Foreign minister Michael Frendo has returned from an intensive two-day official visit to Tunisia intended to strengthen relations between the two countries, during which he was received by President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.
President Ben Ali is scheduled to pay a state visit to Malta later this year - the first by a Tunisian head of state.
Dr Frendo also had talks with his Tunisian counterpart, Abdelbaki Hermassi, with Tourism Minister Tijani Haddad, Technology and Communications Minister Montassar Ouaili, and Trade Minister Mondher Zenaidi.
President Ben Ali and Dr Frendo agreed that Malta's EU membership provided the two countries with new opportunities to strengthen their political and economic relations both bilaterally and in the context of the Barcelona Euro-Med Process.
They also agreed that more attention should be given to economic development in the Mediterranean region both within the Euro-Med process and the 5+5 Meeting in Valletta later this year. In this context, Dr Frendo said that Malta favoured the eventual setting up of a Mediterranean Bank for Development which would be a catalyst for economic development in the Mediterranean region, particularly in North Africa.
In their 90-minute meeting, President Ben Ali and Minister Frendo also discussed the Middle East, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and Iraq. Dr Frendo said Malta believed it is important for the countries of the Central Mediterranean such as Malta and Tunisia to develop a multi-level relationship, embracing not only the two governments, but also MPs, the business sector, academic institutions and civil society of both countries.
Minister Hermassi agreed with Minister Frendo's initiative for the two countries to present a joint paper on co-operation in furthering cultural heritage as a tool of economic development in the 5+5 Meeting in Valletta next June. It was also agreed to set up a Joint Business Council composed of five businesspersons from each side. Furthermore Malta and Tunisia are to start talks on a 'good neighbourhood' treaty on the lines of similar conventions which Tunisia has with other countries.
In his talks with the other ministers Dr Frendo discussed the development of the cruise liner business between the two countries, the World Summit on the Information Society to be held in Tunis later this year and stronger telecommunications and business infrastructural links between Malta and Tunisia.
In a meeting at the Tunisian Exporters Organisation chaired by Trade Minister Zenaidi, Dr Frendo, who is also responsible for external trade, addressed a well-attended meeting on "Malta as a Gateway to the European Union" in which he explained to the numerous business people present the advantages of using Malta and the Maltese in their trade relations with the EU.
Dr Frendo invited the Tunisian ministers and business people he met to participate in the Commonwealth Business Forum to be held in Malta in November when the island hosts the Commonwealth summit.