Collaboration is key to foster success. Collecting data, sharing knowledge and information, open discussions help in the effective formulation of national strategies in an effort to bring forward specific sectors.

Malta Marittima has teamed up with various local entities to work in partnership on a number of EU-funded projects. These partnerships extend from government to private entities and help to broaden and enrich local knowledge, stimulate innovation and resources with other European counterparts.

The aim is to facilitate the necessary cooperation and collaboration needed among maritime stakeholders to fully tap into the potential of the blue economy that would allow maritime economic initiatives to flourish, deliver innovation and provide attractive opportunities for our maritime sector to grow.

One of the projects Malta Marittima is collaborating with is the Interreg project RelOs3, a project in which Malta Enterprise is partner. In this regard, Malta Marittima has joined forces to push the agenda for an integrated and improved maritime industry.

The RelOs3 project focuses on implementing regional Smart Specialisation Strategies (RIS3) in a local context by actively involving local authorities, innovation actors and the industry. Policy-makers and experts from Estonia, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain and Malta participate in this project to contrast, develop and improve local policies with the aim to facilitate deployment of priority investments and delivery of innovation at a local level.

Malta recognises that maritime services, as a sector, requires particular attention. The Maltese Blue economy offers some unique opportunities and its progression over the years has been crucial to the development of the Maltese economy.

Malta Marittima is one of the key stakeholders of the project, providing input regarding the actions required for improvement in the local maritime services industry. Within the Quadruple Helix approach and the RIS3 methodology, maritime services seem to offer the most potential. This is supported through the work undertaken by Malta Enterprise, the Malta Council for Science and Technology and Malta Marittima by means of research, stakeholders’ meetings and interregional visits. Following the process of identifying the main issues in the sector, these will be dealt with by the respective entities and addressed in a local action plan.

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