
Why are the Maltese so competitive? - MiriamWeiner
http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20190107-why-are-the-maltese-so-competitive
======
kartan
> Year after year, followers of respective patron saints attempt to outspend
> and outdo their neighbouring parish in a contentious crusade for showmanship

It looks like a set of very bad habits. A place where signalling power and
wealth is more important than self-growth.

Malta is a tax haven and famous for the assassination of the anti-corruption
journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.*

All that does not hint a healthy society, but a society that needs to get away
from tribalism and embrace better ways.

* [https://www.theguardian.com/world/daphne-caruana-galizia](https://www.theguardian.com/world/daphne-caruana-galizia)

~~~
charlesdm
Small island nations (or smaller countries in general) don't have the muscle
large nations do. You're not going to build a production facility for cars on
Malta, for example.

There is nothing wrong with them having a beneficial tax system if it means
people will relocate and spend money there while paying (some) tax.

What does a country like Malta, Cyprus or Monaco honestly have to lose by
being a tax haven?

~~~
jpatokal
Dyson may have missed your memo: [https://cleantechnica.com/2018/10/23/dyson-
to-begin-construc...](https://cleantechnica.com/2018/10/23/dyson-to-begin-
construction-of-singapore-electric-car-factory-in-december-production-begins-
in-2021/)

~~~
eunos
Well Singapore is 10 times more populous though. Not to mention the strategic
location of Malacca strait.

~~~
Temasik
Oh and because of southeast asian culture

And Singapore is not as majority are Chinese/china culture

------
sorenjan
More than 12% of Malta's GDP is from online gaming [0]. Countless online
casinos advertise in other European countries, but are located in Malta due to
more relaxed rules and lower taxes.

[0] [https://calvinayre.com/2017/11/22/business/malta-gambling-
bi...](https://calvinayre.com/2017/11/22/business/malta-gambling-
biz-12-percent-economy/)

~~~
yazr
How does Malta's regulation help?

I presume if you want to accept German players u need to conform to German
rules. So how do these online casinos operate inside the EU ?

EDIT: also note that Malta population is 500K. So even one large unicorn can
shift the economy numbers.

~~~
sorenjan
Companies in Malta are subject to Maltese supervision, and thanks to the EU
the companies can operate in the rest of the EU as well. There's probably some
extra rules they need to follow in each country, I don't know the details.

The Maltese economy is full of money laundering, tax evasion [1, 2], mafia
[3], and other gray areas [4, 5] anyway. This article is a puff piece in the
travel section, so it's hardly the place for mentioning of the Panama papers
or journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia that was investigating online gambling
and corruption was killed by a car bomb in 2017 [6].

[0]
[https://ec.europa.eu/growth/sectors/gambling_en](https://ec.europa.eu/growth/sectors/gambling_en)

[1] [http://www.spiegel.de/international/business/dodgy-gaming-
bu...](http://www.spiegel.de/international/business/dodgy-gaming-business-
malta-plays-fast-and-loose-with-online-gambling-firms-a-1148929.html)

[2] [https://www.bbc.com/news/world-
europe-40026826](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-40026826)

[3] [https://www.occrp.org/en/thedaphneproject/how-maltese-
online...](https://www.occrp.org/en/thedaphneproject/how-maltese-online-
gambling-became-an-atm-for-the-italian-mafia)

[4] [https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/oct/16/tax-
evasion...](https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/oct/16/tax-evasion-oecd-
blacklist-of-21-countries-with-golden-passport-schemes-published)

[5] [https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2018-09-11/why-
the-e...](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2018-09-11/why-the-eu-is-
furious-with-malta)

[6]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daphne_Caruana_Galizia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daphne_Caruana_Galizia)

------
liotier
Same salaries as France, insignificant taxes, no social protection,
Californian weather... Young and healthy developer are happy there - older
people with families better stay away. Lovely tourism destination though !

------
jmmcd
The extravagance brings the potlatch
[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potlatch](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potlatch)]
and similar customs to mind.

