The highly contentious contract of employment between Malta Enterprise and Sai Mizzi Liang, the wife of Energy and Health Minister Konrad Mizzi, which is due to expire on 26 August, is up for renewal at the end of February.

Mrs Mizzi Liang’s contract of employment as Malta Enterprise’s Envoy for the People’s Republic of China was signed on 26 August 2013 and runs for a period of three years – ie until 26 August 2016.

The contract has been a major source of political controversy, especially since it transpired that the minister’s wife enjoys a lucrative salary of close to €13,000 a month when all the perks are added up.

Although that contract is due to expire at the end of August, the contract stipulates that six months before it winds up (26 February 2016), Mrs Mizzi Liang will need to inform Malta Enterprise whether she intends to extend the contract for a further period.

Interestingly, if she does intend extending her tenure as Malta Enterprise’s woman in China, her terms and conditions can be renegotiated.

The contract states: “Six months prior to the completion of service under this agreement, the employee shall give notice in writing to Malta Enterprise whether he desires to remain in employment, and Malta Enterprise shall thereupon determine whether it will extend his/her engagement under the agreement for a further period, to be agreed between the parties, under the same terms and conditions or under other terms and conditions which would have been mutually agreed upon between the two parties.”

Since her appointment, and the frequently-criticised astronomical salary that came with it, Mrs Mizzi Liang’s performance and tangible deliverables have been called into question repeatedly.

The government has said she played an important role in the deal struck between Shanghai Electric and Enemalta. She was also said to have been responsible for attracting Chinese multinational telecommunications company Huawei to Malta, where the company is meant to be testing its avant-garde 5G mobile technology. Not much has been heard of this latter deliverable after it was launched with much fanfare last July.

By the end of her contract this August, Mrs Mizzi Liang will have been paid €468,000 for her work for Malta Enterprise.