PN will invest in attracting AI and new space sector, announces plan for Cultural Port District

The Nationalist Party issued proposals for two economic sectors on Wednesday, pledging to invest €12 million into the AI, data and new space sector, and €350 million in a Cultural Port District project.

The first proposal aims to build the AI, data and new space economic sector in the country.

PN Leader Alex Borg said that investment in this sector will create added value, quality jobs which would also have a ripple effect on the economy in general and leave more funds in people’s pockets.

The PN’s investment in this sector, he said, would guarantee an influx of Foreign Direct Investment. “Companies which use satellite connection, data from space, navigation systems and AI that offer new services,” he said. “According to the European Space Agency, this sector’s global market generated €400 billion over the years.

The PN’s plan is, if elected to govern, to invest €12 million over five years in this sector. Mr Borg said that this investment would generate around €100 million over a period of five years in the Maltese economy.

After 10 years, the sector would be expected to continue generating around €200 million per year, he added.

PN MP Jerome Caruana Cilia elaborated further and said Malta would attract FDI from companies that use data and geospatial connections to create software with AI, data and new services for the international market such as ones which build automated solutions for farmers.

He said it would create quality jobs, such as specialized engineers, AI specialists as well as experts in cybersecurity, law, finance and insurance.

The PN would pass a law regarding space activities, set up a central unit for the sector and would invest for Malta to achieve European Space Agency Associate Member status in the shortest time possible, Mr Caruana Cilia said.

“At the same time we will continue integrating this sector in university, MCAST and the private sector, including with more training in AI, engineering and other sectors.”

The PN’s second proposal is to strengthen the creative economy.

The aim, the PN Leader said, is to create quality jobs for artists, bringing more foreign investment and growing economic activity tied to this sector, while also strengthening the cultural identity of the country.

He said that what the PN is unveiling is one measure from a number the PN has for artists. The PN would launch a massive project called the Cultural Port District, which would cost €350 million, Mr Borg said.

It will consist of a large project in Marsa and around the Grand Harbour, that would turn this zone into a national centre of culture.

This project would involve primarily investment in two buildings, a National Hall and the Marsa Expo Centre.

The National Hall would consist of a national complex that serves as a permanent residence for the National Philharmonic Orchestra, designed also to host opera, ballet, dance and artistic productions on a large scale.

The Marsa Expo Centre would be used as a primary facility for events, conferences, exhibitions which would cater for cultural events on an enormous scale, Mr Borg said.

Through the investment in the Cultural Port District project, this economic niche is expected to generate €110 million a year, Mr Borg added.

PN MP Julie Zahra gave more details, and said that the project will include spaces of training, cultural production facilities, promenades and public spaces around the coast, civic spaces.

The multipurpose national hall will have maximum capacity of 1,700 people and will include a secondary theatre with a maximum capacity of 600 people. It will also include a flexible blackbox space, and have recording facilities, dance studios, technical workshops, backstage infrastructure, and cultural production facilities, she said.

The Marsa Expo Centre will be a national platform for conferences, exhibitions, summits and large events that would generate economic activity year round and attract quality tourism, she said. It will have a maximum capacity of around 15,000.

She said the PN also thought to have efficient mass transportation connecting Marsa, the Grand Harbour and the surrounding urban zones.