Minister for Economic Services concludes two day official visit to Libya

Prof. Josef Bonnici, Minister for Economic Services, has just concluded a two day official visit to Libya, during which he was accompanied by senior officials from the Ministry for Economic Services, including the Chairpersons of Malta Drydocks, Enemalta and MIMCOL and the General Manager of AirMalta.

The brief, but intense programme, included meetings with four secretaries of the General People's Committee of Libya, namely : Dr. Abdel Hafez Al-Zlitni, Secretary for Economy & Trade, Eng. Ezzeddin Mohammed Al-Hinshiri, Secretary for Communications & Transport, Dr. Mohammed Beit El-Mal, Secretary of Finance and Eng. Al-Bukhari Houda, Secretary of Tourism.

Meetings were also held with a number of senior Libyan officials, including Dr. El Taher Al Jhaimi, Governor of the Central Bank of Libya and Mr. Muhammed Hueij, Chairman of the Libyan Arab Investment Co. (LAFICO).

The meetings were all very cordial and they not only provided an opportunity to discuss some pending issues between the two countries, but also sought to identify new avenues for future cooperation.

Matters discussed included:

(i) the Air Malta service to Libya;

(ii) the purchase of oil supplies by Enemalta,

(iii) prospects of repair work on Libyan ships at the Malta Drydocks as well as related project work in Libya itself;

(iv) the operations of LIMSUK and

(v) other areas where there appear to be good prospects for additional trade between the two countries.

The Hon. Prof. Josef Bonnici expressed, to his Libyan hosts, the satisfaction of the Maltese Government at the suspension of the UN sanctions against Libya. The Maltese Government is particularly happy at the resumption of regular direct flights between the two countries, which augers very well for the expansion of further commercial links between Malta and Libya.

In conjunction with the Minister's engagements, the visit also afforded an opportunity, to the various Chairpersons who formed part of the delegation, for additional meetings on subjects of direct interest to them. In particular, the Chairman of the Malta Drydocks discussed the opening of a Malta Drydocks office in Tripoli and the consolidation of their commercial relations with the Libyan Port Authority and with the new management of GNMTC (the Libyan shipping line).