Following a long career in banking, Halmann Vella Group CEO Kevin Rapinett brings a wealth of experience to his position and leads this well-established business to continue delivering the service excellence for which it is known.
Looking towards the remainder of 2022, Mr Rapinett believes that this will be a year defined by uncertainty.
“The uncertain job market is a key risk to the economy right now. Suitably skilled workers have been the toughest to engage, following labour gaps created when foreign workers departed at the outset of the pandemic,” the Group CEO says.
“The manufacturing industry must respond by ramping up its reskilling and upskilling efforts, while collaborating better with outsourcing partners for non-core operations within the sector,” he continues.
Mr Rapinett forecasts that, this year, economic growth will likely remain driven by private consumption – though not without headwinds.
“Economic performance will hinge on supply chain bottlenecks and inflationary pressures from surging transport costs and commodity prices,” he adds.
“Businesses need to adapt to changing employee and customer priorities. We cannot bet too much on brick-and-mortar making a long-term comeback,” he concludes.
This article is part of the serialisation of interviews featured in MaltaCEOs 2022 – an annual high-end publication bringing together some of the country’s most influential business leaders.
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