Trade promotion initiatives

A programme involving specific trade promotion initiatives covering Egypt, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands will be operated in close cooperation between diplomatic staff at the Malta Embassies in these countries and METCO.
The programme was launched yesterday. The need had been felt by METCO, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry for Economic Services to extend the traditional remit of involvement in political and diplomatic questions to cover tangible economic issues, particularly in cooperating with functional bodies as METCO and others, in joint projects, designed to promote Malta’s business advantages overseas.
METCO has already carried out an intensive three-week training programme for the diplomats who will be involved in implementing the projects in their country of
posting.
These projects, which are planned to be staggered over a 12-month to 18-month period, will entail the organisation of trade missions, a series of seminars and presentations, the production of newsletters for both Maltese exporters and companies in the countries being targeted, and the setting-up within the Embassy of a Business Information Unit which will incorporate a database facility.
The ultimate aim of the METCO-Ministry of Foreign Affairs project is that of making Malta’s diplo-matic network more effective in its trade promotion endeavours in the interest of Maltese industry and the Maltese economy as a whole.