Opportunities for investing in Malta in diverse areas ranging from financial services to logistics and from manufacturing to tourism were presented by Finance Minister Tonio Fenech to a number of British entrepreneurs in London on Friday.

A business breakfast organised in collaboration with the Maltese High Commission also attracted a substantial number of entrepreneurs of Maltese origin, members of the Malta Business Network – which was set up earlier this year on the initiative of Joseph Zammit Tabona, the High Commissioner of Malta in the UK.

The Network promotes business and professional opportunities in Malta by reinforcing and expanding the existing good relations between members of the business and professional communities in Malta and the United Kingdom. Attendees included representatives from major financial services institutions, legal offices and service-based companies.

In his presentation, Mr Fenech described Malta as “a growing economy which can offer excellent growth potential for companies’ seeking to expand their business”, highlighting Malta’s important role as a hub in the Mediterranean that is ideally suited for trade with the Middle East and Northern Africa.

Mr Fenech highlighted the contribution of Malta’s human assets to its economic success. This is highlighted by regular surveys, such as Ernst & Young Attractiveness Survey, in which investors cite the quality, adaptability and loyalty of human resources as one of the reasons behind their decision to invest in Malta: “We have invested and continue to invest substantially in our educational system and have integrated the latest ICT in technologies in our teaching component.”

The minister gave details about opportunities in various sectors, particularly those resulting from the government’s ‘Vision for 2015 and Beyond’ to financial services, health, education, high value added manufacturing, ICT and education, as well as the ecological vision for Gozo.

Mr Fenech referred to financial services as one of the country’s major successes of the past few years and has grown solidly in the past years. The advantage of Malta’s diversified and innovative financial sector is that it is able to offer cross-linkage opportunities between banking, investment and trust services, insurance and pensions. 

Finally, the minister also spoke about the newly launched High Net Worth Individual Schemes and explained the benefits for foreign citizens seeking to obtain such status.

A question and answer session followed where attendees had the opportunity to express their views and put forward recommendations in view of enhancing business ties with Malta.