12 - 18 July 2001

Malta needs to sell itself more aggressively

by David Kelleher

Malta must not rest on its laurels but aggressively and energetically sell itself not only in the United Kingdom but in other countries as well if it is to attract foreign direct investment.
In an interview with The Malta Business Weekly, the British High Commissioner Howard Pearce said that although Malta and the UK always had strong trade ties, there has been a tendency over the past two decades to take each other for granted and at times complac-ency has led to a drop in investment.
“In per capita terms, we sell more to Malta than we do to any other country in the world, except the Republic of Ireland. It is quite an interesting and significant figure,” Mr Pearce said.
However, he added, “what we have to beware of is taking each other for granted. I would say that Malta has to beware not to take the UK for granted in the trade
and investment sectors and in the general economic field – I think this applies in tourism and it applies in investment.”
Mr Pearce feels that the UK has tended to rest on our laurels. “Malta has rested on its laurels, in terms of British investment. Not that there hasn’t been any investment in recent years. HSBC’s purchase of Mid-Med bank has been the most
obvious high profile example. The British High Commissioner told The Malta Business Weekly that the over-riding concern that may lead investors to hesitate in coming to Malta is the uncertainty about Malta’s future relationship with the European Union. “I think that at the moment an investor does not know if Malta will be a member or not and that issue leads investors to hesitate. They do not know what the key strategic framework will be in the long term. And until that issue is resolved one way or the other, it will continue to cause some investors to hesitate.”
The international market has also become more competitive.
“It is not obvious to the individual who doesn’t know Malta that the island is a good place to invest. Malta’s image to the world is a small sun and sea island. People who don’t know it don’t know that it is a complex wide-ranging economy, with a skilled workforce and an environment that is friendly to investors.
“That needs to be presented to investors in an aggressive way. In the UK I don’t think that has happened. Malta has not been selling itself and Malta needs to sell itself in the UK by targeting the right type of potential investor; by knocking on people’s doors and telling them that if they want to invest abroad they should come to Malta because there are real opportunities here. The key thing is bringing people here to look around and see what’s going on. Malta has got to be sold and sold proactively,” he said.