Foreign Office engages diplomats to win more business

Malta's 27 ambassadors will return to the island this week to attend a three-day "high level" meeting aimed to arm them better to help foster international business contacts.

Themed 'Maximising Malta's network abroad', the event, between Wednesday and Friday, will focus on Gozo and tourism, the role of government agencies, and turn the spotlight on various regions within which Malta could do more business.

The ambassadors will be split into groups and visit 11 prominent plants and factories that best represent foreign direct investment in Malta and entrepreneurship with major international names.

Based at the Grand Hotel Excelsior in Floriana, the ambassadors will be hosted by the Foreign Affairs Minister Tonio Borg and will listen to presentations by the Gozo Business Chamber and Gozo Tourism Association, the Malta Tourism Authority, Finance Minister Tonio Fenech, Malta Enterprise, Finance Malta, and the Malta Financial Services Authority.

European Commissioner Joe Borg will give a presentation on Malta's five-year experience in the EU, Ambassador Ivan Fsadni will focus on the European region, Ambassador Vicki Ann Cremona on Africa and the Middle East, Ambassador Karl Xuereb on Asia and America, and Ambassador Christopher Grima on multi-lateral spheres.

Ernst & Young Malta partners Mario Galea and Ronald Attard will put the findings of the 2009 Malta Attractiveness Survey into perspective during their intervention.

Foreign Office communications co-ordinator Melvyn Mangion told The Sunday Times that the meeting aimed to update diplomats on the work being done to support local businesses in their bid to internationalise or identify suitable partners for joint ventures overseas.

The event would also serve to familiarise ambassadors better with the resources, facilities and frameworks that are available to business and industry so that they can play a more significant role in attracting business to Malta.

The meeting fell under the Foreign Office's strategy to rope in diplomats further as Malta works to win more business, he added.

Mr Mangion said Malta's diplomats have already assisted more business people than usual so far this year: in five months alone, over 250 Maltese businesses contacted embassies in their bid to seek foreign partners in a cross-section of sectors.

In any year, around 200 contacts are made.

Maltese firms expressed interest in sectors like IT, construction, pharmaceuticals and textiles. Businesses made enquiries about both import and export opportunities, and turned to Maltese embassies in a variety of markets including Libya, Tunisia and Spain.

Meanwhile, Malta's honorary consuls have been given the opportunity to comment about the advantages and disadvantages Malta presented as they worked to attract investment to the island. Over 100 of 120 consuls submitted their views.

In a questionnaire distributed in May by the Foreign Office, the consuls were also asked to rate the benefits of Malta's accession to the EU, and single out which areas merited increased co-operation between Malta and their country.

The consuls identified English-speaking human resources, high quality professionals, the tax and legal framework, sound banking system, membership of the EU and the eurozone, offshore possibilities, and a healthy list of double taxation agreements as the major attractions Malta offered to potential investors from their countries.

Among the disadvantages they listed were higher cost levels compared to Asia and eastern Europe, Mepa delays, red tape, lack of expediency, unattractive conditions for non-EU investors, and the lack of direct flights to key destinations.

Most hailed Malta's EU membership a success. Overall, the consuls believed that euro adoption was the primary benefit of membership, followed by the attraction of foreign investment, and greater visibility in Europe.

The questionnaire aimed to gather feedback following March's meeting for which 90 consuls from around the world attended. The event had also served as a platform for numerous one-to-one meetings with Maltese firms during which consuls aimed to facilitate contact or identify opportunities worth exploring in their home countries.

Most of Malta's consuls are accomplished entrepreneurs in their own right. Some have brought business delegations to Malta, while others have lobbied to have vessels registered with the Malta Maritime Authority.

Mr Mangion said several business projects are being discussed since March, including one from New Zealand and another related to the film industry.

All consuls receive a monthly newsletter from the Foreign Office through which they are kept updated on the latest political and commercial developments.

Mr Mangion stressed that thanks to the consuls, Malta is given valuable coverage in the press. Articles about Renzo Piano's plans for City Gate, for example, have appeared in Italy, Germany, France and as far away as Argentina.

The questionnaire's findings have been dispatched to agencies including the MFSA, the MTA, the Chamber of Commerce, Malta Enterprise and Finance Malta so that shortcomings highlighted by the consuls may be addressed.

Mr Mangion said the Foreign Office was also seeing to visa issuing difficulties pinpointed by the consuls.