ADDRESS BY THE MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS

It is a great pleasure for me to welcome you, and your wives, to Malta. I would like to thank you for inviting me to inaugurate this tenth meeting of Honorary Consuls/Consuls General. I am delighted that you have chosen to mark this event with a visit to Malta.

I recall that soon after being appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs, my first official visit was to Germany, and more precisely, to Stuttgart, where I had been invited by the German Presidency of the EU to participate in the Euro-Med Conference. I remember, I had made a detour to Mainz, where on the 14^th of April 1999, you were holding your 7^th Consular Meeting hosted by Senator Frau Schultheiss.

It was a very rewarding experience for me, as I had an opportunity not only to meet some of you for the first time, but also to gain first-hand knowledge of what really goes on in these consular meetings.

It so happens that these meetings are the brainchild of Ambassador Spiteri, who had organised the first of such meetings in Bonn in 1996. I am pleased to see that these meetings are not merely sporadic events. Since then constancy has been the key, in that these meetings continued to be held without interruption twice a year, hosted each time by one of you in your seat of jurisdiction. I know that over the past year, two very good meetings have been held: one in Bremen, hosted by Dr. St'�cker, and another in Cologne, hosted by Mr. Paul Kraemer.

I believe that it was a good idea for you to hold this tenth meeting in Malta. It will serve as a time for you to renew old friendships and acquaintances, to see for yourself what we have achieved so far, and to see what still needs to be done. This process, will I augur, serve you well in the role you play as representatives for Malta. I do hope of course, that you will also be able to enjoy a little of what Malta has to offer to its visitors!

You all know that the most important political objective for Malta at present is membership of the European Union. From the time we reactivated our application in 1999 under the German Presidency of the EU, much ground has been covered and significant progress has been made. I shall have occasion to brief you on the progress being made in our negotiations with the Union during the course of your meeting a little later.

I wholeheartedly support meetings such as this as they serve to generate fruitful discussion and a frank exchange of views. Moreover, the occasion provides one with an opportunity to take stock of the work that has been done so far, and to review the activities that still need to be undertaken to fulfill the Embassy's Work Plan.

I appreciate the useful work that you do for Malta. It is for that hard work that I would like to express my gratitude to you all here today. I look upon you as not just consular officers, who process visas and passports, legalize documents and otherwise assist Maltese nationals – useful as these activities are – but, as mini-embassies, promoting culture, tourism, trade and investment to Malta.

I wish you and your wives a very pleasant stay in Malta, and trust that you will have fruitful deliberations during the course of the meeting. I look forward to meeting you later in the week. Thank you.