Bank of Valletta gave its support to the annual conference organised by the Chamber of Engineers. Hosted at SmartCity Malta, this year’s conference focused on the challenges and opportunities in the sectors of energy and transport.

During his address, Chamber of Engineers President Ing. Norman Zammit first referred to transport, stating that through the Sustainable Development Policy, the Government and private sector should work together to provide Smart Travelling. This is reflected in the need to provide efficient, modern travel that is also socially and environmentally aware.

He explained that the strategy should seek to not only establish good highway engineering and access designs to the island but also to demonstrate state-of-the-art sustainable travel opportunities. This means effective management of access and mobility that provides road users with a choice of access modes, infrastructure that makes access hassle free and resulting environment that is pleasant to live and work in.

On the topic of energy, Ing. Zammit remarked  on past proposals for the installation of a gas pipeline between Malta and Sicily. Sicily has a large number of gas reserves which can be exploited and this would allow Malta to shift away from heavy fuel oil. He noted with satisfaction that the gas pipeline initiative is once again underway.

Ing. Zammit stated that a shift to natural gas should not be the only solution to our energy problems. In Malta we are focusing primarily on photovoltaics, since the wind farm option was shelved due to environmental impact. He suggested that the country needs to look further into the exploitation of our surrounding seas through the use of surface wave generators and undersea water turbines that use the seawater currents.

The conference was also addressed by Hon Joe Mizzi, Minister for Transport and the Infrastructure who called upon the ingenuity of engineers to spearhead change for the benefit of society and the economy. Minister Mizzi emphasized that the engineering community has a fundamental contribution to give in these sectors through expert advice, research and development initiatives as well as the application of modern engineering solutions to classical problems.

Speaking about Bank of Valletta’s support towards this conference Mark Scicluna Bartoli,  responsible for EU and Institutional Affairs at the Bank explained that, “Over the years, Bank of Valletta has built a  solid working relationship with the Chamber. Together with the Chamber, we seek to promote increased investment in alternative energy generation solutions with the objective of diversifying Malta’s energy mix.” Our support consolidates the Bank’s commitment to remain an active partner, supporting Maltese and Gozitan business and professional associations.

The topics discussed during the conference included developments in the field of driveless vehicles and intelligent transport systems. From the perspective of energy, attention was given to the Malta-Sicily Interconnector, climate change and the evaluation of innovative technologies for energy production as well as the deployment of an offshore photovoltaic system.

Since 1978, the Chamber of Engineers has been a vibrant and professional self-governing association fulfilling the mandate given to it by the Engineering Act to represent the local Engineering Profession. The Chamber’s ongoing relationship with the European associations, universities, industry and government helps to increase awareness and understanding of the impact of engineering on society in general.