For the average Maltese, there would have been little new in the four-minute video that preceded Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi's speech at the World Investment Conference that opened yesterday at La Baule in France.
The foreign companies that have invested in Malta or who will do so in the near future, including Tecom Investments through SmartCity, are household names here.
However, to the audience of hundreds of European CEOs, the message of the video underlined the key points that emerged from the conference: that Europe can adapt and become more attractive to foreign direct investment (FDI).
The annual conference, first held in 2002, is organised by the Europe+ foundation, founded by Ernst and Young and the PGA Group. Every year, Ernst and Young present the findings of their European Attractiveness Survey.
This year it found that Europe remains the most attractive region for FDI although its attractiveness declined in 2007. The services sector attracted 60 per cent of FDI, compared with 48 per cent in 2004. Software and business services represented a quarter of the total.
Other interesting facts to emerge were that intra-European investment remains strong, representing half of the FDI flows, but that investment is growing rapidly from Brazil, Russia, India and China, for so long seen as the destination of FDI and not the originators.
(A detailed report on the European Attractiveness Survey will be carried in The Times Business next Thursday.)
Dr Gonzi departed many times from his prepared speech yesterday to talk about Malta's progress from a low-cost manufacturing base to a service provider, citing the recent closure of VF as tangible proof of the challenge. He stressed that Malta had no natural resources which meant it had to use what it did have: its people.
"People often say to me that they hope we find oil in Malta. I say to them that oil is finite... But the human brain is infinite. This is why it is so important to invest in education and training," he said.
He also commented on Malta's forthcoming entry into the eurozone, saying that fulfilling the Maastricht criteria would make Malta more attractive for investors.
"No investor would risk investing in a country where a government might be forced to introduce taxes to bring under control its debt or deficit," he said.
Also present at the conference were Mitts chairman David Spiteri Gingell and Malta Maritime Authority chairman Marc Bonello, who were on workshop panels in the afternoon, as well as Malta Enterprise chief executive officer Chris Falzon.
Addressing a press conference for the international media in the afternoon, Dr Gonzi said many of the top businessmen attending La Baule had been to Malta on a familiarisation visit last autumn.
"So they already knew Malta but I sensed that, since then, our profile has risen even higher. Our decision to join the eurozone sparked considerable interest and was raised both during my bilateral meetings and the informal meetings that are such an integral part of this sort of event.
"Quite apart from the fact that joining the euro will mean less transaction costs and exchange rate risk, it has also sent an important message to investors certifying that our economy is growing and that future projections are also very positive," he said.
Dr Gonzi reiterated his belief in the need to look at the potential of Africa, noting that even China was taking an interest in the continent.
"During the meeting yesterday about the Euromed, I said that the EU had started off 50 years ago as a commercial project, through the coal and steel industries. I believe that EuroMed could mirror this success. Partnerships do work - for the benefit of all the partners."