The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has issued a manual for travellers.

Travel Manual - Your Information Passport contains information on the necessary travel documents and on the procedures to follow in certain circumstances. such as getting married abroad and accidents.

Other information relates to the embassies and the consuls that are found outside Malta.

Foreign Minister Tonio Borg said that this manual was a useful commodity that had long been considered necessary. It did not only serve those preparing for travel but was also a useful guide to carry when travelling abroad.

The initiative, he said, formed part of a continuous exercise that his ministry was successfully implementing since the beginning of the legislature in a process to build a close contact with the people.

It was contributing to a change in perception in that the people were increasingly feeling the ministry’s presence in their every day lives.

Dr Borg said that in recent months there was an increase in the demand for information relating to travel, namely information requests on passports, visas and other relevant documentations.

Consequently, the Ministry felt the need to gather all the relevant information in the manual to facilitate the process by which the public gained access to this information.

The number of requests for assistance received by the embassies and Maltese consuls outside Malta in the first five months of 2009, exceeded the total number of requests received last year.

There were about 7,500 requests till the end of May and 250 requests for information from commercial entities, both local and foreign, which showed interest in investing in Malta.

This manual is available from the ministry in Palazzo Parisio, Valletta. It will also be available from the head offices and branches of the companies who financed the initiative, namely Middlesea Insurance, the European Institute of Education, Air Malta and Banif Bank.

Photo: Saviour Cassar, DOI