Strong Maltese group for China festival

Malta is expected to benefit from exposure in China through participation in festivities in Guangdong this July, which should be followed by 400 million viewers.

"China has enormous potential for Maltese investors," said Reno Calleja, president of the Malta-China Friendship Society, a voluntary organisation set up 30 years ago.

He augured that the Maltese authorities would follow suit and travel with business delegations in order to tap the opportunities available.

Malta has been invited by the Guangdong Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries to mark its 50th anniversary. A variety of talent, ranging from dance to a stamps and coins collection and Maltese food, will be showcased in China.

The committee of the Malta-China Friendship Society has been working on the organisation of the event for an entire year and has secured funding from the private sector. The Chinese Embassy in Malta, through Tang You Giang, has been instrumental in making the trip possible by offering accommodation to the 40-strong group attending the event.

Mr Calleja said it was one of the largest delegations to visit China.

"This form of publicity would have cost the Malta Tourism Authority tens of thousands of liri; it is now being provided for free as a result of the society's initiative," he said.

The MTA had decided not to support the initiative in March, but recently said it would be offering assistance - an offer the society was likely to take up.

It was thanks to the support of the private sector, including Emirates Airlines, that Malta could have such a strong presence in the event, Mr Calleja said.

The Msida Dance Centre will be sending 16 dancers to take part in the celebrations. They are being put up for free by the Guangdong Friendship Association, which is also providing Said International Ltd with a hall in which to mount and exhibit stamps and coins.

The festivities will include a 10-day Maltese food presentation at the Dong Fang Hotel, Mr Calleja said. The Westin Dragonara will be sending two of its top chefs and a pastry chef and Maypole Bakery director Mario Debono will do his utmost to introduce Maltese bread to China, hoping to enter the market and open a bakery in Guangdong, promoting Maltese cheesecakes and other delicacies in the vast country.

Mr Calleja has been doing the groundwork in order to find a partner in China to market Maltese bread.

Friendship associations were formed all over China in the 1950s when it was completely isolated from the West, Mr Calleja explained. The Malta-China Friendship Society was among the first to be formed, he added.