The president of the Malta Chamber of Commerce and Enterprise, Tancred Tabone, recently hosted SmartCity CEO Fareed Abdulrahman and newly appointed SmartCity Malta CEO Claudio Grech to a business lunch at The Exchange in Valletta.

Mr Tabone said the Chamber has taken a very active stance with respect to the SmartCity project since it was first announced, and has actively been seeking a dialogue with both SmartCity officials and the IT Ministry.

He also referred to the setting up of an ad hoc Working Group within the Chamber’s structures, which meets regularly to discuss any developments in the project and, when necessary, the committee is joined by the chairmen of the Chamber’s economic groups. Apart from the fact, of course, that the Chamber was very pleased to have SmartCity Malta as tenants at the Chamber, until they were able to re-locate to the site very recently.

“We immediately recognised the importance of collaboration and integration in order for the project to be a success for SmartCity and for Malta… because, if the project is not seen as part of a larger picture, that is, if we treat it as ‘an island within an island’, then it will not benefit from the great potential Malta has to offer, and Malta will not be making full use of the potential benefits of SmartCity,” insisted Mr Tabone.

He went on to refer to other intangible benefits that the project will bring to the local business community, one of which is the commitment by government to fast-track SmartCity applications and other processes. “Eventually, this will apply across all local businesses and our Chamber is insisting with the government that this happens sooner rather than later.”

Mr Tabone concluded his speech by announcing the plans to organise a Chamber-led Maltese business delegation in Dubai before year end for Maltese entrepreneurs to get first hand experience of how DIC operates and what one should expect once SmartCity Malta opens its doors.