THE VOICE OF BUSINESS

Marisa Xuereb

Marisa Xuereb has been a member of the Malta Chamber of Commerce for over 20 years, becoming more engaged when she joined the council a little over six years ago. Thus, she was asked to join the management board during her second term in the council. Having recently reached a new milestone on the 24th of March 2021, in which the council elected her as president of the Malta Chamber 2021-2023, Lyndsey Grima caught up with Marisa to talk about the economy's strengths, struggles and how Malta can remain an attractive location for business.

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Ms Xuereb, you, and the Chamber are known for doing your utmost to strengthen 'the voice of business'. So, how do you ensure that is done?

I believe that to be a strong voice; you need to be a very attentive listener. The Chamber listens very carefully to what our members have to say through several business sections, thematic meetings, surveys, and visits to our staff and Council members. We also engage with many other stakeholders, whether policymakers, regulators, educational institutions, academics, diplomats, or foreign investors. Through this active engagement, we gain insights that can help our members map their future. We then forward the ideas and aspirations of our members. We try to stay ahead of the curve, anticipating what the following challenges are likely to be so that we can make solid proposals that are taken seriously on behalf of our members. And we communicate as widely as we can, with frequent engagement with the press that generally appreciates the work we put into our position papers and statements.

You have previous experience in the manufacturing industry, as well as a degree in economics. That is quite a combination! Do you think this has been a significant factor in helping you to understand local businesses' needs?

Admittedly, not too many economics graduates settle into the manufacturing industry. However, I've been working in a manufacturing FDI for almost 25 years, and it's one of the widest windows you can have on business, not just locally but also internationally. You're constantly facing competitiveness issues because your customers and suppliers are mostly overseas, and you need to keep venturing into more sophisticated products to maintain your market share. You're dealing with foreign investors all the time, frequently travelling to visit plants in other countries, and you can have an objective view of the local economy. The academic background in economics helps rationalise thoughts and know when people tell fairy tales or talk sense. It also makes certain technical reports much easier to read, understand and apply to the local scenario.

You are the second female president of the Chamber, after Helga Ellul. Have you ever experienced challenges related to gender? 

I have experienced all sorts of challenges, and maybe some were gender-related, but I’m not in the habit of dwelling on these things. Also, some people may not be used to dealing with a woman in specific roles. Still, experience has taught me that if your thoughts are clear and you communicate them with conviction, you will gain people’s respect, and they will get over any gender biases they might have.

"I believe that to be a strong voice; you need to be a very attentive listener.

Good governance, sustainability, technology, and people are the four essential economic pillars. Do you think they are being prioritised enough? If not, what is lacking and why? 

These four pillars are the basics of any functioning economy today. We need to understand more about the long-term goals and how what we do today sets us up for success or failure tomorrow. There is a lot of low hanging fruit that we overlook. We spend a lot of money on education, but we have very mixed results. We struggle to attract youngsters to pursue technology-based careers when we know the future is technology-driven. We talk about sustainability all the time, but most of the population does not know what it means. And we have politicised good governance to the point that it's become a divisive topic. It seems like we're burying our heads in the sand all the time because we do not want to implement any policies that set boundaries of any sort.

As foreseen, the pandemic hit businesses tremendously, most notably the tourism and catering industry. Summer months are usually a strong point for businesses. Were there any improvements over the last couple of months?

Yes, the vaccines work, and as countries improved their vaccination rates, tourism started picking up. But, of course, we are nowhere near where we were in 2019 because many people continue to be cautious about travelling. In addition, our policy concerning incoming tourists under 16 years of age has meant that families with children could not travel to Malta. Nevertheless, suppose numbers remain under control in Malta and other European countries; in this case, the winter season can be decent, especially if the vaccine starts becoming accessible for under 16s in other countries.

You were the first high-profile person in Malta to suggest robot workers solve staff outages in restaurants. How was that perceived? Do you think our workforce is ready to take up these new jobs?

The digitalisation of those jobs that a robot can efficiently perform is one area where we tend to bury our heads in the sand very quickly. Greece now has robots sorting its parcels. We will see more of these developments in several industries in other countries. When you talk about robots here, people start fearing they'll lose the jobs they don't want to do anyway, and entrepreneurs are reluctant to invest in technologies they do not understand well. We, therefore, need to start piloting these technologies with some financial assistance from the government. But it is politically challenging for the government to support financially initiatives that may be perceived to be a threat to jobs.

We talked about businesses struggling during the pandemic. However, some also rose to the challenge, expanding their businesses digitally and allowing employees to work remotely. Do you think that is an advancement that is here to stay?

The experience of remote working has been varied, mainly depending on the preparedness of each business in terms of software, hardware, skills, mindset and corporate culture. For example, companies that were already cloud-based and could supply their workforce with appropriate hardware had smooth transitions quickly. Likewise, those with a skilled workforce and a strong leadership mindset, whereby employees feel they can manage themselves, did well.

 Those who relied heavily on physical supervision suffered greatly. Hybrid is likely to be the long-term solution as most employees who can do their job from home are valuing the flexibility of remote working but have become acutely aware that there is an important social aspect to being part of an organisation, and that nurturing requires being physically present at the office, at least a couple of days a week.

What's next for the Chamber of Commerce? How will it aid businesses towards the path of recovery? 

The primary mission of the Chamber of Commerce is to ensure that Malta remains an attractive location for business and that the businesses that operate in Malta remain competitive and resilient. This means that we must constantly encourage businesses to make smart investments that will enable them to be more efficient, have a more capable and productive workforce, and be prepared to meet future obligations of environmental sustainability and good governance.

It also means that we need to help those businesses that have exhausted their growth potential locally to extend their market overseas. For businesses to do all this, the country must have a good talent pool to tap into, the proper infrastructure in terms of energy, transport and communications, an efficient public service, a justice system that works, and an international reputation that sells. Much of this depends significantly on how the country is run. Therefore, we are constantly pushing the government to improve our educational system, our infrastructure, our public service and the functioning of our institutions, and the positioning of our country internationally.

So, while we help many individual businesses that request assistance on issues, most of what we do aims to improve the business environment for everyone. Members of the Chamber of Commerce do not just have access to the broad range of services and networking opportunities that we offer. They are also actively contributing to a better future in Malta, and this is something that our business community is very proud of.

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