Meeting the tough criteria for joining the euro area was indicative of the government’s determination to ensure that macro-economic stability prevails now and into the future so that investors can take advantage of the many opportunities that exist for successful business in Malta, the Prime Minister told the fifth World Investment Conference at La Baule, France yesterday.

He pointed out that last month the European Central Bank and the European Commission had confirmed that Malta had met all the criteria – including inflation, exchange rate stability, budget balances and interest rates – to ensure that in a

little over six months, the European single currency would become the legal tender of Malta – on schedule and as planned. This would further reinforce Malta’s position at the heart of the European project and the European economy.

Speaking about Malta’s advantages for business, Dr Gonzi said government flexibility was an important advantage offered to companies striving to maintain competitiveness “because we can move swiftly to address businesses’ concerns as and when they arise”.

International business understands this well and it was no coincidence that multi-national firms invest disproportionately in small, nimbler states – almost all the countries with the highest level of foreign investment as a proportion of GDP are small.

Malta’s flexibility was one of the reasons it had secured the biggest ever single inward investment project. Dubai Internet City, which has grown to become a hugely successful Information and Communications Technology hub in the Persian Gulf, has decided to locate its first overseas facility in Malta, with a view to serving both the European and North African markets.

Dubai Internet City chose Malta over a shortlist of other locations not only because the country makes an ideal test bed for innovative technology solutions, given its state-of-the-art telecommunications infrastructure, but because it also has a range of incentives that makes it additionally attractive for investing in the ICT industry, as well as other sectors.