Questions were asked in the House of Representatives yesterday on the suitability or otherwise of the choice of the two latest female ambassadors.

Leo Brincat asked the Foreign Minister whether the new ambassador to Tunisia, Dr Tanya Vella, knows Arabic.

The minister replied that she knows Maghrebin Arabic, as opposed, the minister added, to various other ambassadors who at one time or another were accredited to Arabic countries. This is the first time that a lady has been appointed to be a resident ambassador in an Arab country, the minister added.

Mr Brincat then asked the minister if the new ambassador to France, Dr Vicki Ann Cremona, has hands-on experience in export and investment promotion.

Dr Frendo replied that when he was choosing the new ambassador to France he consulted informally Malta Enterprise who fully supported his choice because, even if Dr Cremona does not have a hands-on experience on export and investment promotion, she has lived for a long time in France and she knows that country very well. For this reason she can carry out her duties well, the minister said.

He added that the choice of ambassadors is not based solely on what hands-on experience they have as regards export and investment promotion because ambassadors are not trade representatives, although their duties include the promotion of trade and foreign direct investment to Malta.

Dr Cremona has all the qualities required to be a success in export and investment promotion, the minister added, because she has the intellectual and academic preparation, the experience of a life lived in France and the aptitude to do this for the benefit of Malta.

In this, the minister concluded, he has the full support of Malta Enterprise who were “enthusiastic about the choice.”

Neither the minister nor Mr Brincat referred to the ambassadors with their proper name.