Prime Minister Joseph Muscat will be attending a conference on citizenship by investment organised by Henley & Partners in Singapore, his fifth such visit in the space of a year.
The Global Residence and Citizenship Conference will be held between tomorrow and Thursday.
Last year, the Maltese government awarded Henley & Partners the concession to administer the controversial Individual Investor Programme, known by many as the cash-for-citizenship scheme.
A government spokesman yesterday said that Dr Muscat’s trip to Asia would serve to actively promote “the only scheme of its kind” recognised by the European Commission.
He added that these conferences had different target audiences across various regions of the world, while noting that this would be the first time the scheme was promoted in Asia.
Muscat has become a salesman by going abroad to promote the [investor] scheme
The Prime Minister was also expected to hold talks with the Prime Minister of Singapore, the spokesman said.
According to a statement issued by the government of Antigua and Barbuda, Dr Muscat is also set to have a bilateral meeting with Gaston Browne, the Prime Minister of the Caribbean islands, who will also be promoting his country’s citizenship scheme in Singapore.
The scheme had been unveiled by the Prime Minister at a London conference in October last year. Less than a month later, Dr Muscat attended another Henley event, this time in Miami.
Last May it was the turn of the Henley & Partners Forum, which was organised in Malta, where the Prime Minister was among the speakers. He then participated in a New York seminar on September 10.
A number of companies specialising in residency schemes who preferred to remain anonymous questioned the need for Dr Muscat’s presence at such events.
On his part, Opposition spokesman Jason Azzopardi yesterday accused him of acting like a salesman.
“It beggars belief that the Prime Minister is making it so obvious that the economic survival of his government seems to be dependent on the sale of Maltese passports to the extent that he has become a salesman, by going abroad four times over the last year to promote this scheme,” Dr Azzopardi said.
Despite repeated calls by the Opposition, the agreement between Henley and the Maltese government has never been made public.
The Opposition has claimed that the citizenship firm is set to make millions out of this scheme.
To be eligible for a Maltese passport, the main applicant is required to contribute at least €650,000, make an investment in property of at least €350,000, or enter a property rental contract for at least €16,000 per annum.