Malta Enterprise in collaboration with the Milan Chamber of Commerce organised an investment workshop at Palazzo Giuresconsulti early last month.

In his opening address, Professor Bega, director of PROMOS, highlighted Malta’s advantage as an EU member State and a point of access for North Africa and the Middle East markets – an island that enjoys a favourable business climate that is conducive to doing business. Prof. Bega announced that a business delegation from the Milan Chamber of Commerce would be visiting Malta in the third week of May.

Walter Balzan, Malta’s ambassador to Italy, spoke of Malta’s long standing and excellent cultural, social and commercial relationships. He invited the audience to consider more closely the business opportunities that Malta can offer, particularly in sectors vital to its economy like ICT, financial services and the knowledge-based industry.

Dott. Gavioli, director general of the WAM group, recounted his experience from the point of view of an Italian company that chose to relocate part of its operations to Malta. He had words of praise for the dedication, work ethic and attitude of their Maltese workforce. Dott. Gavioli spoke about Malta Enterprise’s whole-hearted co-operation and contribution in assisting the WAM group to establish its operations in Malta in as little as six months.

This was also substantiated by Dott. Roberto Portelli, CEO of CON.NEXO, for whom Malta Enterprise was instrumental in the decision to relocate his business in software operations to Malta.

The event was extremely well attended by Italian businessmen. The panel of speakers also included representatives from Malta Enterprise, SmartCity, FinanceMalta and the BOV representative Office in Milan who spoke about opportunities of investing in Malta. Other speakers included Federico Barilli, Director, ASSINFORM (Associazione Italiana per l’Information Technology) and Claudio Morpurgo, delegate to Dott. Roberto Formigoni, Presidente della Regione Lombardia.