Vanya Walker-Leigh
On 2 June, Italy celebrates the 73rd anniversary of the referendum leading to the establishment of a Republic. Italy was the first country to establish a diplomatic mission in Malta and the first to appoint a resident ambassador on 1 December 1964 shortly after Malta achieved independence on 21 September of that year.
"Since then our two nations have concluded 74 formal agreements covering a very broad range of topics - most recently the Memorandum of Understanding signed by the Attorney-General Peter Grech and the anti-mafia and counter-terrorism prosecutor, Federico Cafiero, to combat the threat of organised crime in the Mediterranean," the ambassador stated. "Building on the existing and growing cooperation, this will open the way to a more frequent exchange of information and possibly training of Maltese personnel. In a few months' time a liaison officer of the Guardia di Finanza will start working at our embassy here."
A related development is the agreement between the Malta Gaming Authority and the Guardia di Finanza for the exchange of information and joint analyses on illegal gaming activity.
Another key agreement emerging earlier this year was that between the two foreign ministers to cooperate within the ongoing EU negotiations on its next budget - the Multi-Annual Financial Framework (2021-2027) to ensure greater allocations for more incisive action in the cooperation and development of migrants' countries of origin and transit. Italy and Malta have agreed to cooperate more on migration by embarking on a more intense and systematic consultations which include policy aspects related to the management of migratory flows.
"Migration may be a topic where there are some differences of view between our two countries," the ambassador admitted, "but there is agreement on the basic key principles. Recent tensions have been limited to very technical and specific issues relating to how to act on migrant vessels in the high seas. Italy has blamed Malta for allowing such vessels to cross its search and rescue area. However, we fully agree on the lack of solidarity of other EU nations. Once migrants arrive on our coasts they should be automatically redistributed while both our nations want to see the Dublin rules changed. Development aid to countries of origin must be increased to create better living and working conditions to discourage migration."
A neutrality agreement adopted in 1980 provided that Malta would not enter into any alliance and Italy agreed to guarantee Malta's neutrality. However, there has been long-standing military co-operation now scaled back to "two officers liaising with the AFM and promoting training of Maltese personnel locally as well as in Italian military academies. There is also close collaboration within EU military missions in the Mediterranean and elsewhere.
A wide ranging cultural agreement for 2017-2019 covers all key sectors of the arts as well as education and research supporting the activities of the Italian Institute of Culture in Valletta and the Dante Alighieri association which focuses on teaching Italian. "The week of Italian cinema has just taken place, the film director and screenwriter Liliana Cavani will be coming next month, followed by the leading jazz composer Danilo Rea. Our archaeological mission has been active in Malta for 50 years - a key current project is ongoing at Tas-Silg where remains have been found dating back to 3000 BC. There appears to have been a major Mediterranean pilgrimage site there - mentioned by the Roman author Cicero."
There has also been long-standing cooperation on a broad range on environment with a current major focus on sea issues and the potential of renewable energies. Italy and Malta also work together within the €51m EU Interreg V-A - Italy-Malta 2014-2020 project focused on building broad multi-sectoral links between Sicily and Malta. The project finances co-operation projects promoting research and innovation to improve the quality of life and enjoyment of natural heritage, strengthen of SMEs and micro-enterprises in the fields of environmental protection and the quality of life and health of citizens, worker mobility within the cross-border area, restoration of ecosystems and biodiversity protection, mitigation of climate change effects and risk scenarios. The programme is managed by the government of the Sicily region, supported by a joint secretariat with Maltese implementation co-ordinated by the Ministry for European Affairs.
Last but far from least, economic relations are flourishing. Italy is the leading exporter to Malta, with exports reaching €1,394m in 2018 or 31% of Malta's total imports. Malta's exports to Italy amounted to €321m in the same year (23% of total exports) making Italy its second export market after Germany. The stock of Italian foreign investment in Malta totalled €3bn in 2018 with new inflows of €4.2m last year.
Italy was the number 1 destination for Maltese tourists with 212,219 visiting in 2018 (31% of Maltese travellers abroad), while Italian tourists coming to Malta - 390,007 - came second to those from the UK (640,570), out of a total tourist inflow of 2.6 million.
"Among major Italian firms operating in Malta are ST Electronics (with a French partner), Cantieri Palumbo, Nitti Nylon, Liquigas, Costa Crociere, MSC Cruises, Grimaldi, Tirrenia, a range of investors in pharmaceuticals, many SMEs including a big network of Italian restaurants.
"The (154-member) Maltese-Italian Chamber of Commerce is very active, in particular supporting new investors, though many others deal directly with Maltese institutions.
Italy's Economy
European Commissioner Pierre Moscovici recently said that "Italy must solidify its industrial basis ... must reinforce its own competitiveness." What are the highlights of the government's industrial strategy?
Industrial base
Italy is still the second biggest manufacturing economy after Germany, then France and the UK. To renovate, Italy needs to reform the issues of industry but the situation is not as alarming as some media have reported. Exports in the last 12 years, since 2008, have not suffered so much; we have kept our competitive capacity in the global market. Our domestic market has suffered a lot. Much more than industrial policy, labour market should be deeply reformed, the new government wants reduction of tax, income and corporate taxes are very high and they must be rationalised, for some very big corporates need attention also at European level. We must also look for fiscal paradises. Taxation of income is also high and that reduces spending capacity. All this is in the election programme. We must see what happens after 10 years of the so dire situation.
Bionote
Born in Naples and graduating in law from the University of Milan, Ambassador Sammartino has served in various capacities relating to development issues in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, most recently as Head of Office II in the Directorate General for Sub-Saharan Africa, as consul for Italy in Dortmund, Germany and Mar del Plata, Argentina, and in the embassies in Sri Lanka, Morocco, Gabon and Malaysia - in the latter two as ambassador. He took up his posting in Malta in October 2017.