A report complemented by consultations with 18 social partners, 20 business leaders, 15 expert contributions, most being UM academics, and an economic survey with 385 participants, is making a series of research-based recommendations for a post-COVID-19 Malta.
The publication also aims to contribute to the national debate and stimulate business and policy leaders to embrace the future, while working towards a much-needed recovery plan anchored around a long-run vision for Malta.
Titled Agile: Perspectives on Malta’s economy post-COVID-19, the report is an initiative of SEED Consultancy, who believes agility is the key to determining winners in a post-COVID world.
Four UM academics, namely Prof. Vincent Cassar, Dr Stephanie Fabri, Dr Jonathan Spiteri from the UM’s Faculty of Economics, Management and Accountancy (FEMA) and Mr JP Fabri, A Visiting Lecturer at FEMA and the Centre for Distributed Ledger Technologies, helped co-author the report.
The report is composed of five sections:
• Section 1 delves into the nature of economic shock triggered by the outbreak of the epidemic, and then proceeds with tracing its impact on real economy;
• Section 2 stipulates that despite the huge challenges presented globally, Malta’s recent economic performance positions it well in terms of dealing with them;
• Section 3, which presents the results of an economic sentiment gauged from the survey, shows how employees are conscious of the negative impacts of the epidemic and are displaying flexibility;
• Section 4 includes a collection of curated articles on life after the pandemic, showing how consumer trends will change, technology will play a greater part in our lives and various other domains will have to adapt to a new normal; and
• Section 5 identifies the need to focus on a long-term national vision, citing “a multi-stakeholder and intertemporal approach as the right response to the crisis”.
The UM academics who pooled in knowledge from their area of specialisation for the compilation of this report are: Prof. Frank Bezzina, Dr Marie Briguglio, Dr George Zammit Vital Zammit, from (FEMA), Prof. Andrew Azzopardi and Prof. Josann Cutajar from the Faculty for Social Wellbeing, Dr Antoine Grima from the Faculty of Law, Prof Claude Mangion from the Faculty of Arts and Prof Alan Deidun from the Faculty of Science.
Prof. Godfrey Baldacchino, UM Pro-Rector for International Development and Quality Assurance, had this to say about the publication: “What a thorough piece of work, grounded in primary data collection, and covering most of the bases that one would need to address in a report of this nature: employment, fiscal, legal, social, economic, organisational/corporate. I am delighted to see so many UM colleagues across various disciplines contributing to this handy and timely document."
The report is available to download .
