Malta must move away from an economic model heavily dependent on increasing its workforce and instead prioritise productivity, skills and quality of life, Malta Chamber President William Spiteri Bailey has warned.Speaking at the EY Future Realised Conference, Spiteri Bailey acknowledged that Malta remains an attractive destination for foreign investment but cautioned that the country’s economic weaknesses could undermine its long-term competitiveness.According to this year’s Malta Attractiveness Survey, 81% of investors consider Malta attractive for foreign direct investment, up from 79% last year.However, Spiteri Bailey warned against celebrating the headline figure without examining the challenges beneath it.“Malta is still attractive despite some of its weaknesses. We must now make Malta attractive because of its strengths,” he said.He pointed to significant shortcomings in infrastructure and skills, noting that investor satisfaction with transport and logistics infrastructure has fallen from an already low 18% to just 14%.Meanwhile, local skills received a rating of just 34%, while research and innovation continue to perform poorly.Spiteri Bailey argued that Malta’s economic growth has largely been driven by an expanding workforce rather than improvements in productivity, raising questions about the sustainability of the country’s current economic model.“What served us yesterday will not necessarily sustain us tomorrow,” he said.“We are a small island. Land, infrastructure and human resources are finite.”He insisted that the next phase of Malta’s economic development must focus on generating greater value rather than simply increasing economic activity through population and workforce growth.“The next chapter of Malta’s growth must therefore be about value, not volume.”Infrastructure was another major concern raised during his address, with Spiteri Bailey describing traffic congestion, overloaded roads, pressure on utilities and inadequate planning as direct costs to businesses.He warned that infrastructure was no longer merely an inconvenience but had become an economic constraint capable of slowing growth.Education and the availability of skilled workers also featured prominently in his speech.According to the survey, 69% of investors say they are still unable to find the specialised skills they require locally.Spiteri Bailey linked this problem to Malta’s educational performance, highlighting what he described as concerning results from the PISA 2025 assessments.He said Malta remains below the OECD average in science, reading and mathematics, with scores falling by 13 points in science, 27 in mathematics and 31 in reading since 2022.He also noted that almost three in every ten Maltese 15-year-olds are low performers across all three core subjects.“We cannot speak about becoming a high-value, knowledge-based economy while accepting weakening educational foundations,” he warned.“Today’s education outcomes become tomorrow’s productivity figures.”Spiteri Bailey also called for a more ambitious approach to technology, particularly artificial intelligence, which investors now identify as the sector with Malta’s greatest long-term growth potential.However, he cautioned against treating AI as simply another economic niche, arguing that its real value lies in improving productivity across different industries.He called on the government to lead by example through digitalisation that simplifies regulation, accelerates permitting processes and reduces unnecessary bureaucracy.“Technology that does not improve productivity is merely technology,” he said.Despite relatively strong investor confidence in the short term, Spiteri Bailey highlighted a concerning gap between immediate business intentions and long-term commitments.Around 90% of investors intend to maintain or expand their operations in Malta over the coming year, yet only around 60% can confidently say they expect to remain in the country in ten years.“Serious investors do not think in twelve-month cycles. They think in decades,” he said.He argued that Malta must do more than attract investment today, stressing the importance of creating the conditions that will encourage businesses to remain in the country over the long term.Quality of life was another central theme of his address, with Spiteri Bailey insisting that housing, mobility, the environment, planning, governance and public services directly influence Malta’s ability to attract investment and talent.“Quality of life is not separate from economic policy. Quality of life is economic policy,” he said.The Chamber President concluded by calling for concrete action rather than further strategies and reports, arguing that Malta’s biggest challenge is no longer identifying its problems but addressing them.“Malta does not suffer from a shortage of strategies, reports or visions. What we need now is delivery,” he said.He called for progress on infrastructure, skills, productivity, governance and digitalisation, warning that too much time continues to pass between identifying problems and implementing solutions.“The real test is not whether businesses choose Malta today. The real test is whether, ten years from now, they would choose Malta again,” he concluded.What do you make of Spiteri Bailey’s comments?•