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HILTON, MONDAY, 21 MAY 2007 FinanceMalta Launch - Address by Joseph Zammit Tabona Hon Parliamentary Secretary
Distinguished guests
Ladies and Gentlemen
It is indeed a pleasure for me to be with you here today and to have the opportunity to make some brief closing remarks at the official launch of FinanceMalta.
This partnership has been on the cards for quite some time and it is indeed a pleasure to see all the hard work put in by all concerned come to fruition at what I believe to be a very significant time, just as the financial services sector gears itself towards the final stages of adopting new wide-ranging and far-reaching European legislation and, of course, as Malta starts its last lap towards the adoption of the Euro.
I am sure you are all aware of how well this sector has performed during the past few years, and of the positive impact that financial services have had on the country’s domestic product and employment levels. If I may again go through some of what I see as the key factors that have made this success possible: · an EU-compliant regulatory regime which is adaptable to changing needs, encompassed under a single supervisory authority, the MFSA, which addresses the need for speed, flexibility and minimal bureaucracy;
· easy access to policy and decision makers;
· English as the lingua franca for financial services including all legislation and regulation;
· a professional, multi-lingual and skilled labour force providing professional services at a fraction of the cost found elsewhere in Europe;
· a modern and competitive tax environment, which Mr Fenech has already touched upon in some depth;
· high quality office space at competitive prices;
· a world class IT and telecommunications infrastructure; and
· Malta’s geographical position at the centre of the Mediterranean which makes it ideally placed as a region hub.
Last, but certainly not least, one cannot fail to mention Malta’s rich historical and cultural tapestry and its excellent quality of life which make it a very attractive place for foreigners to set up businesses and live.
These are all positive factors which can help FinanceMalta achieve its main objective, that of creating an internationally recognisable brand for Malta as a centre of excellence for financial services which can be judged at par with other renowned jurisdictions such as Ireland and Luxembourg.
We do have the product and results show that financial sector has been fairly successful in promoting its services. However, promotion has up till now largely reflected individual efforts either by the players themselves or by the MFSA. I, therefore, see the main role of FinanceMalta as being three-pronged - rationalising such efforts, tying up the various strands into a cohesive whole; providing up-to-date and in-depth information to create an effective user-friendly cross-sectoral knowledge base; and providing the access point to a network of international contacts for our financial services providers. I believe that this is achievable and will, even in the short term, result in efficiencies particularly with respect to marketing costs, which as everyone knows, are usually a sizeable chunk of the budget for any business planning to expand its operations. FinanceMalta has been set up to promote and support financial services in Malta and will, I can assure you, make the best use of all the facilities and resources available, be they financial, professional, technological or infrastructural, to achieve its objectives within the shortest time frame possible.
I am sure I can count on the constant support and contribution of the members of the Board of Governors, all of whom have a long and vast experience in the financial services sector. I welcome you all on board and look forward to working with you all. On behalf of all the Members of the Board, I would like to thank the Prime Minister and the Parliamentary Secretary, the Hon Mr Tonio Fenech, for entrusting us to with the task of breathing life into this newly born organization and to develop it into an important component of the local financial services infrastructure.
Finally, I would like to thank all those who have helped or contributed in any way to help us launch the FinanceMalta initiative. Your support is much appreciated. Today, however, is only the beginning and we need your continued support for this project to work. Ultimately, the success of FinanceMalta will be Malta’s success.
Thank you. |
