A bridge linking Malta and Gozo is “technically feasible” but the Prime Minister has asked the Chinese firm working on the report to ensure the environmental impact is taken into consideration.

“A bridge between the two islands is feasible and technically it can be done,” Joseph Muscat told the Maltese press after signing a five-year cooperation agreement with China in Beijing yesterday.

It’s not something you can just erect one day and remove the next

“The study is practically ready but we want it to be widened. We don’t want to just look at the technical feasibility; we want more thought invested into the environmental sustainability of the bridge, and all other options,” Dr Muscat said.

The promise to connect the two islands – separated by a 20-minute ferry ride – has been highly controversial and Dr Muscat insisted that while a link was important, so were the environmental considerations.

“Apart from the financial considerations we need to look at the impact this would have on the environment; any project has to safeguard the environment.

“This isn’t something you can just erect one day and remove the next,” he added.

Dr Muscat was giving comments after earlier meeting the executive director of China Communication Construction Corporation, Liu Qitao, to get an update on the €4 million study the company is financing to assess the bridge’s feasibility.

The meeting was not open to the press.

In June 2013, Malta had signed an agreement with the Chinese state-owned company – China Communications Construction Corporation – to finance this study, which is on track to be finalised in September.

China Communications Construction Corporation is the same company that built the dock number six, the largest in the Mediterranean, 30 years ago.

It had also been blacklisted by the World Bank in 2011 for fraudulent practices in a roads project in the Philippines.

The offer for the study had come from the Chinese government and at the time Dr Muscat said it had been accepted with no obligation to take on the project or engage the company if the government opted for a bridge.

Plan ‘blueprint for better investment’

This meeting was followed by the signing of a medium-term plan intended to serve as a “blueprint” for better investment cooperation between the two sides. Dr Muscat’s trip to China comes just two days after that of German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Dr Muscat had a short meeting with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang at the Great Hall of the People of China where he expressed pleasure at the “speed” with which the negotiations for this memorandum of understanding – the first of its kind in Europe – were finalised.

The Chinese premier welcomed Dr Muscat’s second visit to China in less than a year and said this was a testament to the strong relationships between the two countries. The agreement was signed by Deputy Prime Minister Louis Grech and China’s Foreign Affairs Executive Vice Minister Zhang Yesui.

Dr Muscat said Malta wanted to ensure that Enemalta’s partial privatisation agreement secured with China could be replicated with greater ease in other areas, such as infrastructure, tourism, aviation, and financial services.

One concrete measure of cooperation is the multimillion-euro construction of a breakwater between Sliema and Valletta.

“This would open a completely new market for yacht marinas in the area of the Grand Harbour and other ports, which to date could not be utilised because of the strong winds and currents,” Dr Muscat said, adding that this would entail a total upgrade of the Sliema area.

Another interesting aspect of the agreement is the intention to negotiate a modern Air Services Agreement that will replace the 1997 one on civil transport. This would encourage airlines and air cargo carriers to consider direct flights between the two countries.

Dr Muscat is accompanied to China by his wife and two children, his chief of staff Keith Schembri, Dr Grech, Labour MP Deo Debattista, Malta’s Ambassador to China Clifford Borg Marks, and the government’s special envoy to China Sai Mizzi, among others.

Today, the delegation will be flying to Guiyang, the capital of southwest China’s Guizhou Province, to attend the Eco Forum Global conference.

Five key areas for cooperation with the Chinese

The five-year cooperation agreement signed yesterday recognises the “traditional friendship” between Malta and China and explores the potential of further cooperation to facilitate investment in the following areas:

Energy

Cooperation in a waste-to-energy plant, research and development in green and low-carbon technology, developing renewable energy resources, production of renewable energy/energy-saving equipment, and regional energy saving centres.

Infrastructure

The agreement recognises China’s expertise and is seeking cooperation in concrete projects that improve infrastructure, particularly transportation  including, but not limited to a breakwater, bridge and monorail projects  telecommunications and housing. The provision of loans will also be discussed.

Civil aviation

Apart from replacing the 1997 agreement with a more modern Air Services Agreement, this deal encourages investment in aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul facilities in Malta and China. The Prime Minister said the two sides had concretely discussed the registration of Chinese aviation companies  the agreement should pave the way for these companies to consider registering with Malta.

Financial services

Financial institutions operating in each others’ territories is conducive to bilateral trade and investment. It will seek to “give full play” to the 2010 memorandum of understanding signed between Malta and the Malta Financial Services Authority on one side, and the China Securities Regulatory Commission and China banking Regulatory Commission on the other.

Research and innovation

Contacts and exchanges between private and public research institutions and universities will be promoted. Specialist enterprises and SMEs will also be encouraged to set up in the two countries.

Creative industries

• Cultural cooperation, education, health, and sport cooperation in the creative industries, particularly in the digital games sector, will be encouraged, while the growth of tourism between China and Malta will be facilitated.

• Confucius classrooms could be set up in Maltese secondary schools to promote the study of Chinese as a foreign language, and foster a better understanding of Chinese culture among Maltese youths.

• The establishment of a fully-fledged Mediterranean campus in Malta by qualified Chinese universities.

• A project will translate and publish selections of each other’s literary classics.

• In health, each side recognises the valuable work of the Chinese medical assistance teams running the traditional Chinese medicine centre and this will continue to be supported. There will be further cooperation in this field.

• A separate agreement will be signed to facilitate sporting exchanges between the countries.

• The two sides agreed to enter into separate agreements to encourage the co-production of films and TV series.