This week Malta celebrated the 450th anniversary of the end of the Great Siege of 1565. The objective of today’s contribution is certainly not to go into a historical analysis of that event. I believe that the series of programmes produced by TVM and screened on Sunday evening have been excellent at doing just that.

However, there is one important consideration that I wish to develop and which has been triggered by this event’s anniversary.

It relates to Malta’s position in the centre of the Mediterranean and the economic benefits and costs that we have had as a result of this strategic position.

Our little island is not known in the annals of history for the production of any specific product of great value such as oil or minerals. It is an island that could very well have suffered the fate of other islands like Pantelleria and Lampedusa, being the outposts (very often forgotten) of another country. Yes, it seems to have always attracted the attention of regional powers due to its location.

It is essentially ideal for a number of reasons. One cannot go further south than us, if one wants to remain in Europe. It commands a strategic position on the east-west and the north-south routes. It was a good location for traders.

This explains why it attracted the Phoenicians, the Romans, the Arabs, the Normans and the British. The Knights of St John were not particularly keen to come to Malta because they did not believe that it had potential. Obviously they had no prior knowledge of the eventual course of history.

Even after Malta became an independent nation is 1964, it still continued to be an attractive place. From then on it attracted foreign investors, especially those who sought to outsource part of their manufacturing activities to another country.

Initially our manufacturing sector was little more than a series of cut, make and trim operations in the clothing sector. However, it strengthened the country’s position as a trading location.

In the late 1980s we started the development of operations of Malta Freeport, which again accentuated the importance of the country’s location. Other maritime activities and new activities in the manufacturing and services sector helped to cement our position in this regard.

Malta’s location has also been used as an important selling point when attracting foreign direct investment

Malta’s location has also been used as an important selling point when attracting foreign direct investment.

Malta Enterprise speaks of the very strategic location at the heart of the Mediterranean, with very close ties to mainland Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. In reality, the country is the entry point into Europe from the south and into Africa from the north.

There are many historians who believe that when the Ottomans attacked Malta in May 1565, they were not really interested in Malta, but were interested in eliminating the threat presented by the Knights of St John to their commercial activities in North Africa and the Western Mediterranean. These historians are probably right.

However, there is no denying that somehow our location together with the inventiveness of our people which has contributed to exploit the opportunities provided by such a location, has been the most important asset that has contributed to the country’s economy over the centuries.