2 - 8 August 2001

Focus on networking

Minister for Economic Affairs, Josef Bonnici, explains to Blanche Gatt how the
Malta Enterprise Board and its Advisory Council will help Malta tap into its international network of contacts to promote business and attract foreign investment

Around the world, many Maltese people have succeeded in excelling in their chosen fields and a significant number have risen to the very summit of their chosen profession. So far, however, there has been no official initiative to identify or leverage any value from these people’s influential positions. Finally, the potential of knowing who these people are has been recognised, and the recent establishment of the Advisory Council of the Malta Enterprise Board, takes a first step in this direction.
Although the Advisory Council met for the first time last Saturday, the need for such an entity was documented over a year ago, along with the recommendation to re-structure the Ministry of Economic Affairs that resulted in the set up of the Malta Enterprise Board. I spoke to Minister Josef Bonnici after the initial meeting of the Advisory Council to find out more about its function as well as to learn more about the Malta Enterprise Board itself.
“First of all,” said Minister Bonnici, “the Malta Enterprise Board was set up as part of the re-structuring of the Ministry of Economic Affairs. It is going to be responsible for planning strategy on business promotion and coordinating matters, like strategies, business plans and activities, that involve the MDC, METCO, IPSE and Estates Management. Previously this was done through the minister on a one-to-one basis – this now brings all these organisations together, exploits the synergies between them and reduces overlap.
“The MEB also helps develop an overall strategy for the country, looking at industry, trade and business in general and giving strategic direction to the four major entities within the Ministry for Economic Affairs that deal with industry. It will be looking at new activities that could be developed, such as the aviation industry, setting up a World Trade Centre here and developing a Knowledge driven Economy Task Force which is housed within the MDC.”
Sitting on the MEB, together with Josef Bonnici as Chairman, are the chairmen of MDC, METCO, Estates Management, MCAST and MIMCOL, and it convenes around twice a month. “In this way,” said Minister Bonnici, “we have brought these various parts together without fusing them – this structure should provide a viable route to coordinate their activities.”
This new set up does not imply dissatisfaction with the way these organisations were being run before, the Minister insisted. “In fact, we are improving on what we had,” he said, “previously each had its own agenda, and organised its own activity. Now they will be able to coordinate and utilise each other. For example in marketing – METCO has just opened its Tripoli offices, and has started using the embassies. At the same time MDC has offices overseas too. Of course, MDC is focused on investment, while METCO is trade-oriented, but there are areas where their activities overlap. And, in the future this overlap could be more complete with the set up of the World Trade Centre, where we would have both trade and investment generated by companies using its facilities.”
Setting up the World Trade Centre, for which Malta has already bought a US$250,000 licence from the World Trade Association, could be a major advantage for the country in its efforts to attract direct foreign investment – under the aegis of this prestigious, internationally renowned organisation. A call for expressions of interest for the development of the centre will be issued in the coming weeks and Minister Bonnici explained that the planning process for its set up should be concluded by the beginning of next year.
“We shall be constructing a complex which can house a number of business activities,” he said, “and we are hoping to attract the attention of a business organisation which has experience in this field with the idea of having a joint venture where government would provide the land and the licence while the business organisation will provide the financial backing for the project.”
This project is one of the initiatives outlined in last year’s White Paper, and is part of the strategy to position Malta as a regional centre for foreign investors to explore markets in the surrounding region. “Given our own application for EU membership and the EU’s interest in the region, Malta could feature quite successfully in this scenario.”
The Advisory Council was set up to complement the board, not only to advise on strategy, but also to perform positive networking on behalf of Malta through their extensive business and professional contacts around the world.
At the first meeting of the Advisory Council held last Saturday, Minister Bonnici made a presentation of the overall economic situation to the members: “Eurostat recently measured our economy,” he said, “in a manner which allows a direct comparison of our well-being (in terms of what we produce and earn each year) with the EU’s. This allows us to calculate that, based on Malta’s growth rate over the past four years and that of the EU’s 15 countries, it will take us another 75 years before we catch up with the EU’s income levels. This is a very important result and in my view unacceptable. We have to find ways to accelerate our progress, and EU membership is going to create a strong context for this. One of the constraints that we face as a small country is the fact that our infrastructure has to be funded solely by our own resources, and ultimately this means the burden is carried by the Maltese tax payer. EU funding, it is true, will mean a capital flow into the country that has a short-term beneficial effect, but it will also have long-term impact on productivity and will make the country functionable.”
“The results,” he continued,” also show that countries like Portugal who entered the EU in 1986, had a lower income level than us before they joined, but have now over-taken us. Greece, which was on the same level, has also overtaken us, as has Ireland. All these countries received funds to improve their infrastructure and this had a direct result on their rapid progress, a fact which is very relevant to us.” The 12 members of the advisory board include Jonathan Calascione, senior partner of Monitor Strategies, UK; Edward de Bono; Arthur Soler, President of Cadbury Trebor Allen Inc, Canada; Peter Serracino Inglott, former Rector of the University of Malta; John d’Ancona, consultant for Oil & Gas, UK; Franco Cassar Loport, managing director of SG Hambros, Gibraltar; Pier Massa, vice-president of Canadian International Bank of Commerce; Roderick Chalmers, former managing director of PWC, UK; Alex Mifsud, consultant with Arthur D. Little; Michael Gera, partner in Pond Investments, UK; Paul Manduca, chief executive of Rothschild Asset Management, UK; and Frank Zarb, chairman of NASDAQ, USA.
As any businessman knows, good contacts are essential tools, and can make an enormous difference to the success or otherwise of an enterprise. Positive promotion from respected businessmen the world over could have a tremendous impact on Malta’s aspiration to become a regional centre for foreign companies interested in exploring opportunities within southern Europe, North Africa and the Middle East.
“One of the things the MEB is doing,” said Minister Bonnici, “is compiling a directory of professionals of Maltese origin working overseas, with the express intention of using them to market the country more effectively, being able to tap into their experience and networks of contacts when necessary. For example, if we are having discussions with a particular company on a project, we will access our Maltese resources dispersed around the world, and the advisory board will provide us with a way to mobilise these people.
“So much business is done through contacts, and we think this strategy will strengthen our ability to attract the right investment to the island.”