Architect Charles Buhagiar, chairman of the Building Industry Consultative Council (BICC) recently led a delegation for talks with the Malta Business Network (MBN) in London.

Mr Buhagiar was accompanied by BICC secretary Emanuel Psaila, Malta Developers Association president Sandro Chetcuti and Valerio Camilleri, director of Construct Furniture, a local joinery firm that exports fire doors to the UK.

The MBN delegation, which was led by Charles Saliba, a Maltese architect who has been working in UK for several years, was made up of other architects, engineers, estate agents and investment advisers. The meeting took place at Malta House in London.

The meeting discussed ways of how Maltese and UK professionals can cooperate to be able to transfer UK expertise to Malta. The possibilities of cooperation between the two countries on projects both in Malta and other countries, particularly North Africa, were also discussed.

Mr Chetcuti emphasised the need for professional support to assist developers resolve future challenges. Members of the MBN are to submit ideas that would contribute to the development of the construction industry. These will be discussed during a follow-up meeting to be held in Malta shortly.

The delegation also attended Ecobuild, a three-day conference and exhibition on sustainable development, during which members held discussions with the UK Green Building Council, Construction Industry Council, the NHBC Foundation, BSRIA Ltd and NGOs.

Talks were also held with various other private companies specialising in sustainable development products, which are used to implement near-zero energy efficiency in buildings.

The BICC thanked Mr Saliba for coordinating the visit and Malta’s High Commissioner to the UK Norman Hamilton for hosting the meeting at Malta’s High Commission in London.