Microsoft meeting moved from Pittsburgh to Malta

About 150 top executives from Microsoft are meeting in Malta in what Information Technology Minister Austin Gatt described as a clear signal of the global IT leader's interest in the island.

Dr Gatt said the annual meeting was originally scheduled to be held in Pittsburgh, but Jean-Philippe Courtois, chief executive of Microsoft Europe, Middle East and Africa, decided to relocate it to Malta following the agreement signed between the company and the government.

It was clearer than ever that Microsoft perceived Malta as a country in which it could invest, Dr Gatt told a news conference at the Westin Dragonara.

Microsoft will be investing an estimated Lm20 million in Malta over the next three years after the corporation and the government agreed to join forces on a number of short and long-term initiatives.

A Microsoft academy was set up earlier this month, while the corporation donated thousands of editions of Encarta, a leading educational software package.

Dr Gatt said the government's strategy was three-pronged: to establish an information society element by introducing wide-ranging accessibility; to increase the use of information and communication technology, and to establish Malta as a region of excellence in the sector.

He said EU membership provided Malta with a golden opportunity to tap into research and development funds, especially where the sixth framework protocol was concerned.

Together with Slovenia and Estonia, Malta had been formally notified by the European Commission that it would no longer be classified as a candidate country, but would be considered alongside member states for its eligibility to the eEurope Plus programme.

The programme is intended to accelerate the reform and modernisation of member states' economies through the use of information society technologies and tools.

This, Dr Gatt said, was evidence of the vast improvements made in the sector in Malta, which was now on a par with EU countries.

Mr Courtois said Microsoft's agreement with the government, signed last February and which covered 10 points of implementation, was a far-reaching one.

The government was way ahead of schedule in implementing these initiatives and by June should have executed the remaining projects - the access to source-codes and XP localisation.

Mr Courtois hailed Malta's advance in the sector, saying the island could become a hub within the EU.

He also praised the prime minister's decision to appoint an IT minister in the new cabinet.

Microsoft's trust in Malta was so great that the corporation was seeking to hire a local representative, Mr Courtois said.