The course is designed specifically to enable fluent business communication in Arabic. It will be full time and civil servants who participate in it will be allowed to leave work for two days a week to attend lessons.

Dr Galea encouraged civil servants to take advantage of this offer. He said that Malta was in an excellent geographical and political position to serve as a bridge across the Mediterranean. However, he commented, it was always difficult to find sufficient people to be able to build partnerships in the various areas.

“Now that we are members of the EU we have an ocean of opportunities in connection with the Arab world, which our country could exploit,” he said.

Civil servants who would like to attend the course can complete the application sent to them by the development organisation. Alternatively, they can telephone the organisation for more information. The general public can apply at the university until 31 August. More information is available from the Education Ministry on 2124-5389 or 7943-0666.