Big thinking then, bigger thinking now

Back in 2019, an article we had released right before our annual flagship conference stated: “When people are empowered to collaborate, learn new skills and succeed in a changing world, they can drive an organisation’s success, no matter what challenges lie ahead.”

No matter what challenges lie ahead. Reading this last sentence back, three years on, a global pandemic and shutdown seemed like the most improbable challenge that was right around the corner.

Thinking back on this piece, one cannot help but wonder how our island’s thinking might have shifted over the course of such a globally destructive event.

Every October, for almost two decades, our firm welcomes 1,000 CEOs and leaders from the public and private sectors, alongside many foreign investors, to debate key global and local issues or opportunities around FDI, the economy, sustainability, skills, and technology. 

Three years ago, the October conference was called the Malta Attractiveness Event, which we have since rebranded to Malta Future Realised, and the question we had tackled was: how do we stay ahead of the competition?

For many of Malta’s CEOs, businesses and entrepreneurs, some answers quickly emerged in March 2020, when a pressing need to adopt the latest emerging technologies, implement digital and accelerate innovation at all levels became amply clear.

But now, after holding the conference virtually for two years, we’re thrilled to host it in person and this time even in our beautiful capital city, Valletta. However, it is against what I would say is a starkly different global backdrop to that of 2019.

For starters, on the pandemic front, locally, we are in a good place but may not be completely out of the woods. Global economies have been shaken up as governments propped up several industries for almost two years to maintain order and protect those most economically vulnerable. After a long road, we saw the light at the end of the tunnel, as vaccination programmes helped decrease health risks, but resurgent lockdowns keep happening.

Today, geopolitics and conflict on European soil for the first time in the 21st century have brought back the fears of war and the reality of unnecessary loss of human life, in addition to consequences that are reaching way past its borders.

With record inflation, impending recessions, rising energy costs, the advancing threat of climate change, weakened global cooperation, and a shifting global tax environment, we are once again living through extraordinary times.

How is Malta faring in all of this?

To answer this question, we need to look even further to the past. A tiny island on the periphery of the EU, Malta’s economy is resilient. It proved to be resilient during the pandemic, it was resilient during the 2008 global recession and, as local historians and economic experts have pointed out many other times, our nation has been able to pull through together in times of global turmoil.

But will Malta continue to be resilient?

With such unrelenting external forces, the answer here is not so clear-cut, and resting on our laurels will certainly not make it so.

It’s incredible to see that tourism is recovering, seeing the number of visitors reaching our shores nearing previous records. Government’s COVID-19 support measures over the last few years did a great job in helping keep business afloat, resulting in low unemployment. The last few years have also seen noticeable upgrades in our infrastructure and the removal of Malta from the FATF grey list, which is also positive.  

However, questions arise as to how much a miniscule island can endure before potentially downgrading the overall tourism product offering or lessening quality of life.

Does Malta need more people to grow or fewer to breathe? With a rising population, how can smarter infrastructure simplify getting from A to B? Does our passion for property stimulate growth or stifle it? Is a bigger economy always a better economy? And finally, should Malta play it safe or bold in times of economic uncertainty?

These are just some of the questions we will tackle during Future Realised. They are not easy questions and there is no silver bullet. We hope that by bringing together some of the greatest local and international minds under one roof, ideas will be generated and solutions will come to the fore.

We will also be releasing the results of the 18th Malta Attractiveness Survey, which gauges the sentiments of foreign investors currently here in Malta. These insights serve as a catalyst for real-world solutions, as we explore the hot topics: skill shortages, climate change, environmental sustainability, infrastructure, energy issues and so much more.

I am confident that with big thinking, just like in the past, the answers we will collectively come up with will help us overcome the challenges that might lie ahead, no matter what.

The Malta Attractiveness Survey and the economy will be discussed during EY-Parthenon’s Malta Future Realised Conference on October 18 at the Mediterranean Conference Centre. 

Ronald Attard is EY Malta and Cyprus country managing partner and CESA strategy and transactions leader.