Malta Enterprise’s investment promotion envoy for Asia – Energy Minister Konrad Mizzi’s wife Sai – still lacks an office in the continent she is supposed to promote Malta in, Economy Minister Chris Cardona confirmed in parliament.

Dr Cardona was replying to a parliamentary question by opposition whip David Agius, the third question Mr Agius had asked on the subject in as many weeks, after the first two went unanswered. The Malta Independent had also sent a Freedom of Information request to his office seeking the information sought by the MP after his first question on the topic, but no reply had been received.

Mr Agius asked for the address of the offices used by Ms Mizzi in Malta and overseas, but the only addresses provided by the minister were that of Malta Enterprise in Pietà and her work email address.

While Ms Mizzi is set to operate from Shanghai, Dr Cardona said that no suitable office has yet been found, adding that once it was, the address would be immediately published on the Malta Enterprise website.

Ms Mizzi’s direct appointment by Malta Enterprise, which took place in August but which was only publicly confirmed a month later, has proven to be politically controversial, with the Nationalist Party accusing the government of nepotism.

She has been appointed on a three-year contract, and her rank is equivalent to that of ambassadors. Ambassadors’ basic salary is at Scale 3 of the public service, which was set at €33,853 this year, but that excludes any allowances that she receives. The opposition’s claims that her total earnings amount to some €2,000 a week have not yet been denied.