Danish companies seek joint ventures with Malta

Maltese businesses are discussing joint ventures with Nordic companies following a trade visit held over the past few days by Malta Enterprise and Malta's Embassy in Copenhagen.

Representatives from 20 companies from various sectors including food stuffs, IT, electronics, financial services, property and aviation, formed part of the delegation.

They visited Sweden and Denmark.

Helga Ellul, President of the Malta Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry, delivered presentations in all the cities visited and focused on the economic successes of Malta and the main pillars for further development including ICT, education and training, financial services and high value added manufacturing.

At the Danish Federation of Small and Medium Sized Enterprises, Jens Kvorning welcomed the delegation and explained about the services offered by the organisation to assist SMEs in their internationalisation initiatives. The role of Danish companies in in clean energy technologies was highlighted and potential cooperation in this regard and other sectors were discussed.

In Aarhus the delegation visited the Port Authority and was given a detailed presentation on the role of this port in regional transhipment and the current challenges faced due to the international economic pressures.

In Denmark, Patrick Fenech of the Malta School of Flying discussed cooperation for recruiting students from Denmark to learn and practice flight training in Malta. Mr Fenech said he was confident that Malta's competitive pricing and the advantages of weather conditions all year round were two main attractions for Danish Aviation Schools to consider Malta as a second location for students specialising in this field.

David Alamango of 6pm Malta, a leading provider of ICT services, stated that as a result of this business visit, the company established contacts with a number of companies and it was discussing cooperation for representation in Nordic countries for 6pm services.

Nadia Pace, Sales and Marketing Manager of World Aviation Group said that Scandinavia was a new market for the company and during the visit she met with a number of potential clients in aviation services for possible cooperation in call centre and back office services.

Simon Alden of Bavarian Technology Systems said that it was very important for Malta Enterprise and other business bodies to support the efforts of local companies to internationalise through such visits.

The Executive Chairman of Malta Enterprise, Alan Camilleri expressed his satisfaction for the positive feedback that the delegation received in both Sweden and Denmark.

"These markets offer several opportunities for technology transfer, joint ventures, strategic alliances, investments and trading," he said.

The trade delegation was supported by the Malta Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry, the GRTU, the Enterprise Europe Network, Consuls and the Malta Embassy in Denmark.