Maltese authorities will travel to Beijing next week for negotiations over a review of the double taxation agreement with China, Malta's ambassador Karl Xuereb told a business forum in the Chinese capital yesterday.
A bilateral agreement on double taxation relief has been in place since 1994 and authorities will work to update and strengthen it, the ambassador added.
Over 100 business people and investors attended the event showcasing Malta's investment environment in the magnificent ballroom at the St Regis Beijing hotel yesterday.
Chinese participants, representing firms from a variety of sectors, enquired about a range of issues relating to business in Malta including banking structures, investment incentives, real estate, opportunities for study, European trade issues, and visa applications and residency permits.
Some participants later held private, follow-up meetings with Maltese delegates. The 40-odd members of the Maltese business delegation visiting Beijing, Ningbo and Shanghai this week, held their second session of one-to-one meetings with Chinese firms in the afternoon, following their first on Monday morning.
Opening the business forum earlier, Mr Xuereb pointed out that although Malta and China were geographically distant and diverse in culture and size, there was much scope for business.
Maltese business has several commercial activities in China, and Malta has seen increased interest and investment from the country.
Exports from the European Union to China have experienced rapid growth in the last five years: Bilateral trade in 2008 was double that of 2005. Malta had a significant role to play in this sphere as it was ideally positioned to provide China with an ideal gateway to the rest of Europe and access to a market of 500 million consumers.
Significantly, Malta, one of the EU's top five performing economies, was the only eurozone country to increase trade with China last year by almost 10 per cent.
The island was the first European state to register Chinese-owned ships in 1991. Subsequent agreements in maritime transport have provided for most favoured nation treatment for Chinese and Maltese ships calling at ports of the two countries.
"It is our goal to increase the trade partnership," Mr Xuereb, who is to move to Berlin shortly as his four-year term in Beijing comes to an end, emphasised. "China can rest assured it has a true friend in the EU."
He cited Vision 2015 as a top priority in Malta's ambition to become a centre of excellence and said the country was committed to investing and working with industry to achieve this aim.
Mr Xuereb highlighted the memorandums of understanding signed recently by the Malta Financial Services Authority with the China Securities Regulatory Commission and the China Regulatory Banking Commission to facilitate matters for financial institutions doing business in either country.
With China the largest emerging market for tourism in the last decade and with Malta a key destination in the Mediterranean, there was scope to develop relations in this sector further.
Meanwhile, the two countries could potentially collaborate on other areas such as traffic management, environmental issues, telecommunications, ICT and health.
Zhang Yingxin, deputy director-general of the Chinese Investment Promotion Agency, the co-organisers of the event with Malta Enterprise and the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, explained how economic and trade relations between the two countries have developed at a fast pace: in 2009 bilateral trade volume reached $1.6 billion, up 9.7 per cent. Major Chinese exports to Malta included machinery, maritime vessels, furniture and food. Imports involved integrated circuits, textiles and light industry products. Maltese interests are currently investing in 38 projects in China to the tune of $16.5 million.
There was potential for increased investment in the future, she added, encouraging Chinese companies to tap opportunities in priority industries in Malta.
Ms Zhang stressed the Chinese government was open to foreign investment and has encouraged local companies to invest overseas. She said this year the Chinese government would pursue its long-term strategy to optimise foreign direct investment utilisation in high-end industries. It had also pledged its support to Chinese companies venturing abroad.
Malta Enterprise executive chairman Alan Camilleri gave a presentation to highlight how Malta was positioned for trade and investment, stable access to European markets, and his agency's role in facilitating business contacts.
Mr Camilleri also introduced recently recruited Beijing-based Asia regional leader Paul Cardona, who has been appointed to co-ordinate business relations with regional investors.
He also gave an overview of the Malta Enterprise-administered incentive and tax credit regime.
A panel composed of Malta Chamber of SMEs director general Vince Farrugia, Malta Chamber of Enterprise, Commerce and Industry president Helga Ellul, Finance Malta chairman Kenneth Farrugia, and St Martin's Institute of Technology managing director Charles Theuma took questions from the floor.