Air Malta’s reluctance to restart flights to Libya is the main problem currently facing Maltese businesses with interests in the country, according to a businessman with strong links to that country.

‘In Libya you see flags of Italy, France and all the countries that helped, but not Malta.’

“Air Malta seems to be finding every excuse not to go and being more finicky than others,” Mario Debono says, pointing out that Alitalia, Egyptair and Turkish airlines had already started operating from Tripoli airport while British Airways and Air France have plans to start soon.

A spokesman for the Chamber for Small and Medium Enterprises — GRTU, Mr Debono is well acquainted with Libya where he operated a pharmaceutical business for many years.

He was also on the frontline of the aid effort during the conflict of the past year.

Air Malta recently said it would be sending another delegation to Libya this week to study the situation after a similar mission last month failed to reassure them on safety.

“The Air Malta link is essential for us to resume contacts and without it Air Malta is also losing out,” Mr Debono says, pointing there is a lot of business to be had for the airline at the moment.

Besides the lack of flights, he believes local businesses are being hampered by banks which are too hesitant to take the risks that need to be taken in the new scenario.

“The banks are being extremely cautious. Without the support of a good merchant bank which is willing to take risks with its clients, we cannot compete on the big or even mid-size opportunities arising.”

This is why businesses are being encouraged to set up consortia, particularly for big infrastructure projects where a large capital injection is required. Mr Debono says the GRTU has plans to set up a business organisation with Libya to continue strengthening relations.

Interest in Libya has soared following Muammar Gaddafi’s death, with some 400 local businesses applying to join the Prime Minister’s delegation to Libya.

He thinks Malta played its cards right by not going into Libya to talk business straightaway, unlike countries like Germany, Turkey and France.

However, he says this is now the right time and any more postponement would leave us lagging behind.

“In the beginning no one wanted to talk business but now they are assessing their needs and they need to get started,” he says, pointing out that some one billion euro had been injected into the banking system in Libya.

He says the situation in Libya has changed dramatically and many businesses that were close to the Gaddafi regime have simply disappeared, leaving a vacuum that needs to be filled.

“Unfortunately there were quite a few Maltese companies who were also connected with Gaddafi and the Libyans know this. They know who their friends are and who helped Gaddafi.”

This, he says, could have repercussions on these companies which might as well “be smart and not go to Libya” until things really settle down.

“The top three per cent in Libya were creaming the whole country of its wealth, with the help of foreigners,” he says, adding that even the €5 billion deal struck with former Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi related to immigration was “a sham”. “The Libyans were going to pay for it in preferential oil sales to Italy.”

But will Gaddafi’s removal really change the way politics and business are done in Libya?

“It’s very difficult to eradicate 40 years of habitual nepotism,” he admits, but Libya’s leaders are adamant on doing away with the old system and becoming a modern democratic state, with the help of countries like Malta which can offer support and expertise.

“I’m not saying face-to-face contact will not be important any longer. The Libyans are a great people but they have their own way of doing things and we have to understand it.”

He believes the fears of an Islamist takeover are overplayed and although he concedes that there are extremists, he says these are balanced out by the secularists.

“The mainstream seems to lie somewhere in between, like in Turkey, where due respect is given to the Islamic tradition of the country but freedom is given to other people who wish to have a different way of doing things.”

Mr Debono says he decided to get very involved in Libya for various reasons.

“I lost a few friends in the beginning who were killed in the most brutal of ways. But even before that - I also used to go to Libya and see the fear on people’s faces. It was oppressive.”

When he lost all his stock of medicines in Libya, and his business was at a standstill, he thought the logical thing would be to start helping in the conflict. This is when he set up IGO-Aid foundation, he says, paying tribute to all the members of the foundation.

Mr Debono sees many similarities between Maltese and Libyans which gives Malta an edge over other countries when it comes to offering training and setting up partnerships.

He says that Malta punched above its weight during the Libyan crisis and helped “in more ways than can be said”, particularly in humanitarian terms. “But we were too busy helping and we did not have a good PR machine like the UK and France. In Libya you see flags of Italy, France and all the countries that helped, but not Malta...this really hurts.”

He says many things went unreported “for obvious reasons” but the Libyans should know that Malta did its best and helped when other countries did not, such as by providing water during a water shortage and important medicines when these were not available. “We were the first to do so, thanks to government’s help.”

Although Libya is no longer in dire need for aid, there are still other ways Malta can help, such as by offering treatment for trauma.

“Some people still believe Gaddafi is not dead and he will come back one day...but the old Libya is dead, and Malta’s role in its redevelopment is crucial.”