On 16 April, Ambassador Martin Valentino and Daniela Sultana, First Secretary, Embassy of Malta, The Hague, gave presentations to Dutch students who are following the European Studies course at The Hague University of Applied Sciences.

The presentations focused on the political system and economic situation in Malta as well as on Malta-EU relations. A film showing sceneries and the culture events and life in Malta and Gozo was also shown after the presentations, followed by a question and answer session.

The theme of the study tour to Malta by the 14 Dutch students is Live and Work in the EU with a focus on Malta. The visit is currently taking place and will end on 29 April. The embassy gave its assistance to the group leader and facilitated contacts for visits which will take place to the House of Representatives, the European Commission Representation, the Institute for European Studies (University of Malta) and the Malta-EU Steering and Action Committee (Meusac).

The students, who will also visit various places of interest, were provided with publicity material on Malta and Gozo. In April 2011 the embassy had assisted and gave presentations to a group of 30 Dutch students from the University of Leiden who had visited Malta on a cultural trip.

The Hague University of Applied Sciences is a vocational university and was founded in 1987 as a result of a merger of 14 smaller institutions of higher professional education in the region of The Hague.

The university has 42 full-time Bachelor’s degree programmes and 10 Master’s degree programmes as well as other programmes some of which are taught in English. The programmes include courses in international business and management studies, international financial management, law, industrial design engineering, European studies, process and food technology and public management.

The university has close to 22,000 students of more than 146 different nationalities and 1,800 staff which makes The Hague University of Applied Sciences the most culturally diverse higher education institution in the Netherlands.