A high-level Jersey delegation is to visit Malta next spring at the invitation of Malta’s High Commissioner to London Joseph Zammit Tabona, who has just concluded an official visit to Jersey.

During his two-day stay, Mr Zammit Tabona held talks with several financial institutions, including the Jersey Financial Services Commission, Jersey Finance Ltd, the Jersey Competition Regulatory Authority, and the Economic Development Department.

He said both Malta and Jersey were strongly committed to build relations and have much to learn from each other’s experiences in areas as diverse as eGaming to healthcare.

He reiterated that the way forward for financial services was direct cooperation, and said Malta, with its EU onshore status, and Jersey, offshore, should seek to be complementary, attracting companies who are interested in having a foothold on either side.

Mr Zammit Tabona’s visit, at the invitation of the Chief Minister Terry Le Sueur, aimed to forge closer economic, cultural and political ties between the two islands and business jurisdictions, followed the signing of a double taxation agreement last January and its implementation in July.

The High Commissioner and Mrs Zammit Tabona were hosted at Government House by the Lieutenant-Governor of Jersey Lieutenant General Andrew Ridgway and Mrs Ridgway. The Lieutenant-Governor is the representative of the Queen in Jersey.

The High Commissioner also met the Chief Minister, the Minister of Treasury and Resources, and the Minister for Economic Development. The Bailiff of Jersey received the High Commissioner at the Royal Court and States’ Chamber and later held a dinner in his honour at the Old Library of the States’ Building at the Royal Square in St Helier.