The Malta Fairs and Convention Centre will submit plans for a new convention centre to Mepa by the end of the year, managing director Gerald Borg confirmed.

The convention centre has been on the cards since the trade fair at the Naxxar grounds closed in 2006, replaced by the MFCC tensioned fabric structure at Ta’ Qali.

The ‘tent’ was meant to be temporary as there were plans for a permanent, 93,000 square metre exhibition and convention centre to be built. In 2006, then ministers Jesmond Mugliett and George Pullicino said a call was to be issued, which would ensure it was built by 2010.

However, no progress was made – even though the site was allocated to the MFCC (the only bidder), who were bound by the conditions of the 65-year lease to spend €10 million on the project.

The Ta’ Qali Action plan was again revised in March 2012 and the centre will now occupy the 40,000 square metres of land that currently serves as the Motor Sports Association’s track.

The MSA are being compensated for the relocation to a nearby site.

The 28,000 square metre area where the MFCC tent now stands will eventually be converted into an open space where activities could be held.

MFCC will pay an annual rental fee of €186,000 in the first year, with the sum increasing gradually each year, reaching more than €456,000 by the 65th year. It currently pays €8,000.

“We are looking at the project holistically as we appreciate the importance of the site. So we are taking into consideration the profile against the Mdina backdrop, the potential for photovoltaic panels and also the stadium and its logistics,” Mr Borg said.

The macroeconomic context has changed considerably since 2006 and the centre will be a multipurpose hall where “form follows function”, he said. There are no plans for a hotel, as the existing bedstock is adequate, he added.

With Malta taking over the rotating EU presidency in 2017 and Valletta taking on the role of European Capital of Culture, the convention centre would play an important role.

The centre would still host the trade fairs so beloved of the Maltese but director of marketing Nadette Bugeja said the fairs needed to become more specialised.

Conference traffic is still very important – the nearest centre that can host 3,500 delegates is in Milan – and the 50 per cent shareholding by Catermax (a Corinthia-Vassallo joint venture) has brought in important revenue streams from the events which have made the business model much more feasible.

The project would mark the end of a decade-long saga, which started with the fraught negotiations for the Naxxar grounds and several failed attempts to relocate them.

These were followed by internal strife within MFCC, which saw Nexos bought out by Catermax in 2011 and one of the key men behind the tent initiative – Reuben Caruana of Sign-It – bought out last June.

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