NATIONAL CONFERENCE: ‘DESIGN CONCEPT AND PLANNING FOR INDUSTRIAL BUILDINGS

The Office of the Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry for Economic Services, the Honourable Edwin Vassallo, in association with the Chamber of Architects and Civil Engineers and the Malta Chamber of Planners, will be organising a national conference on the subject of: "Design Concepts and Planning for Industrial Buildings".

This conference is aimed to review the way industrial land is being availed of and the way industrial buildings are built. It should instigate a discussion on current methods and propose new manners on how we approach the development of such property. Land is perhaps the scarcest resource we have. It is definitely a limited one. When we consider the subject of the development of industrial real-estate, we have to consider ways and means of how to exploit this prime supply to its fullest contribution. The consideration should be towards the maximum utilisation of the immovable (i.e. the fullest use of the land and the ease of adaptability of the buildings) and also towards the operating environment (i.e. the immediate provision of the basic service utilities necessary) where these units would be established.

The way leading to the national conference will be in two stages:

the holding of a Round-Table Meeting between invited participants;

organising the National Conference proper for the interested public to attend and participate in.

The invited participants that will be presenting their respective subject-study on the differnet themes are:

The Hon. George Pullicino, Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry for Home Affairs

Subject : Land for industrial development – the challenges ahead.

The Hon. Edwin Vassallo, Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry for Economic Services

Subject: Exploiting industrial land – new measures

Malta Development Corporation

Subject : Past experience on factory design and land use.

Institute for the Promotion of Small Enterprises

Subject : The restructuring process – need of factory space.

Planning Authority

Subject : Land availability for industrial development.

Small Business Efficiency Unit

Subject : Establishing a meeting point

Federation of Industry

Subject : Industrial development – the effect of good planning

Chamber of Architects and Civil Engineers

Subject : The state of private industrial estates – the case for recovery

Chamber of Planners

Subject : The future of planning in industry.

The Round Table Meeting is to be held on 11th June 2001 at 2.30 pm at the Conference Hall of the Ministry for Economic Services. At this meeting, the respective papers will be presented and discussed between the participants. This would be in preparation for the National Conference itself where these papers would be available for all interested persons who would be invited to attend and participate in the discussions. Details on the date and time of the National Conference would be released at a later date.

The Media is invited to attend for the first Round Table Meeting of the 11th June 2001.