Prime Minister Joseph Muscat has tabled in Parliament a copy of a letter of engagement from Malta Enterprise chairman Mario Vella to British business consultant Shiv Nair.

The letter, dated June 28, says that the corporation was engaging Mr Nair to identify concrete leads of investment promotion in China, the Middle East and Southeast Asia, including introductions to the individuals and companies concerned.

“For this task you shall be paid a total of €6,000. We would expect to see concrete results before the end of this year," Dr Vella’s letter read.

Answering a parliamentary question by Opposition Leader Simon Busuttil, Dr Muscat said in a written reply that as he had already stated publicly, there was no type of contract between Mr Nair and the Government.

Mr Nair was never paid by the Government.

Dr Muscat had already declared that he had not known that Malta-based  business consultant Shiv Nair had been blacklisted by the World Bank over corruption allegations.

He denied he had ever met Mr Nair and said the consultant had been very helpful in establishing close contacts with Qatar for the government.