Minister Josef Bonnici on visit to China

The Hon. Josef Bonnici, Minister for Economic Services, is currently in Beijing, China, to co-chair the first ever meeting of the ‘China-Malta Mixed Commission for Trade and Economic Cooperation'. This Commission has been set up as the result of a formal agreement between Malta and the People's Republic of China and it will be entrusted with the task of pursuing the expansion of trade and the development of closer economic ties between the two countries.

Minister Bonnici will preside over this inaugural meeting of the Mixed Commission in tandem with his Chinese counterpart, the Hon. Shi Guangsheng, Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation.

The meeting will examine both the overall issues affecting investment and trade between China and Malta as well as specific, individual initiatives likely to lead to concrete project proposals. The Chinese Government has generously pledged the equivalent of Lm150,000 (one hundred and fifty thousand Malta Liri) in the form of a grant to assist in the initiation and implementation of such projects and to help secure closer economic ties, in general.

Prof. Bonnici is accompanied by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry for Economic Services and by high ranking representatives from METCO, MIMCOL, Air Malta and Malta Drydocks. It is expected that the visit to China will also provide these organisations with a valuable opportunity for some strategically important contacts, which could be developed into concrete business opportunities.

Of particular interest are the prospected contacts involving Malta Drydocks which is represented, within the Maltese delegation visiting China, by its Chairman and by its Marketing Executive. These contacts will include visits to Chinese maritime operators, including COSCO (The China Ocean Shipping Company) which operates one of the largest fleets of merchant vessels anywhere. The first objective will be to discuss the potential for ship-repair contracts, but an equally interesting focus will be reserved for the possibility of Malta Drydocks receiving orders on a subcontracting basis or entering into joint-venture agreements with Chinese heavy engineering companies eager to penetrate European and North African markets. One of the specific projects to be discussed involves the assembly of gantry cranes in Malta for eventual installation in North African countries, as well as the eventual use of Malta as a base from where to service such cranes.

During his visit to China, Minister Bonnici will also be meeting the Chinese Minister of Communication, the Hon. Hong Shanxiang. Besides Beijing, Minister Bonnici and the delegation accompanying him will also be visiting Shangai, Shenzhen and Hong Kong.