During a meeting with a group of Maltese journalists in London, Foreign Minister Michael Frendo said Malta already contributed a lot in development aid, adding that there are plans for this to increase in the future.

Dr Frendo was replying to a statement made by Commonwealth Foundation deputy-director Rudo Chitiga in an interview on Wednesday. Ms Chitiga said that Malta had to make up its mind over whether it wanted to contribute to development aid. Dr Frendo pointed out that in 2003, Malta contributed 0.12 per cent of its gross national income.

He said that most of the development aid provided by Malta in recent years could not be calculated since it was delivered “in kind”. As an example, he mentioned technical assistance in the field of Information and Communication Technology that Malta has provided in the past.

Dr Frendo said that the target is that by 2010, Malta would be striving to reach the target of 0.17 per cent of the country’s GNI and 0.33 per cent by 2015. The amount of 0.17 per cent is equivalent to around e3 million.

He explained that Malta has to manage the transition from recipient country to donor country, since Malta is now one of the countries listed as a “developed country”.

The Foreign Minister also commented on Ms Chitiga’s other remark regarding the issue of visas for the CHOGM. Ms Chitiga had expressed her hope that Malta would resolve the issue of providing visas for people attending the CHOGM, who should not be treated like potential refugees.

Dr Frendo said he could not understand why Ms Chitiga had made this remark. He pointed out that the government was doing its utmost to ensure that visas are issued as quickly and as easily as possible, provided that all the necessary information and documentation has been provided. He also said that the Foreign Office will be sending an extra person over to London to process these visa application more quickly.