It contains a commitment, for example, to reduce the burden of public sector expenditure on the productive areas of the economy, and targets a 6 percent reduction this year. It also provides new incentives for investment in R&D by the private sector and more generous allocations for the development of industrial areas. As far as the labour market is concerned, new training and placement programmes are envisaged for persons who lack skills and for the long-term unemployed, especially those interested in setting up their own business. There are also plans to establish a register for those seeking part-time employment, along with incentives that should encourage a greater take up of temporary employment as well as labour market participation after pension age. In the education sector, a wide range of measures are envisaged aimed at improving the quality of education. There are also plans to offer land to international educational institutions interested in developing campuses in Malta. This year will also see a record amount of funds allocated for higher education, including for the creation of an ICT faculty, the modernisation of science and engineering laboratories and additional investment in e-learning facilities. In this same area, a new ICT strategy has been launched which aims to establish Malta among the top ten Smart Islands by 2010. The strategy aims at improving further the ICT infrastructure, the diffusion of next generation applications and at creating the right environment for large projects that are in the pipeline, including the Smart City by Tecom Investments of Dubai.
This stability is underscored by our latest quarterly consumer credit panel data, which shows that total household debt burdens have remained relatively low by national standards and that mortgage delinquency rates are lower in the Syracuse region than in other parts of the state and nation. However, while the national recovery has started to gain some momentum in recent months, job growth in Syracuse has remained somewhat weak. To date, the region has regained only about a third of the roughly 13,000 jobs that were lost during the downturn. So the recovery has been disappointing thus far. Despite the weak overall job growth, the region continues to undergo substantial economic restructuring. And, in fact, many parts of the economy are growing. Most prominently, the business services sector has added about 2,000 jobs since the recession ended, and the leisure and hospitality sector has also expanded. As a result of the economic restructuring in Syracuse, health and education are now among the most important industries in the region, employing roughly a fifth of all workers. While the “eds and meds” sector experienced some job losses last year, it is generally less susceptible to downturns than other sectors of the economy, and expanded before, during and after the Great Recession. No doubt, the area’s many local colleges and universities play an important role in this regard. Syracuse’s colleges and universities deserve special attention because they are important regional assets that can help Syracuse continue to actively participate in the knowledge economy.