Malta Could Be Regional Centre For Financial Services

by Lorys Charalambous, Tax-News.com, Cyprus

23 July 2001

The chairman of the international centre of Mediterranean Agronomic Studies (CIMEAM), Salvino Busuttil, has told the Maltese press that Malta has the potential to play a key role in the Mediterranean region by becoming a training centre for banking, insurance, re-insurance and financial services.

In an interview with the Malta Business Weekly, Prof. Busuttil explained: 'The Mediterranean region does not have a development bank and Malta could develop such a bank in collaboration with the other countries in this region to serve as a regional merchant bank and a development agency.'

According to Prof. Busuttil, one of the problems that needs tackling urgently is that some countries in the region export primary goods but also import finished goods which establishes 'negative' terms of trade for them. He said: 'These countries have to move from just producing primary material to processing their agricultural produce through agricultural industry and thus get more value added.'

He added that many countries do not have the necessary frameworks in place to support any changes but other countries appear to be making great strides in strengthening their economy such as Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt. When asked if Malta could surpass such countries in economic growth, Prof. Busuttil said it could if it continued its forward-looking approach. He argued: 'If we use our flexibility well, then we can move ahead of other countries in the southern part of the Mediterranean rim. Investment in these countries presents a solid potential. But they are also disposed to invest outside their own boundaries.'

'While such countries do not want to be economically dependent on former colonial powers, they would feel confident working with the Maltese because we are a small country which cannot dominate them,' he added

Another feature in favour of Malta is its use of the English language. Prof. Busuttil noted: 'Apart from the Anglo-Saxon oriented work practices here, we have an edge in English, even though we have a disadvantage with an inadequate knowledge of French, which with the help of the Alliance Francaise, for example, we can remedy soonest. The Mediterranean market is not homogeneous and hence its challenge. We can score in information technology and biotechnology. If we can also corner the regional financial market, we can do very well as a Mediterranean country with excellent European credentials.'

CIHEAM, an intergovernmental organization with a Mediterranean regional vocation, was founded in 1962 with the support and approval of the OECD and the Council of Europe. The Centre currently has the following member countries: Albania, Algeria, Egypt, France, Greece, Italy, Lebanon, Malta, Morocco, Portugal, Spain, Tunisia and Turkey. The objective of the Centre, states CIHEAM, is to 'provide complementary learning, both economic and technical, and develop a spirit of international co-operation among senior agricultural staff in the Mediterranean countries.'

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