6 - 12 January 2000

'Confidence being restored' - New Chamber President

by Anthony Manduca

The newly elected President of the Chamber of Commerce, John Sullivan, has said that confidence was gradually being restored in the Maltese economy. Interviewed by The Malta Business Weekly, Mr Sullivan said: "Levies are being removed. We have a time-frame for membership negotiations with the EU. Uncertainty is decreasing. We have set a target date for the reduction of the deficit. I believe that confidence is being restored."

Mr Sullivan said that while government-backed large projects will help the economy, it would be wrong to depend on such projects to kick-start the economy. "The private sector will have to achieve that," he said.

He made it clear that the most important priority during his term of office was the question of Malta's EU bid. Mr Sullivan said that it was important for the Chamber's different trade sections to advise the Council of the Chamber how to best persuade the government to obtain the best possible conditions in entering the EU. "We must ensure that the Malta-EU membership issue is won by the 'yes' lobby and so it is important for a good package to be obtained by Malta," he said.

Mr Sullivan said he was in favour of a merger between the Chamber of Commerce and the Federation of Industry. "Over the past two years we have had very good relations with the FOI and there exists an ongoing dialogue between us. I am in favour of a merger as I believe that it is very important for all employers to speak with one voice. The time has come for all of us to realise this," he said.

The new Chamber President said he was certain that once the protective industrial levies started to be removed, prices of imported items would begin to decrease, "all other things being equal".

Mr Sullivan said it was important for the government to make a great effort at restructuring the public sector. "I do not believe that the answer is to sack public sector employees as the social consequences for a country the size of Malta would be far too great. However, all public sector employees must give a full day's work and be more productive," he said.