Malta's economy is expected to grow fastest among EU countries this year and next year, the European Commission said on Wednesday.

The economy is projected to grow by 5.3 per cent compared to a 1.2 per cent average in the euro area. Hungary and Poland come immediately after Malta with a growth forecast of 4.4%. 

Malta's growth next year is projected to be 4.8%, a full percentage point ahead of the next placed countries. 

Modernise, internationalise and institutionalise is the mantra of Malta Stock Exchange – precisely what its executive chairman Joseph Portelli is determined to achieve.

There is an air of excitement and innovation about the Malta Stock Exchange (MSE), as it works to shake off the image of a dull, boring exchange, focused solely on servicing its local market.

The financial services industry has been one of the main driving forces behind Malta’s economic success over the past 15 years and it is without a doubt that Malta’s European Union membership has been a major role player within this success story. Malta’s full EU membership ensures that the island is adequately equipped to provide a one-stop-shop service to any reputable entity and/or person who wishes to establish presence in Malta and/or passport in/out of the island (as the case may be). 

Central Bank governor Mario Vella has warned that Malta’s domestic labour gap can only be addressed by increasing female participation in the workforce, or else face increased reliance on automated workers and Artificial Intelligence.

In a speech that captured Vella’s introspective assessment of the far-reaching changes taking place in Malta, the CBM governor said Malta’s rising population and foreign worker influx was clearly leaving its effect.

Malta’s 30-year-old climate change initiative would never have gone ahead, according to its author, had he not been sat next to its main opponent on an eight-hour flight. 

“I had been trying to sit next to this man for six months but he would have nothing to do with me... when I found out he was in the airport VIP lounge, I made sure to get bumped up and then there was no escaping me,” David Attard told a University seminar yesterday.

Malta contains multitudes. Despite being the smallest member of the European Union, the Mediterranean archipelago below Sicily bears traces of numerous peoples and conquerors: Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, Spanish, French and, most notably, the European crusader knights known as the Order of Malta. Preachers (St.Paul), painters (Caravaggio) and politicians (Napoleon) have washed up on the rocky sun-roasted shores and left marks too. The Maltese language is close to Arabic (though English is the second official tongue).

MALTA’S CENTER UNTIL the 16th century, the golden-walled city of Mdina, sits on a hill with a view over its thick ramparts and across scrubby plains to Valletta, the current capital, and the glittering sea.

Malta has topped the eurozone’s economic growth charts during the first half of the year, data released by rating agency DBRS shows. With a growth rate of over five per cent, Malta ranked first, followed by Latvia and Slovenia. The average growth rate in the eurozone during the first half of the year stood at 2.3 per cent. DBRS said growth in the eurozone had a weak start to the year, but remained steady. “Growth was driven by household consumption and gross fixed investment.