Double-tax, visas on Bush-Gonzi agenda

The lack of a double-taxation treaty between Malta and the United States and the visa requirement for Maltese citizens to enter the US are to be discussed by Lawrence Gonzi and President George Bush during the Prime Minister's visit to the White House on Monday, Molly Bordonaro, the new American Ambassador to Malta told The Times.

In her first interview since she presented her credentials to President Eddie Fenech Adami earlier this month, Ms Bordonaro described US-Maltese bilateral relations as "very strong" and "continuing to grow stronger".

She described the October 3 meeting as "a great representation of the fact that both leaders think the relationship is valuable".

Ms Bordonaro said she would like to see further collaboration on important issues particularly global security "and there is a lot of room to do some work on that because of Malta's strategic location in the Mediterranean".

On Iraq, the new Ambassador said things were getting better, adding: "We can point to the elections where eight million people turned out to vote, to the renovations of the schools, to the number of Iraqis returning to work who are now living in a free society where they can control their destiny and the destiny of their children."

She said President Bush is very focused on building a stronger partnership with Europe and she believes that as a result of his efforts and his trip to Brussels earlier this year "we are beginning to see the relationship strengthened in the past few months".

The Ambassador said she was very touched by the contributions and the prayers from a lot of people in Malta after Hurricane Katrina struck.