Malta will host the Commonwealth Local Government Forum in November of next year, the Justice Ministry confirmed today. 

It will be the first time Malta hosts the conference, with the 2017 edition being titled 'Fit for the future: resources and capacity for effective local government.'

The conference is expected to bring over 500 senior policy makers to Malta, and its outcomes will be presented to the 2018 CHOGM in the UK.

In a pre-recorded message aired at the launch, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat described the conference as a “forum where people from different localities, cities and towns around the world share their experiences and best practices.”

Commonwealth Local Government Forum general secretary Carl Wright said the conference would focus on strategies aimed at boosting local government’s resource base and capacity to improve its performance and service delivery. He was at pains to insist that such meetings were more than mere talking shops. 

Justice Minister Owen Bonnici said the conference would be an "excellent opportunity for high level exchanges between policy makers from around the world including the United Nations, fellow ministers and also heads of government.”

Local Government Parliamentary Secretary Stefan Buontempo said that “when we share experiences we learn that our friends from the Pacific region or municipalities in a large African country face the same problems which we might be facing.”

The conference will be held from 21 to 24 November 2017 at the Mediterranean Conference Centre, Valletta.