A billion's worth

The projects announced by the Prime Minister last Wednesday with regard to the environment, tourism, industry, roads, education, health and employment mean that we shall be spending a billion euros to upgrade and support all these crucial sectors over the coming years.

Malta's membership of the European Union is not only about financial support for such projects but that kind of assistance is going to make a big difference in how we manage ourselves. The present government has single-handedly managed to secure EU membership, to comply with the necessary convergence criteria to be able to join the Eurozone on January 1, 2008, as well as to secure no less than €855 million as financing from the EU to be able to work on the projects that the country needs most.

To state that the government has managed to do all this single-handedly is an understatement, from the political perspective. The Labour Party opposed EU membership, and sought to put spokes in the wheel as we were making the point that we qualify to adopt the euro.

Anyone who chooses to forget the fundamentals of our contemporary political scene would be doing himself and the country a grave injustice.

The project areas announced last Wednesday do not provide an exhaustive list of all that will be covered through EU assistance but already offer us a clear indication of the benefits that are going to accrue to our country not only in an immediate manner but also in the long term.

When it comes to tourism, Government is allocating €120 million to upgrade our product. Projects include seeing to five different bays and preserving our cultural heritage. We shall be investing in tourism zones in Valletta, the Grand Harbour area, Mdina, Rabat, Dingli, Sliema, St Julian's, Paceville, Bugibba, Qawra, St Paul's Bay, Gozo, and in all the coastal zones. Our fortifications - which represent an incredible asset in their own right - will be conserved and maintained so that we can benefit from their full potential as tourism magnets.

I could go one step further and point out that every euro spent on whichever project or sector one can mention is a euro spent first and foremost for our own benefit as a people, but then in favour of the tourists who visit us or whom we would like to bring over.

That is our commitment and track record. Equally we are geared up to live up to the new challenges and opportunities that are resulting from that commitment and track record.

Registering success

We do not add any one of them to the number of tourists making it to our country. Nonetheless, receiving over 400,000 cruise liner passengers in one year is excellent news not only for the economy as a whole but also from the tourism perspective, since a number of these passengers may well opt to return to Malta for a longer stay.

VISET are achieving the targets which they set for themselves and this year are aiming for 435,000 passengers, a further 10 per cent increase over 2006 figures.

Going Pop... and more... and more

For the fourth consecutive year, our National Orchestra will be going pop. The event happens this coming weekend.

For this event, the National Orchestra will be made up of some 60 musicians who will be conducted by our versatile Sigmund Mifsud. A number of young singers will accompany the orchestra for this event.

The event forms part of a jampacked Summer 2007 Malta Arts Festival that offers three weeks of artistic and cultural events that are meant to appeal to people of different age groups and tastes.

I am confident that this event is encouraging more young people to turn up at other National Orchestra events that are held throughout the year. I am grateful to the chairman, board, musical director and all musicians who make up our National Orchestra and do us proud as a nation.

The first night of this event is happening two days after what is expected to be a major first for our contemporary events scene.

On Thursday, at the Granaries in Floriana, you are invited to be part of a major happening: the Isle of MTV - Malta Special. Top names in contemporary music - Enrique Iglesias, Acon and Maroon 5 - apart from our own Ira Losco and Winter Moods, will provide an unforgettable experience.

Entrance is free. Getting the best view of the stage and getting close to the performers depends only on making one's way as early as possible to what will be drawing thousands of young people to the happening.

It has not just come about. Other countries made their own bids to try to secure the MTV night and even offered the organisers more money than we did. Still, MTV opted for Malta and have chosen our historic backdrops apart from the sense of safety and hospitality that prevail in our country to project to the rest of the world.

Apart from the build-up promotion that we have had over the past weeks, MTV's experienced crew will produce an hour-long documentary on the Malta event to project on MTV stations in the coming months. The negotiated package also includes direct advertising to boost tourism to Malta in the shoulder months.

Throughout the past week, we've had a mix of blues, jazz and rock with performers including Robert Plant, the Australian Pink Floyd, and tonight it's Zucchero.

And more... and more... More has already been happening than space allows me to recall, and even more will be happening in the weeks and months ahead.

Also in Gozo

On Thursday, I crossed over to Gozo to follow a wonderful musical programme provided by the Brevis Quartet, which is made up of four young and talented musicians aged between 17 and 18.

The programme took place under the distinguished patronage of Dr Elizabeth Kehrer, the Austrian Ambassador, with the financial support of MIA and the Good Causes Fund. What is particularly praiseworthy is that this was but one of 28 different major events that have been organised under the enthusiastic and brilliant artistic direction of Mro Joseph Vella within the context of the Victoria International Arts' Festival, this year celebrating its tenth edition.

The different events have ranged from duos to symphony orchestra, tapping the creative genius of 121 composers from all over the world, and performed by world class artistes coming from as far away as Japan. A special tribute is due to different Maltese performers including, in particular the Laudate Pueri Choir, which on June 30 provided an inaugural concert to mark the completion of the illumination project at St George's Basilica.

The value added through the infinite amount of voluntary work put in by the organising committee, artistes, countless persons working behind the scenes, collaborators, and sponsors cannot be ever quantified enough to appreciate what the total cost of putting on such an impressive programme would have been like were it not for the energy, dedication, resourcefulness and creativity of all these players.

Together they offered us synergy that brought the different pieces together but above all offered us a genuine labour of love. As the foreword to the souvenir programme points out: "The warmth is generated by the tremendous energy that has sustained this cultural initiative for these last ten years and, God willing, will continue to do so."

I endorse that sentiment and appreciate that such initiatives deserve more of our own support and help.

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