CM sets up post-Covid-19 task force to plan for future recovery

Chief Minister Fabian Picardo has set up a task force aimed at focusing on Gibraltar’s post-Covid-19 future and “how we can best prepare ourselves for the re-opening of businesses all over the world.”

The task force will be led by Government Ministers Albert Isola, Vijay Daryanani and Gilbert Licudi, who will be tasked with evaluating and preparing Gibraltar’s private sector to be best positioned as and when the economy begins to return to normality, a statement from No.6 Convent Place said.

“The tourism, port, Financial Services and gaming sectors are all critical to our economy and it is important to develop a strategy to be triggered for each of these quickly and efficiently demonstrating Gibraltar is once again open for business,” the statement continued.

The team will engage with trade and business associations in the development of the strategy before reporting back to Cabinet with their recommendations.

Mr Picardo said Joe Bossano, the Minister for Economic Development will also be closely consulted by the task force, while other ministers are currently directly involved in the day-to-day management of the Covid-19 emergency.

“This task force will be looking at the future, how we emerge from the crisis at a business level, how we look for early opportunities and how we engage with the rest of the world going forward to ensure we take part in and take advantage of any stimulus measures deployed around the world,” Mr Picardo said.

“I have asked all three ministers to reach out to the Gibraltar business community and to relevant members of the Opposition to share ideas of how we take things forward for the benefit of Gibraltar as a whole.”

“Airlines, cruise companies, financial markets all need to be re-engaged and communicated with quickly to work through how best we can safely re-open business links to begin to trade once more.”

“The future will not be normal, and we need to understand what this will look like; the work needs to start now to assess how best we move forward.”

Mr Picardo said Gibraltar needs to be in people’s minds around the world when the time to start up again comes.
“That can be a key advantage for us and we need to be planning to be ready for that moment,” he said.

“There is no such thing as idle time, even now, as we can use time available to look up, look forward and look to make the most of what the future holds.”