Editorial

The Malta Trade Fair Corporation is holding 18 fairs at its grounds in Naxxar this year but, as the corporation's general manager has pointed out, much of the land available to it is only used for 15 days a year. As 50 of the 70 tumoli of which the grounds consist are rented, this means the corporation has a good deal of land for which it is paying good money annually without maximising its use and ensuring good value for money.

The government is keen on Malta's developing the management and use of fairs, and it now appears that it is ready to help the corporation buy the land not already owned by it, by giving tax and other concessions. This has encouraged the corporation to start negotiating the purchase, and it is possible that a contract may be signed in the autumn, if things go well.

The corporation has not revealed all that it is planning to do should the purchase be concluded, but it is certainly interested in going beyond its present policy of mounting business to consumer fairs by organising workshops that would bring foreign businessmen in contact with local ones. Such workshops would be a great help, especially to businessmen who do not do as much business travelling as they should in this day and age.

Fairs having consumers chiefly in mind will remain the corporation's core business. This is understandable, for both the international fair and the various specialised fairs have long been providing the canny individual purchaser in Malta with excellent opportunities for examining and comparing a wide range of products. Our manufacturers and importers look at the various fairs as high watermarks of their business cycle, as their heavy participation in them and the good business many of them do clearly show.

Some manufacturers regard local consumers as their main target market, and for these the traditional Maltese fair is usually good for business. Of course, this is not particularly so for those in export trade, at least up to now anyway, for although the fair is promoted as an international one, the flow of foreign buyers visiting Malta for the fair is as yet small, if not altogether insignificant.

When Malta joins the European Union, manufacturers would have better opportunities of tapping new markets in Europe. Malta as an EU member will also be in a better position than it has ever been before to act as a bridge to Europe for the countries of North Africa.

Indeed, Malta can well act as a portal for North African countries to the EU whether it is by developing joint enterprises with Maltese firms or by discussing business plans with European businessmen in the friendly environment that the fairs corporation would no doubt create once it feels it can make the substantial investment needed to make its workshop concept feasible.

If, as one hopes, the corporation's plans begin to take shape, the corporation should see that its fairs receive more and better publicity overseas, and that dates are announced internationally well in advance. The Mediterranean region is full of fairs of every kind, so the timing of the fairs need to be planned with great care if we are seeking to appeal much more to the businessman from the countries around us.