’ speeches the early 1990s ( graph 7 ). these jobs are in health, education, personal services, retailing, finance, engineering, information technology, software design, telecommunications – the list goes on. in contrast, just over half a million jobs have been created in the so - called goodsproducing industries – manufacturing, mining, construction and utilities. and given the first trend, many of these jobs – both in the services and in goods - producing industries – have required higher levels of skills. graph 6 graph 7 bis central bankers ’ speeches it would seem, therefore, that our future is increasingly dependent upon high - level cognitive skills and our ability to understand and solve complex problems. it depends upon having people who are curious, who are able to grasp new opportunities and who are able to transform and interpret information in new ways. and it depends on having the interpersonal skills to provide the premium services that will attract the premium price. business practices everywhere are being reshaped and disrupted by developments in information technology. this is true not just in the service industries but also in manufacturing, with much of today ’ s innovative capital equipment as dependent on the software that runs it as it is on the quality and ingenuity of the physical engineering. how to best take advantage of this new world is not the core expertise of the central bank. but i would like to make three observations. the first is the importance of culture. the type of human capital that is likely to be required in this world is best developed in a culture that promotes and rewards innovation and excellence, whether it is in services, goods, resources or agriculture. 3 it is best developed in a culture that encourages entrepreneurship and for people to take a risk with a new idea. and it is best developed in a culture that promotes creativity and flexibility. developing and sustaining such a culture takes effort across a whole range of areas. so if we hope to make the best of our opportunities then we should all be asking what we can do here. the second observation is the importance of ensuring that our workforce has an appropriate mix of sophisticated skills to produce premium goods and services. these skills are those required to solve complex problems, identify new opportunities and deliver high - quality customer experiences. creativity – in all its dimensions – is a key element here. one of the areas that deserves close attention is the stem subjects – science, technology, engineering and mathematics. over the years, australia has done reasonably well here, but the share of year 12 students studying

onset of the global financial crisis in 2008, malta ’ s gdp increased by 18 %, whereas that of germany and the united kingdom rose by just 5 %, while that of the euro area as a whole contracted by 0. 5 %. bis central bankers ’ speeches chart 1 : real gdp growth by group of countries chart 2 shows the unemployment rate in the stressed and non - stressed euro area members and malta since 2005. over this period, malta ’ s performance has been quite distinct, outperforming the non - stressed countries, while having a declining trend since 2013. this year, at 5. 4 %, it is the second lowest in the euro area, after germany. chart 2 : unemployment rates by groups of countries chart 3 shows the employment performance. since 2008 employment in malta increased by around 18 %, compared with a rise of just under 3 % in the non - stressed economies and a contraction in employment in the stressed ones. in particular, the private sector employment growth rate averaged above 3 % per year over the past three years. bis central bankers ’ speeches chart 3 : employment growth by groups of countries of significant importance is the strong potential output growth, which has been supported by the robust dynamics in the maltese labour market. in its projections, the european commission had foreseen potential output growth in 2015 in excess of 3. 5 %, compared with around 1 % in the euro area as a whole, as shown in chart 4. in fact, according to the european commission, malta and germany were the only two member states in which potential gdp in 2014 had already exceeded its pre - crisis growth rate. chart 4 – potential gdp labour market participation is a critical factor supporting potential output, particularly the steady increase in female participation. this is further reinforced by inward migration, mostly from the european union. in fact, we estimate that in the period 2010 to 2014, migrant workers contributed to 0. 6 percentage point of potential output growth. it is important to recognise that the bulk of migrant workers are in managerial, professional and technical occupations, although there is a growing number of foreign workers in elementary occupations in the hotel and restaurant sector, and in clerical and other support duties. bis central bankers ’ speeches these workers enhance the human capital stock, bringing new skills and knowledge, while also helping to avoid bottlenecks in the labour supply in expanding sectors, including in tourism related jobs. the buoyant performance in output and employment has dampened concerns about macroeconomic imbalances. the current