Tourism Minister Edward Zammit Lewis today again refused to reveal the foreign investor currently in negotiations to be brought in as a strategic partner with Air Malta due to what he said were commercially sensitive reasons.

He was asked in Parliament recently to reveal who the foreign investors negotiating with the government are, but had refused to do so citing the same reasons.

Speaking with The Malta Independent today, Minister Zammit Lewis said that the reason was not because government does not want the public to know, but that they will be told at the “opportune time” and while employing full “transparency.”

“Currently negotiations are under way; we are at a crucial stage which entails commercial sensitivity. For this reason we must be careful.”

Minister Zammit Lewis then made reference to Prime Minister Joseph Muscat’s recent statements about modelling Air Malta on the same basis as Enemalta.

Chinese investors were brought into Enemalta in order to save it from bankruptcy; Minister Zammit Lewis said Air Malta would be saved in a similar way.

“Air Malta has been facing difficulties for a number of years, the solution is not to simply throw money at the problem...we must find a strategic partner that will give AirMalta relevance in the current competitive airline industry.”

He also stated that the government is tackling the problem “head on.”

Prime Minister Muscat yesterday said that fresh foreign investment will be brought into Air Malta, and that it would be modelled in the same way as Enemalta. He also ensured that airline would remain Maltese, workers would retain their jobs and the company would remain sustainable.

Pressed about a timeline as to when the foreign investors would be revealed to the public, Minister Zammit Lewis said that the Prime Minister had made it clear it will be a challenge to be tackled at the beginning of 2016.

“I wish that in the coming weeks, or months there will be something concrete to announce to the public, and we will be able to discuss anything that needs to be discussed in all the available forums. At the end of the day we need to consider the workers at AirMalta,” Minister Zammit Lewis concluded.