It was impossible to escape the reality of globalisation and people had to accept the infiltration of different cultures and embrace it, Education Minister Louis Galea said.
"We still have some way to go to open up our mentality and become capable of starting a dialogue and understanding the culture of others," he said.
"In a globalised world we cannot escape the reality that we have to work with people who have diverse cultures and speak a different language." Dr Galea conveyed this important message during the launch of the European fund for the integration of third-country nationals.
The European Union Programmes Agency within the ministry has been delegated the task to administer the fund, which consists of €507,000 a year for the next six years.
EUPA is now inviting all non-governmental agencies and entities to submit project proposals to help in the integration of third-country nationals (foreigners other than EU nationals). The European Commission is adopting new financial instruments as part of its framework programme of solidarity and management of migration flows, and this fund forms part of it.
Dr Galea said there were about 6,000 work permits issued to foreigners in Malta, with about 3,700 of these issued to third-country nationals.
This fund was directed towards third-country nationals who were living in Malta legally and who, for some reason or another, were finding it hard to integrate. "The rights of these people have to be respected and a level playing field has to be created," he said.
As a nation, he said, Malta had to strive to create an environment that was conducive to cultural understanding, despite the challenge cultural differences posed by way of barriers to communication, dialogue and understanding.
While the Maltese tended to have a welcoming attitude towards tourists, there were cases where foreigners who were legally living and working in Malta, with all the necessary permits, were being sidelined. The reasons behind such a situation might be various and probably stemmed from lack of effort, communication and initiative from both sides. The EU was not only encouraging European nations to be more open to foreigners with different cultural backgrounds, but was also making substantial amounts of money available.
Mauro Pace Parascandalo, EUPA national coordinator, said the proposals should keep in mind the importance of integration at work, the different culture and the importance of language to communicate.
Though the closing date for project proposals is November 30, Mr Parascandalo said that organisations need only submit their ideas and these could be expanded upon in the coming weeks, since the EU needed the first draft of the strategy by December 1.
Proposals have to be sent in both hard and soft copy to Mr Parascandalo by Friday, to EUPA, 36, Old Mint Street, Valletta, VLT 1514 and on eupa@gov.mt.
Should representatives from the entities concerned need to discuss the project proposals before handing them in, meetings can be set up with the EUPA. For information call 2558 6131.