Malta's position as a hub

Abstract

As a member of this year's national committee, I have witnessed AIESEC Malta's active role as a subsidiary of AIESEC International and its successful achievement of AIESEC objectives. The production of this publication serves as further evidence of our commitment to fulfil AIESEC' s vision, which focuses on the development of the individual. Judging by the success that the AIESEC economic journal, the Cobweb, has had so far, we do hope that our efforts to produce another publication directly concerned with domestic issues will continue for years to come. Why did we choose the hub concept? The hub concept seems to form part and parcel of the strategy being used in the quest for our archipelago to establish and sustain itself at a more prominent position in the European Union and consequently in other world markets. The Maltese Islands are historically known to be situated in a geographically strategic location only 95 km South from the southern tip of Europe and 290 km North from northern Africa. In other words, Malta could serve as an ideal service centre linking all those countries that border the Mediterranean Sea. All the information compiled in the journal was collated from expert central government agencies and parastatal bodies which have effectively adopted the hub concept in their endeavours to market our islands overseas. We hope that this publication will serve as a useful educational tool to university students and also to members of the public who value and are intrigued by the progression of Malta's future in international affairs. We also hope that this journal will be an effective means for non-nationals to find out more about our islands and the opportunities offered. I would like to thank METCO, Airmalta, Malta Development Corporation, National Tourism Organisation - Malta, Malta Maritime Authority, Telemalta, Malta Freeport Corporation, Management Systems Unit, Bank Of Valletta International and WoodCo Ltd for their collaboration in providing our association with such valuable information. A special thanks goes to Malta Development Corporation, AIESEC Malta's Educational Partner, for their financial support, as well as the Youth Support Programme for offering our organisation a grant in support of this project.