Malta's Competitiveness and the Lisbon Agenda The Economics Department and the Islands and Small States Institute of the University of Malta in collaboration with the Ministry for Competitiveness and Communications will be organising a national conference on Malta's Competitiveness and the Lisbon Agenda: a Small-States Perspective. The conference will be held at the Foundation for International Studies, Valletta, on Tuesday 18th and Wednesday 19th October 2005.

The conference will span over one and a half days, with the first day being dedicated to four panel sessions, followed by discussion, on the roles of the business community, the trade unions, the government and civil society. Leaders and experts in these spheres will form part of the panels. The second day will be dedicated to presentations by high profile keynote speakers from other small EU member states, from the European Economic and Social Committee and from the Commonwealth Secretariat. A plenary discussion will conclude the conference.

This conference is a sequel to that held in May 2003, which culminated in the publication of the book "Maximising Malta's Competitiveness Potential." A sequel publication, assessing Malta's progress within the context of the Lisbon targets, is being planned, drawing on the proceedings of the October 2005 conference.

Attendance is free of charge, but those wishing to participate are required to apply on the appropriate form, which can be downloaded, together with a detailed programme of the conference, from http://home.um.edu.mt/fema/depts/3/forthcoming_activities.html .

More information can be obtained from the Economics Department, University of Malta, Msida, Malta. Tel/Fax: 21340335; 21248218; email: islands@um.edu.mt or economics@um.edu.mt