Malta - Algeria business ties

[Al-khiyal]

Malta and Algeria discuss cooperation

February 13, 2009 -- Bilateral cooperation between Malta and Algeria was the focus of talks held between Deputy Prime Minister Tonio Borg and Algerian Foreign Minister Mourad Medelci, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in Valletta, on Friday. The two ministers identified areas such as energy, trade and tourism where bilateral cooperation could be intensified. They also discussed the present situation in the Mediterranean region and the Middle East, exchanging views on the Union for the Mediterranean and the Malta Initiative for a more structured dialogue between the European Union and the League of Arab States.

[Al-khiyal]

Coopération :
Première visite de Medelci à Malte

Samedi 14 Février 2009 -- Le ministre des Affaires étrangères, M. Mourad Medelci, s’est rendu hier à La Valette (Malte) pour une visite officielle d’une journée, à l’invitation de son homologue maltais, M. Tonio Borg. Durant cette visite, M. Medelci a eu un entretien avec ce dernier et a été reçu par le président de la République de Malte, M. Edward Fenech Adami, selon un communiqué du ministère des Affaires étrangères.

Cette visite, première du genre, constitue «un signal fort de la volonté des deux pays de donner plus de perspectives à leurs relations bilatérales amorcées en 2007», souligne la même source. Elle s’inscrit notamment dans le cadre de «la dynamique qui caractérise les relations entre les deux pays». Il reste qu’au-delà du cadre de coopération bilatérale, les entretiens de M. Medelci avec les responsables maltais ont porté sur un certain nombre de sujets «d’intérêt commun», notamment les relations euro-méditerranéennes et euro-arabes.

Pour rappel, ces sujets ont fait l’objet de discussion entre les deux responsables et ce, lors de la visite officielle du président maltais à Alger, en septembre 2007, durant laquelle l’Algérie et Malte ont signé deux mémorandums d’entente, en présence du président de la République, M. Abdelaziz Bouteflika et du président de Malte, M. Edward Fenech Adami. Le premier mémorandum porte sur les consultations entre les ministères des Affaires étrangères des deux pays, et le second concerne la suppression de visas pour les titulaires de passeports diplomatiques et de service officiel.

Il est à signaler que ces relations bilatérales avec Malte revêtent une grande importance économique d’autant plus que cette île est située au cœur de la Méditerranée et qu’elle est surtout d’une grande importance dans le trafic maritime mondial. Enfin, Malte est un État insulaire, membre de l’Union européenne depuis le 1er mai 2004 et a intégré la zone euro le 1er janvier 2008.

[Al-khiyal]

Malta bids for business councils with Algeria, Tunisia, Ukraine, Jordan and Lebanon

May 31, 2009 -- Malta is on the verge of setting up a business council with Algeria while talks are in progress on setting up business councils with Tunisia and the Ukraine, as well as other countries such as Jordan and Lebanon, The Malta Independent on Sunday has learnt.

The multifaceted move forms part of a wider concerted drive on the part of the foreign affairs ministry to bolster business opportunities for Malta and to nurture higher levels of cross border business.

Following an official presidential visit to Algeria in 2007, which had included a strong business delegation from the Maltese private sector, an agreement was reached on establishing a Maltese-Algerian Business Council.

The council will have the overriding aim of supporting Maltese and Algerian businesses and entrepreneurs in their endeavours to promote trade, investment and other forms of business cooperation possibilities between the two countries.

In the meantime, talks are also ongoing with Tunisia with a view to setting up a like-minded Maltese-Tunisian Business Council; similar intentions are in the pipeline with respect to the Ukraine and other countries including Jordan and Lebanon.

While the commercial benefits of Malta’s EU membership have been many, the Foreign Affairs Ministry has not stopped there over recent years but has instead embarked on a bid to enrich the country’s relationships with a number of third countries such as Tunisia, Croatia, Algeria and the Ukraine.

The ministry, since at least 2006, has been engaged in promoting cross-border business opportunities and commercial ties with both EU and non-EU countries and, along such lines, has played a role in organising and coordinating a number of business delegations abroad.

Over the last five years, the ministry has organised 10 business delegations to third countries, aimed at providing Maltese investors with the possibility of creating and developing business ties with foreign companies.

Over and above that, starting in 2006, the ministry has also capitalised on state and official visits undertaken by the President of the Republic in terms of promoting Malta’s trade and investment opportunities abroad.

In 2006, and in conjunction with an official visit by the foreign affairs minister, the then Commercial and Cultural Diplomacy Unit (CCDU) organised business delegations to Tunisia in February and to Zagreb, Croatia in April.

In the same year, three business delegations were organised by the CCDU in tandem with state visits by former President Eddie Fenech Adami to Latvia, Tunisia and Croatia.

The following year, 2007, another Maltese business delegation paid a visit to China, and another two business delegations visited Cyprus and Algeria.

In 2008, the ministry, in conjunction with Malta Enterprise, organised business delegations to the Ukraine in July and to Portugal in November. This year, a commercial delegation organised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Malta Enterprise accompanied the President of Malta on an official visit to Poland in January.

In addition to organising outgoing business delegations, the ministry has also been involved in coordinating a number of incoming business delegations on a regular basis.