Smart Water Infrastructures, Innovative Water Technologies, Water Reuse, Water Education and Innovative Financial Solutions in Water were among the main topics addressed during an international conference organised as part of the Malta Water Week.

The event organised by Paragon Europe at the Excelsior Hotel promoted the huge strides that Malta has accomplished in the field of water management and brought foreign experts and local SMEs together to discuss business ideas and seek funding for their water-related projects.

Paragon Europe is a Maltese company helping local and international companies meet European counterparts to develop EU projects, business collaborations and source R&I finance.

In his introductory speech, Dr Anton Theuma drew parallels with Singapore, a country who like Malta has very limited resources when it comes to water and explained how the country had managed to turn its water problems to opportunities and strengths.

"Malta is experiencing increasing demands tied to intricate desalination processes. Yet, like Singapore, Malta has the capability to turn these challenges into strengths and opportunities. We need to participate in more EU water projects and consortia, establish more links with international water clusters represented through we.eu and we need water to take centre stage as one of the country's priorities. What Malta needs to achieve is to bring the industry, science and public authorities together to be able to move towards more sustainable solutions. We also need more involvement from NGOs and civil societies about water issues."

"The way forward would be investing more in water research facilities and to attract internationally-recognised research institutions to nurture cross-collaborations between sectors. Local SMEs need to show more proactivitiy by seeking active participation in research collaborations and tap more into international donor funding."

"I am pleased that the Malta Water Week has managed to attract businesses, academics, NGOs, public and private experts. Many will be participating remotely through video conferencing tools and as such, this event is an ideal place to share best practice and to establish investment opportunitites and collaborations. We have to tap into these opportunities and we have to stand for innovation. We believe in innovation which does not have to be costly and in stakeholders' engagement and participation. There is no need to reinvent the wheel because best practice is already there. We just have to be willing to collaborate with those who have been there. National and EU funds need to be properly optimised and while SMEs should be leading initiatives, government should be lending its support," concluded Dr Theuma.

The conference encouraged SMEs to come forward with their business ideas, to share them with potential business partners and seek funding for their water-related projects.

In his message streamed at the start of the conference, Karmenu Vella, European Commissioner for the Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries spoke very highly about the Malta Water Week event.

He said that this is an initiative that brings together many experts from various areas on the same level to discuss water which is such an important resource especially for a small country like Malta. Unfortunately Malta still relies very heavily on expensive and energy-based desalination facilities and we need to explore opportunities that can help us meet our water-related demands through more efficient methods.

The conference attracted the participation of over 30 high level speakers, all experts in their respective fields. The speaker line-up included Manuel Sapiano, chief Technical officer (Water), Sustainable Energy and Water Conservation Unit at the Ministry for Energy and Health who spoke about innovation as a key driver for achieving sustainable use of water resources in the Maltese Islands.

This was followed by interventions from Rahul Bansal, deputy director of Education at Climate - KIC, Lorenzo Nicastro, Regional Minister for Environment from Regione Puglia in Italy, Manuel Irun, Project adviser of EASME, EU Commission, Thomas Perianu, senior vice-president Smart Water, Suez-Environment, Joe Restall, consultant on water conservation in the Local Hospitality Industry, Antonia Morales, Innovation manager at the European Chemical Industry Council and Gábor Baranyai, Ministerial Commissioner, Environmental Law and Policy Issues at the Ministry of Justice in Hungary.

All the speakers highlighted water challenges and what their respective organisations are doing in terms of best practices and innovation to overcome such challenges.

The second day of the conference was dedicated to the more collaborative issues where participants had the opportunity to learn more about cluster activation and participation with testimonials from various clusters, coaching and mentoring during the investment brokerage, EU brokerage and project development and B2B collaborations.

"The stronger the drive towards innovation, the closer we get to the day that we can promote Malta as a hub for innovation. Local SMEs need to understand however that funds are not subsidies but are there to help them back the expense of their research and innovation budgets. Fact is that we have the potential to make it at the EU level and Paragon Europe is a living proof of this," concluded Dr Theuma.