The Corinthia Palace Hotel was recently the venue of a well-organised two-day seminar held by the Maltese French Chamber of Commerce. A first for the Chamber, the main objective of this seminar was to bring together French and Maltese entrepreneurs to discuss business cooperation in their respective fields. Although it is still very premature to assess results, many delegates from both sides have expressed satisfaction with the discussions they had with their counterparts. Still a number of others have expressed optimism and were confident that these discussions have sown the seeds for further contacts, which could bear fruit in future.

A number of keynote speakers from French institutions and companies, which have operations in Malta such as ST Microelectronics and CMA-CGM, spoke at the seminar.

The seminar was introduced by Bernadette Bonnici Kind, president of the Maltese French Chamber of Commerce, and addressed by Dr Vicki Ann Cremona, Malta’s Ambassador to France, M. Patrick Chrismant, French Ambassador to Malta and Dr Austin Gatt, Minister for Investment, Industry and IT. A number of very interesting presentations were also delivered by the Federation of Industry, Malta Chamber of Commerce and Enterprise, Malta Tourism Authority, Ernst & Young/Dr Mark Miggiani, Malta Enterprise and Bank of Valletta plc.

The wide spectrum of the French industry was represented by no less than 36 high-ranking delegates, many of whom have extensive profiles and experience in international trade. To mention a few, Thierry Courtaigne is vice-president and director general of Medef International, a non-profit organisation that provides national representation for all French large, medium and small enterprises. Another prominent delegate was Ms Gisele Hivert- Messeca, Head of Mission–European Affairs, who is responsible for UBIFRANCE. Placed under the authority of the Ministry for Foreign Trade this organisation assists French companies to penetrate international markets.

In a concluding statement Mrs Bonnici Kind thanked all delegates for their active participation in this seminar and augured that the discussions held will mature into solid business proposals. A special word of thanks also went to those members of the Chamber whose resourcefulness, dedication and personal effort made this seminar a success. The Malta Enterprise Officer in Paris in collaboration with the Maltese Embassy in Paris, was very instrumental in attracting French delegates to participate to the seminar held at Malta.