Prime Minister Joseph Muscat yesterday expressed satisfaction that the citizenship scheme was attracting the expected foreign investment.

The Individual Investor Programme (IIP) offers the opportunity to acquire Maltese citizenship through a contribution of some €1.15 million in cash, bonds, investments and real estate, with an obligatory residency clause of one year.

Applicants can also buy citizenship for their dependents at a fee of €25,000.

In a brief address at a conference organised yesterday by wealth management company Blevin Franks, Dr Muscat said Malta would not be happy with becoming another Singapore or Dubai but was aiming even higher.

He spoke about the “bold steps” being taken by the government to promote wealth management, referring to the IIP. “We want to be the envy of other countries,” he said.

Dr Muscat argued that Malta could rely on qualified professionals, a European lifestyle and a strategic location at the crossroads of the Mediterranean.

However, he remarked that “Malta has to walk together if it wants to walk far”.

Last week, Henley & Partners, the scheme’s concessionaire, announced that in the first three months some100 individuals made financial commitments to the tune of more than €100 million.

Replying to parliamentary questions, Home Affairs Minister Manuel Mallia subsequently said that no investments had been made by then, as none of the applications had reached the stage where they had to commit any investment.