Prime Minister Joseph Muscat addressing the forum organised by Henley and Partners yesterday. Photo: Matthew Mirabelli

High-quality individuals contributing towards the well-being of the country would be attracted to Malta through the citizenship investment programme, thus transforming the economy, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said yesterday.

He said the government had a “clear mandate” to come up with fresh ideas and improve economic growth.

Although the cash-for-citizenship scheme was never mentioned prior to the election, he said this new and fresh idea was attracting millions of euros by offering citizenship to wealthy and talented people.

Dr Muscat was addressing a forum organised by Henley and Partners, chosen by the government as concessionaires of the Maltese citizenship programme.

We are not after big numbers but more the quality of the people we attract

“The Individual Investor Programme will bring Malta’s citizenship laws to the 21st century and will transform the Maltese economy. Citizenship is not a transaction but a relationship,” he told a gathering of tax consultants, lawyers, bankers, real estate agents and businessmen.

Successful non-EU citizens will be required to buy property worth at least €350,000 or rent at a cost of €16,000 a year for five years. They will also have to invest €150,000 in government bonds on top of making a direct contribution of €650,000 into an investment fund.

Stressing that Malta would continue protecting its good international reputation, Dr Muscat said the programme was backed by one of the most rigorous due diligence worldwide. It was already attracting the right people.

On the due diligence, Dr Muscat warned that Malta “will leave no stone unturned” in the scrutiny of each applicant.

This aspect was also tackled by IIP chief executive Jonathan Cardona, who explained how Malta had a four-tier due diligence process, including background checks on criminal aspects through Interpol, the Security Service and international companies that specialised in the field.

Moreover, he said, the government was retaining the right to withdraw any citizenship granted if Malta was either misinformed or if new information was unearthed.

Marvin Gaerty, commissioner of revenue at the Finance Ministry, said Identity Malta was telling potential investors they had to travel to Malta at least twice and stay here for a couple of days each time to fulfil the one-year compulsory residence requirement. He said residency did not mean continuous physical presence on the island but proof of a relationship with the country.

“Three months in a year over a period of years could be derived to be a resident of Malta,” he said, adding that the number of days one spent in Malta was not the only consideration to be made for there was also the aspect of ties established with the country.

Activities like participation in a religious or social group or forming part of philanthropic or sports organisations would be considered favourably when vetting whether applicants had fulfilled the residency requirement and established a bond with the island and its people.

Identity Malta was set up six months ago to manage the Maltese citizenship programme. Its chairman, Joe Vella-Bonnici, said the programme was already attracting “considerable interest” from “highly respectable” people.

“We are not after big numbers but more the quality of the people we attract. So far, we have 80 agents who have been approved to sell this scheme to high net worth individuals,” he said.

During a panel discussion, EU law expert Dimitry Kochenov said that what Malta had to offer was different to that found in any country in the world as it was giving access to 27 other EU member states and a market of 500 million people.

He said the European Commission tried stopping Malta from introducing such a programme when it had no legal right to do so. “It is not any of the European Commission’s business.”

‘Transparency not valued’

The government was using its majority to stop the publication of the contract it signed with Henley and Partners for the administration of the citizenship scheme, the Nationalist Party charged yesterday.

This showed that the Labour government did not value transparency and confirmed it was uncomfortable about the publication of the contract, the party said in a statement.

The PN pointed out that the Speaker of the House, Anġlu Farrugia, recently ruled that Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee had a right to request the publication of the contract.

The Speaker also ruled that care had to be taken not to impinge on confidentiality.

Last week, PAC chairman and Nationalist MP Tonio Fenech called for the publication of the contract but the request was declined after the four government MPs voted against.

Mr Fenech had even suggested that the sensitive parts be removed, following consultation and the go-ahead of the Speaker.

The government MPs said the matter was not urgent enough and should be discussed once all the items on the committee’s agenda were exhausted.

The PN said this was not the first time the government tried to block the publication of the contract.

First it refused to publish it, then it said there was a court ban on publishing it, which was not the case, and now the government used its majority to block it, the PN said.