The Prime Minister’s two-day visit to France has been described as a highly successful promotion of Malta among French business interests. But the real success will only happen if these two days of intensive meetings are translated into something more tangible for Malta, that is, more investment from French companies here.
On the political side, Dr Lawrence Gonzi’s meeting with French President Jacques Chirac served to lead both countries to agree on better cooperation in the maritime sector, particularly on safety at sea.
The Erika incident a few years ago led to moments of tension in relations between the two countries, and pushed France to demand higher quality from Malta in terms of ship registration. Dr Gonzi realised that Malta could gain more by promising even higher standards, and the two sides agreed on closer cooperation in this regard.
But the largest chunk of Dr Gonzi’s stay in Paris was taken up by meeting businessmen, and it is safe to say that, with Malta’s political relations with France now on a sound footing and strengthened by European Union membership, it was better to concentrate on promoting Malta as an ideal place for more French investment.
The preparatory groundwork made by Malta Enterprise, the Maltese Embassy and the Federation of Industry paved the way for a series of healthy meetings in which Dr Gonzi explained why Malta could serve as the right base for French companies to set up shop in.
One good point Dr Gonzi mentioned in his various meetings was the fact that since Malta joined the European Union, more investment has arrived in the country. Over the past months, we have learnt about the Lm110 million to be invested by SmartCity, the establishment of a call centre by HSBC and the expansion of De La Rue, to mention a few.
Of course, factories in the “older” traditional sectors have closed down but all this is showing a shift from high-volume, low-cost industries to low-volume, high value-added industry.
And Malta needs to attract more of such companies to its shores. Investment breeds more investment, and therefore the government must continue working hard to keep the momentum going.
The target of such meetings were types of industry that the government is looking for, mainly pharmaceutical, air industry and financial services, and this continues to prove the line the government is taking in this regard. Malta must continue its transition in the industrial sector to areas where it can be more competitive and where profits may be bigger.
As French businessmen look for possibilities to relocate in other countries where conditions may be better for increased profits, Dr Gonzi made it clear that Malta is looking for this type of investment and that it would be ready to welcome them here with open arms.
The presence of representatives of foreign-based companies who have invested in Malta and have been successful, and who spoke about their experience on the island, must have also helped to boost Malta’s image.
It is one thing hearing it from the government whose sole intention is to attract investment, and another to hear it from the investors themselves, who have a more impartial view of how things work here.
It is obvious that not all companies present in meetings with Dr Gonzi will decide to invest in Malta. But there seems to be a growing interest in our island from the French and let us hope that things will work out.
Dr Gonzi also made it clear that the promotion of Malta will not stop with France. What happened this week will be repeated elsewhere, and perhaps plans for other similar visits to other European Union countries are already taking shape.