Tripoli, 5 November:
International competition for business in Libya is causing the Maltese to work harder to boost existing business relations to . . .[restrict]a higher level.
“We know that Libya is now a free Country and open for international business,” Frank Farrugia, the President of the Libyan-Maltese Chamber of Commerce. told Libya Herald. “We have always considered Libya as one of our best trading partners. We will be facing much more competition than before from countries such as Italy, Turkey, France, Germany and China, so we have to be forward-looking and pro-active.”
The chamber has pointed out that Malta provided important humanitarian assistance during the revolution, particularly during fighting in Misrata, when food and medicine were shipped in from the island. The chamber also gave financial support to the Malta Civil Protection Department which was helping organise the aid.
The chamber said that although it continued to function during the revolution, offering assistance and information, the unrest in Libya had affected its activities.
“We are sure that with the leadership of Ali Zeidan,” said Farrugia, “the country will start tackling issues which could not have been addressed before.” He added: “It has taken Libya a year to re-establish its government and now that this is in place, hopefully we can act. We are now extremely pleased that Libya has embraced the road of democracy, so we can now talk the same language and work together as free people.”
The chamber has been operating since 1995 and Farrugia said it was the best economic and business channel of communication between Libya and Malta. He explained that the chamber has already been involved in organising Maltese ministerial visits to Libya.
“We have been insisting with our government that ministerial delegations should visit Tripoli on a monthly basis, rotating these by sector such as agriculture and fisheries, health and education.”
Farrugia said that Malta was particularly keen on promoting business in healthcare services, aviation maintenance, financial services, ICT and English language training. [/restrict]
