There are clear economic benefits deriving from the choice of focus in foreign policy objectives, Foreign Minister Michael Frendo said yesterday.
He was speaking during a business breakfast organised by The Malta Business Weekly at Le Meridien Phoenicia on The Economic Aspect Of Malta's Foreign Policy.
"Malta simply cannot afford to have a diplomatic service which is not deeply engaged in economic activity," Dr Frendo said, adding that "foreign policy activity often goes fairly unnoticed until something goes wrong".
The minister identified seven key areas where he said Malta's foreign policy addressed issues of economic and commercial value.
The strengthening of relations with Malta's immediate neighbours was one key area.
"Our drive to strengthen relations with countries in our immediate neighbourhood, in particular our neighbours to the south, Tunisia, Libya, Algeria and Egypt, has added value for Malta. Malta is today considered as a safe and stable gateway for investors interested in investing in these countries," he said.
Another important area was the creation of a Central Mediterranean Economic Forum (C-MEF), proposed by Malta, which is intended to bring together the economic operators of Libya, Tunisia, Malta and Italy, Sicily in particular. "If we take these markets and seriously address current barriers for trade, business and commerce among them, economic operators can benefit from the opportunities of a sizeable market of over 20 million people," he said.
Engaging with major emerging economies is another priority. Dr Frendo said Malta, in spite of its limited resources, is seeking to engage more and more with major emerging economies such as India. "The distance between Malta and India can actually play in our favour," he said, "as Malta can be extremely useful as a backup for Indian services and goods in Europe and North Africa".
The question of visas also had an important commercial value.
"There needs to be a continuing effort to analyse the present visa regime in the context of security, Schengen regulations and the current international situation with a view to striking a balance between security concerns and trade and business requirements," he said. Tied to the issue of visas and free movement of people, is the issue of illegal immigration, in particular repatriation and readmission agreements for third country nationals.
The use of Malta's international network of embassies and consulates was also important. Dr Frendo said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was involved in talks with the Malta Tourism Authority on how embassies can be utilised as facilities for MTA officials based in major European cities. At the same time, he said the ministry is working with Malta Enterprise for Malta's embassies overseas to address priority areas in investment strategies.
Overseas trade delegations organised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs this year attracted a 57 per cent increase in participation over last year. He said the meeting for Malta's honorary consuls held last week in Malta had succeeded to show the consular network that the island has a strong industrial base in high-tech and high value added products.
Finally, Dr Frendo mentioned making a success of Malta's EU membership. He said Malta's contribution in the European Union in the areas of external trade and WTO positions was essential. Together with the Ministry of Finance and the Office of the Prime Minister, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had worked assiduously in the course of finding an agreement on the funds from the EU's Financial Perspectives for 2007-2013.