Hubbing our way to the EU

If Malta is promoted as the hub of the Mediterranean, it can approach the EU negotiation process with a full package that benefits the island, the EU and our neighbours, according to IT expert Joseph Woods.

Interviewed by The Business Times, Mr Woods said that unfortunately the EU debate has been reduced to what Malta can take from the EU. "As much as we can take, we can offer in terms of the hubbing concept.”

Mr Woods’ vision of seeing Malta as the hub of the Mediterranean is one way of facing up to the challenges of globalisation. By promoting the hubbing concept, Maltese enterprise can start looking beyond our shores to market its services and products. "The country must be relevant in a global dimension", Mr Woods explained.

Mr Woods believes that Malta can act as a hub both in the EU and outside the Union, if the country opts for the Euro-Mediterranean Free Trade Area.

"The hub concept is a unique space for consensus building. The PN and MLP both have contributed towards the development of this concept during the last 25 years. The GWU has mentioned it in its motion of 8 February and recently Pope John Paul II stated that we have a unique vocation to build bridges around the Mediterranean because of our central position",

Mr Woods believes that Malta’s geo-strategic position and the different cultural influences we have had over the years, make Malta an ideal interlocutor between Europe and the African continent.