unlicensed tourist accommodation and catering activities. Such illegal operators are not only competing unfairly against fully licensed operators since they are not incurring Government induced costs emanating from regulations in this sector but also posing a serious health and safety risk to consumers.

6. Support Investment in Green Technology and Practices by; supporting private investment in this field through appropriate incentive schemes. Equally important however MHRA appeals to Government to take appropriate stock of its operations and lead by example on this front.

7. Create a Tourism Satellite Account (TSA) by; introducing a TSA during the next legislature as this will prove to be a very important tool to support the decision making process.

MHRA President Tony Zahra stressed on the predominant role the tourism industry plays, in terms of economic growth rate, gross value added and employment, and how the benefits of an increase in both tourist nights and turnover in restaurants will percolate down to the various economic strata and increase substantially Government revenue.

“MHRA’s call to the new Government to invest further in the Tourism Industry is warranted since as it has been demonstrated from past experience that tourism has a very positive multiplier effect, and that an increase in tourist arrivals will positively impact the general economy. The opposite also holds true – less tourists will lead to less expenditure and hence a decline in Government’s income!”

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