Ronald Attard, EY Malta’s country managing partner
In the summer of 2019, we began preparing for our annual attractiveness event.
During this event we analyse direct investment (FDI), business and the Maltese economy. At the time GDP growth was the highest in Europe, unemployment was almost inexistent, and the overall economy was booming. Our survey indicated several challenges including a significantly weakened perception of the stability and transparency of Malta’s political, legal and regulatory framework; an ever-deepening skill shortage, and the consequences of overdevelopment.
At EY, we launched a campaign to harness technology in increasingly innovative ways to ensure a more inclusive society. Even back then we knew the growth we were experiencing was not destined to last forever unless we keep on changing and indeed whether growth itself should be the ultimate goal. In fact, for several years EY, and many in the international community, had spoken of the need to look beyond GDP as a measure of growth as it often fails to consider the environmental and social aspects of progress. We had in 2018 invited to our event, David Pilling from the FT and author of ‘The growth delusion’. At the start of 2020, we had high hopes to put this issue at the forefront of our work and advocate for a real change in approach.
Then COVID-19 struck. Our priority turned to ensuring our people’s safety and assisting clients in immediate danger. A few months on and the extent of the crisis is worsening internationally, many local and international businesses and whole industries are on life-support and we may just be passing through another phase which further threaten the livelihoods of many.
We even debated internally about what this meant for our vision to guide Malta and local businesses towards more long-term thinking at a time when many would be fighting to survive in the short-term.
We asked ourselves: how can we reset our future during the chaos of today?
Truthfully, even as we deal with the immediate impact of COVID-19, organisations must be thinking about how to thrive in a post-pandemic world. Building a better world beyond COVID-19 requires leaders to imagine the unthinkable.
In February 2020, it appeared unthinkable that the entire white-collar workforce of many countries would soon be working solely from home. It seemed unthinkable that air travel would plummet. It seemed unthinkable that our roads could be traffic-free. Of course, COVID-19 and the extraordinary response were not unthinkable – they just seemed that way to most of us.
Though the crisis seems to have been with us for a long time, the reality is the pandemic and its consequences will be with us for longer. It is likely to bring more changes in the months ahead that seem unthinkable now.
Is resetting Malta’s objectives for the long-term instead of short-term really that unthinkable?
The idea that something very different —a “new normal” or “great reset” to use the WEF terminology - lies on the other side of this devastating pandemic has entered the mainstream consciousness. There may after all be upside for our community in both economic and social terms of a new and more flexible way for working.
We need to anticipate not only what’s on the horizon, but also what lies beyond.
At EY we ask: what’s after what’s next?
Now, it is up to all of us to realise it.
The Malta Attractiveness Survey will be released next October during the highly anticipated Future Realised Week taking place between October 20 – 23. For more information and to register visit www.ey.com/en_mt/events/future-realised-malta-2020- and for any queries contact events@mt.ey.com.
Ronald Attard, EY Malta’s country managing partner
