12-page supplement on Malta in 'International Freighting Weekly'
by a staff reporter
A 12-page supplement on Malta was published in the 29 May issue of International Freighting Weekly, a newspaper published in the UK focusing on transport news.
The following are extracts from this supplement.
European Union
A union for better or for worse
The question of EU membership continues to hog the headlines in Malta. The island's ambivalence on the subject of accession reflects a lively debate between two polarised political camps.
Prime Minister Eddie Fenech Adami's ruling Nationalist Party has brought the nation back onto the fast track for EU accession since resuming power in 1998.
But a sizeable proportion of the population is still rallied around the opposition Labour Party, which advocates a more cautious approach, perhaps limited to a relationship with the EU along the lines of Switzerland or Norway.
In recent times the electorate has been split quite evenly between left and right and with a 95 per cent voter turnout, the Maltese clearly take their politics and this particular issue seriously.
For better or worse, Malta embarked on technical accession negotiations with the EU at the end of March. While a number of uncertainties lie ahead, Malta will benefit from Lm3m of pre-accession funding annually.
The next general election is not until 2003. But a national referendum on EU membership is likely to take place in 2002 after the completion of membership negotiations with Brussels.
Anthony Borg Cardona, director general of the Malta Chamber of Commerce, says: "The government will come to the people and say 'this is the situation; this is what will happen when we join and it's up to you to decide for or against'. That is when the real test will come."
"I think there are as many cons as there are pros at this time. The Maltese economy is not performing as it should: there's a lull and whenever this happens it is attributed to the drive for EU membership.
"There is no link whatsoever but this is the perception of the ordinary person. Tourism for example is doing well and will continue to do so, with or without EU membership," Mr Borg Cardona said.
Malta Freeport
A global terminal operator at a private Freeport by year end?
The much talked about privatisation of Malta Freeport is on the way to becoming reality, and Credit Suisse has been appointed financial adviser to the operation. Malta chairman Marin Hili tells IFW: "The government is hoping it will be complete by the end of this year."
While stressing that such a decision is in the hands of the Maltese government and not himself, he is nevertheless hoping that the privatisation will be in the form of a long lease to one of the global terminal operators which, he believes, would best ensure the port's future development.
Discussions have taken place with Hutchinson, PSA Corp and P&O Ports, although the latter is considered an unlikely candidate in light of its commitment to the nearby port of Cagliari of Sardinia.
Meanwhile, the Freeport has received a further boost by the recent signing of a slot-sharing agreement between CMA CGM and China Shipping.
This comes as no surprise as Malta Freeport is known to have been in search of Chinese cargo for years. CMA CGM, the terminal's number one customer with some 50-60 calls of mainline and feeder vessels a month, is rumoured to be interested in the post-privatisation operation of the terminal itself.
Valletta's harbour
Increased volumes will bring the super-reefer
The often quoted statistic that 95 per cent of Malta Freeport's throughput is transhipment cargo is fact. But it can serve to draw attention away from the remaining five per cent, some 50,000 teu annually, which when added to the 30,000 teu through Valletta's Grand Harbour, makes up a healthy flow of domestic import/ export trade for a nation of just 380,000.
Besides consumer goods for its affluent population and the 1.2 million annual tourist influx, a significant amount of imports go to supply the island's manufacturing and processing industries, chief among which are furniture, garments, banknotes, foodstuffs and electronics.
Sea Malta
Maltese Falcon is a hit at the ro-ro box-office
Malta's road hauliers and consolidators are well served by ferry freight links connecting the island with its neighbours to the north and south. National carrier Sea Malta operates two of these and, as agent, represents a third - Libya's General National Maritime Transport Company (GNMTC).
Last year, Sea Malta finally found a replacement vessel for its Tunis/ Genoa/ Marseilles trade. Assistant general manager of corporate services Edmund Tabone says: "Last year was one of restructuring. The acquisition of the Maltese Falcon is a challenge for us to enhance and increase activity. It's the ideal vessel and recent results show that we are turning the situation around now." He admits that 1999 results were impacted by financing the ship. Of the 98 Federation of Industry members polled in a recent survey, 64 per cent said Sea Malta's service has improved, particularly in the areas of customer service, communications and service regularity.
Sea Malta chairman Marlene Mizzi says: "The survey will not only consolidate our strategies, but will also enable us to formulate action plans which will secure our support from Maltese industry."
Malta International Airport
The air cargo hub is becoming a reality
Malta International Airport chairman Lawrence Zammit believes there is no real air cargo hub in southern Europe and "we feel it is an opportunity that we must not allow to pass us by," he says.
"We can help in two ways. One is the better use of space within the airport - if we have customers who need their own dedicated warehouse space we must provide it.
"At the moment, the only space available is within Air Malta's compound. The minute more land within the airport is freed from government hands, it will become easier to develop new warehousing facilities. Secondly we must make sure procedures are simplified and speeded up.
"We see the possibility of airlines with dedicated cargo systems using Malta as a base and using routes that are not tied to a passenger schedule as Air Malta's is. Courier services are an example," he says.
Trailer business
Island is a haven for the niche operator
Sullivan Shipping switched from container forwarding into the trailer business four years ago. Managing director Bernard Sullivan says: "We lease the trailers and offer groupage and full loads from the UK, the continent and Italy. We usually use Sea Malta or Grimaldi from Genoa to Malta."
Both Sullivan Shipping and its sister company Unispeed work with Fred Olsen Transport in the UK, Richard Kempers on the continent and Osan, Genoa, for Italy.
The firm has 10 trailers on long lease from Maltese haulage contractors, but has access to more equipment as and when it is needed. Marketing is largely centred on Malta where consignees tend to buy on fee-on-truck terms in UK and Europe.
Although Malta's trailer operators lift very little export cargo out of the island, as soon as the empty trailers return to the Italian mainland, so the trade is not too seriously imbalanced.
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