We at EY are taking Malta’s 50th Anniversary of Independence with the national pride that it deserves. Beyond the celebrations that certainly befit the occasion, we are concretely taking the opportunity to encourage reflection on a matter of crucial importance to our future.

Entitled 50 Years of FDI: Looking Forward, we are organising a national conference on 8 October to discuss five decades of foreign investment and the way forward for our country to continue thriving in a global market. With over 50 leading speakers, including Alistair Campbell, former Prime Minister Tony Blair’s spokesman and chief strategist, we are confident that it will be a 2014 benchmark for policy-makers and stakeholders alike.

We at EY believe that the occasion of our 50th Anniversary of Independence deserves no less than such a concrete effort on our part. Because with Britain, Malta did not just have a connection. It had and will continue to have a bond. Britain left in indelible mark on our culture, our way of doing business, our key institutions and our way of dealing with the rest of the world. We are proud to have obtained our independence without bloodshed and to remain one of the ex-colonies with a thriving democracy.

Turning to business, some of the companies which remain key to our economy are British or are legacies of British investment − HSBC, De La Rue, Vodafone, Trelleborg (Dowty) and others. To this day, investment from the UK remains strong, be it in manufacturing − a legacy that spans back to the year of Independence and perhaps earlier − to more contemporary sectors such as services in their various forms, the financial ones in particular. And, of course, the UK is and will remain a key market for our exports, both directly and indirectly.

In terms of financial services, as this sector increasingly gained weight in our economy over the last decade, the UK has become more important to Malta than ever before. It is not only that the UK is a fertile source of investment, but it is a major financial services hub where major trend setting decisions are undertaken. So even if investment may not come directly from a UK headquartered firm, it may come from its UK arm. We forget this basic fact only at our own peril.

Narrowing the focus closer to home, we at EY gladly recognise, and are grateful for, the fact that the development of the accountancy profession in Malta has been closely tied to the UK. Historically Maltese accountants who wished to train in another jurisdiction chose the UK. In fact, most senior partners in local accountancy firms have trained there. In addition, accountancy qualifications, ACCA and ACA, remain well established here.

I would say that this bit of our financial history has served our firm, and indeed the country, well. This connection, this bond, with the UK goes a long way to explain why the professional and ethical standards governing most local accountancy firms today have remained high.

We at EY Malta did not let this lesson and this rich history pass us by. From the very birth of our firm here, we established links with our EY colleagues in the UK. Over the years, we have strengthened these links and have taken every occasion to create new ones.

To this day we regularly send quite a number of our staff members to support UK engagements. At the same time, we bring in members of EY’s global network of experts to support Maltese engagements. We actively support major investment drives in the UK, particularly in the services industry. And we will continue to do so in the foreseeable future.

We have also run roadshows in the UK with the support of our UK office. Frequently, even for major investment projects and privatisation initiatives, we have looked at our UK partners for support. Even in situations in which an investor or partner comes from the Far or Middle East it is not uncommon for us to engage technical partners or experts from the UK.

With this track record behind us we are enthusiastic to keep nurturing Malta’s bond to the UK in every sense – staff exchanges, promoting Malta in the UK and also, given the opportunity, to support trade initiatives.

May this 50th Anniversary of Independence be an occasion to strengthen this bond even more.