Malta - A quality financial centre

Malta has been assessed and promoted as a quality financial centre based on a number of factors. These indicate the attractiveness, competitiveness, reliability and consistency when doing business in Malta. We have used five key competitiveness areas to describe what doing business in Malta is about: people, business environment, market access, infrastructure and general competitiveness. These are explained below.

People factor
The people factor considers the availability of good personnel, the flexibility of the labour market, business education and the development of ‘human capital’. Research highlights this factor as the single most important factor in financial centre competitiveness and attractiveness.

Business environment factor
The business environment factor looks at regulation and also tax rates, levels of corruption, economic freedom and the ease of doing business. Regulation, a major component of the business environment, is currently cited as a decisive factor in jurisdiction competitiveness.

Market access factor
The market access factor examines the clustering effect of having many firms involved in the financial services sector together in one centre as well as international access through various other means.

Infrastructure factor
The infrastructure factor is mainly concerned with the cost and availability of buildings and office space, although we are seeking reliable indicators to broaden its scope.

General competitiveness factor
The general competitiveness factor, the concept that the whole is ‘greater than the sum of the parts’ considers overall competitiveness levels of centres and how countries are perceived as places to live.