The Mediterranean needs strong leadership and a political will to come together and harness opportunities, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said today.
He was addressing the Mediterranean Leadership Summit, held at the Hilton, Malta.
The Economist together with Hazlis & Rivas and are the lead organisers of the Mediterranean Leadership Summit which is taking place here in Malta on 28th and 29thApril. The co-organiser is CountryProfiler. The Malta Independent is a media partner
Dr Muscat said that Malta's EU presidency in 2017 "will be an opportunity for us to put the Mediterranean back firmly on agenda of EU and to bring more chance of stability in region".
"I believe it will also be an opportunity for the region, and one which should not be ignored".
Dr Muscat highlighted the importance of countries within the Mediterranean cooperating and working together to grow economically.
"Although the encounters between different peoples is never smooth, and there is always the danger of conflict round the corner, there is always the possibility of synergies. Synergies are not automatic, they must be constructed, maintained and protected".
"The Mediterranean region is a whirlpool of political, economic, ethnic and religious issues with a global impact".
"We all have a vital interest to contain these issues".
"Only through peace can we solve main regional issues, and the fact we are still talking about peace shows the dire situation around us".
"The basis of peace is the establishment and strengthening of economic cooperation, rule of law and the terms of trade and investment between the different regional countries".
Malta is exception in the Mediterranean, he said, mentioning Malta's growing economy. " Real GDP grew in 2015 stood at 6.3% over previous year. Compared with 1.6% average of Eurozone members and you'll know why we are happy".
Malta, he said, is active in transshipment. Malta is One of fastest growing transshipment hubs in the central Mediterranean. "We Have endeavoured to move to more high value added transshipment bringing together seaborn and airborne logistics. From this point of view we are leveraging our reputation as Europe's number one flag register".
He said that Malta is building on its track record in healthcare and education, saying: "we are delighted to have succeeded to attract one of London's finest medical schools, Barts, who are setting up a fully-fledged campus in Gozo aimed at international students.
"Success in export markets is evidence of a high competitiveness level, which is mainly due to the quality and productivity of our human resources in sectors of industry we are most active, such as biomedical and life-sciences, electronics and a broad range of it technology including bio informatics, and others".
The Mediterranean is a sea of instability, he said. "Without stability and necessary environment for business, its difficult to attain full potential of our region. If we cooperate more, the Mediterranean can become a sea of opportunity particular in economic affairs. We can do better in foreign direct investment between Mediterranean countries. My appeal goes towards cross-Mediterranean investment".
Entrepreneurs in region are eager to work together, and the opportunities are there, especially in maritime and energy sectors.
"We are confident that investors in the Mediterranean region are also interested in other areas like tourism and healthcare. We are also eager to encourage people to get to know each other better. Student exchanged between Mediterranean countries should be encouraged more".
Minister Konrad Mizzi highlighted Malta’s views on the EU and Mediterranean energy policy.
“The reality is that the EU and Mediterranean region do not exist in isolation, but rather compete globally. In US, power cost is half of the cost of power here in Europe. 53% of EU energy is imported, accounting to around €1bn per day. Malta has always supported the energy union perspective, and will do so and accelerate that process during our 2017 presidency”.
This, he said, will be done through a focus on certain building blocks. “Competitive prices, affordable energy, security of supply, and sustainability, meaning less emissions, less energy consumption and a better environment”
“Achieving these goals can be done in three ways. The first is to diversify supply sources. The second point is to diversify the routes by which gas is delivered to Europe. Currently they come from the East via Russia to Europe, pipelines from Algeria to Spain and Italy, there is the Southern gas corridor being built from Azerbaijan to Italy which will help. We do require additional pipelines as interconnection would mean the market would work better. It would mean that pricing could be more competitive and available across the patch”.
“We also believe in Liquefied Natural Gas and the EU is pushing LNG. This will help diversify and reduce supply risks. It would require the constructions of new terminals and the EU wants to ensure every key port in Europe will have an LNG terminal. LNG will also be the fuel of the future for maritime vessels including cruise liners and cargo vessels as well”.
“As for what Malta can offer as an energy hub, he said Malta’s strategy mirrors that of the EU. We have taken a leading role in creating the EU gas platform agreed to here in Malta last year and further supported by the Commission in Rome. As a country we are shifting from oil to gas this summer, through a project by Siemens, Socar and GEM. That project, he said. The project won the IJ’s International Power Project for Europe”.
Through the project and shift to gas, Malta will reduce CO2 emissions by 1,1 million tonnes, he said.
“We are very pleased the European Commission has shortlisted Malta as one of the top ranking projects for the projects of common interest for the creation of a dual flow pipeline between Malta and Italy. It would ensure we would have access to all gas coming into the EU market”.
He stressed the importance of interconnection for Malta. Government wants to ensure that Malta would be a first mover to offer LNG bunkering services to vessels in the Mediterranean. Over the past few days, contracts with Abelcare ltd, which will operate a Marsa oil and gas hub, have concluded, he said.
Azerbaijan's energy minister Natig Aliyev also addressed the conference, detailing the layout of the gas pipelines across Europe. He also said that the southern gas corridor would see a pipeline from Azerbaijan to Italy, passing through Greece.