This was stated by Bank of Valletta Chairman, Joseph F. X. Zahra in his opening address to a conference organised by the Bank on the theme Doing Business with Libya: in Libya.

The conference, at the Crowne Plaza in Sliema, was attended by around 200 delegates including business entrepreneurs and Bank of Valletta

clients involved in business projects with Libyan

counterparts.

In his introductory address, Mr Zahra described how, over the years, there has been a considerable amount of Libyan foreign direct investment in Malta, particularly in the areas of tourism, manufacturing and aviation industries in Malta.

“Maltese companies have traditionally serviced the Libyan market in terms of support towards infrastructural projects, the petro-chemical industry, shipping and ship repair and the retailing of food and beverage products. However, as the Maltese economy became more service-oriented, more Maltese organisations started supporting Libyan companies, particularly in the areas of information technology and financial management,” said Mr Zahra.

“These new developments created new demands for Maltese entrepreneurs and this led Bank of Valletta to start exploring the possibility of establishing a permanent presence in Libya in order to assist at first hand all Maltese who wanted to start a commercial enterprise in this country. Since the opening of our representative office in Libya in 2002, the Libyan authorities have shown us support and help and their hospitality and friendliness have been exceptional,” he added.

Besides promoting Libya as an ideal source of interesting business opportunities, Bank of Valletta is seeking to ensure that Maltese and Libyan companies, through their operations, will further promote Malta’s role as an important hub to service the Euro Mediterranean region, he concluded

This was the second conference organised by Bank of Valletta to promote Libya among Maltese enterprises interested in expanding their activity in this market which, ever since the island’s independence in 1964, has had close cultural and trade links with Malta.

A number of keynote speakers addressed important issues related to cross-border trade and investment between Malta and Libya namely Dr Saad El-Shlmani from the Libyan People’s Bureau, Dr Richard Vella Laurenti, Maltese ambassador to Libya, Mr Mohamed Shokri, chairman Gumhouria Bank who talked about the banking sector in Libya and Mr Mohamed Ghattour, director Ghattour Audit Firm who spoke about setting up business in Libya.

John Pollacco, BOV’s representative officer in Libya also discussed Bank of Valletta’s role in assisting Maltese businessmen to conduct business in Libya while Dr Sadeek Mesrati from Mesrati Law Office talked about Libya’s legal framework. Dr Austin Sammut from Ganado Sammut Advocates finally addressed the topic Doing Business in Libya through Malta.

All guests attending the conference also had the opportunity to participate in discussion sessions during which positive feedback as well as practical issues were put forward for discussion with the respective panel of speakers.