CERCLE DIPLOMATIQUE - issue 01/2017

LE MONDE MALTA
WINNING
IN SHORT
TECHNOLOGY
Valletta 2018
– European
Capital of Culture
Mediterranean
dimension. Valletta,
together with the Dutch
city of Leeuwarden, the
capital of Friesland, will be
the European Capital of
Culture in 2018. Since the
capital of Malta is seeing
itself ”as a city that is a
symbol of Europe meeting
its Mediterranean
dimensions“, the
programme of events will
very much embrace this
broad approach.
Highlights. The
celebrations in 2018 will
start – no surprise – with
the ”Carnival“ which is one
of the oldest events in
Malta. February will see
the beginning of ”Modern
Music Days“ with ”Digital
Projections“ all over
Valletta‘s buildings. The
city will also host the
”Malta World Music
Festival“ and the
”Ghanafest“ and various
conferences like the one on
”Community Spaces“.
Especially interesting
might be the art project
”Presents of the Future“
which is run by Austrian
collective Time’s Up.
The logo of the Valletta
campaign for European
Capital of Culture 2018.
Top: The Rabat Catacombs, heritage of the times of megalithic
settlement between 3,600 and 2,500 BC. Below: The Malta
Aviation Museum, reflecting the importance of this industry.
Top: Cars with heavy fuel consumptions are something for hip
exhibitions, modern Malta counts on e-mobility. Below: Classic
architecture meets contemporary design in Valletta.
exports of some 10.6 percent in 2016, amounting for
some 161.6 million Euros of goods and services in
2016, a heavy surplus compared to imports of some
107 million Euros. And because the Vienna Airport
holds a share of 50 percent of the Malta International
Airport, Austria is a major investor in the country as
well. This is also due to a large investment of the Austrian
gaming giant Novomatic into the Dragonara Casino
at St. Julian‘s, one of Malta‘s touristic hotspots.
”Malta offers numerous advantages to foreign investors
which are worth to be explored“, says Azzopardi.
So what is the secret behind this Maltese success
story? ”We are saying that the market is not a bad
thing, that government should leave it to the private
sector to do what the private sector does best“, Malta‘s
Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, a social democrat heading
the government after a landslide election victory
of his Labour Party in 2013, recently told the ”Economist“
prior to the EU Summit. ”It needs regulation
(and) to intervene where there are market failures and
social issues, (but) the only credible way of developing
infrastructure, of investing, is by roping in the private
sector rather than being antagonistic to it.“
Hand in hand with this economically rather liberal
course, he insists that his government is putting forward
”pure social democrat ideas“ like universal free
childcare, for instance. ”We are the first country in
Europe, perhaps in the Western world, to introduce
that“, he proudly reports. ”That has unleashed the tremendous,
previously untapped potential of the female
labour force.“ Also, the government has lowered public
energy bills by 25 percent, managed to increase
pensions for the first time in 25 years or introduced
private sector key performance indicators in the public
sector, mainly in health care where the waiting list
for hospital surgeries could be shortened decisively.
”So we have not always reinvented the wheel, only managed
to put forward a few ideas“, Muscat says. „But it
is more a matter of mentality than anything else.“
For the realistic part of the growing number of
Malta watchers, this mixture of liberal economics guided
by a social democrat political framework – Muscat
relates a lot to the politics of Bill Clinton, Tony
Blair or Gerhard Schröder – is working well as a decent
explanation of the Malta miracle.
But the more romantic fans, like some historians as
well, have a very different version of the true secret of
this unique country. Just ask them, and they ask back:
Didn‘t you know, that Malta once has been the legendary
site of Atlantis? Indeed, that old spirit of luck
seems to be still around.
PHOTOS: MALTA TOURISM
Gaming innovation starts here.
This is what our brand ambassador Niki Lauda stands for. Because
above all, we owe our success as one of the leading international
gaming technology groups to our innovative strength. It is continually
developed at our headquarters in Austria, at our 20 technology centers
and 13 production sites worldwide, as well as through our collaborations
with leading technical universities.
More information on www.novomatic.com
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Cercle Diplomatique 1/2017