19 - 25 April 2001

Gozo’s manufacturing industry not doing well

by Ivan Brincat

Short-term business indicators for the manufacturing industry in Gozo are totally different from trends being noticed in Malta.
Figures for Gozo, issued for the first time by the National Statistics Office, show that employment in the sector has gone down by one per cent, wages and salaries have gone down by 0.3 per cent, sales by 8.8 per cent and investment by 10.6 per cent.
The number of workers in the manufacturing industry decreased from 794 in 1999 to 786 in 2000 and the wages and salaries went down from Lm3.51m to Lm3.50m.
Total sales, according to the statistics went down from Lm15.56m to Lm14.19m while the level of investment went down.
Gozo Business Chamber President John Magro told The Malta Business Weekly that this showed that the sector was not functioning well in Gozo and the problem had to be addressed.
“Until a few months ago we did not have the statistics for Gozo except those which were presented by the Ministry of Gozo. The fact that the National Statistics Office is collecting information on a regional basis is very important not only for Gozo but for the whole country,” Mr Magro said.
“What happens is that the figures presented are normally those that suit the government of the day,” he said.
Mr Magro said if, as stated by the minister for economic services Josef Bonnici manufacturing in Malta was doing well, then there were valid reasons to call for Gozo to be made an island region. The Gozo Business Chamber is calling for Gozo to become an island region and therefore benefit from special concessions through the Business Promotion Act. “It is obvious that there is a need for an injection.”
Mr Magro said Gozo should have a preferential tax regime for some sectors of the economy.
Recent figures on tourism in Gozo also prove the importance of statistics made available on a regional level.
Mr Magro said one had to analyse the reasons why only four per cent of tourists who visit Malta choose to spend one night in Gozo. “This shows there is a problem and it also shows the extent of the problem. These statistics should persuade the authorities, in this case the Malta Tourism Authority, to address the matter in an aggressive way.”