HSBC and Malta Enterprise sign partnership agreement
HSBC Bank Malta and Malta Enterprise recently signed a two-year agreement for collaboration in attracting foreign investment to Malta and supporting businesses operating in the Maltese islands to improve their international competitiveness. The collaboration will also benefit Maltese entrepreneurs interested in expanding business overseas.
Malta Enterprise intends to expand its role to assist Maltese SMEs to grow internationally through the coordination of business delegations, trade fair participation and other support measures.
HSBC has committed to support Malta Enterprise in its overseas business missions planned for 2009 and 2010 where the Bank has a presence. It will actively promote the missions with selective business customers and through the use of the Bank’s overseas network to generate contacts for Maltese businesses.
HSBC and Malta Enterprise will also collaborate to target countries where HSBC can identify customers in particular sectors through its network.
Malta Enterprise Chairman Alan Camilleri said: “The main scope is to exploit the strong business network that HSBC Bank has in Malta and overseas, and through this strategic alliance more awareness and visibility will be generated for Maltese SMEs looking to expand overseas. The strategy for Malta Enterprise is to support the business community by means of enterprise support measures and focus on the attraction of new foreign direct investment.”
On an ad hoc basis, HSBC has already participated in recent overseas business missions organised by Malta Enterprise in Poland and the Czech Republic. These visits encouraged the two entities to enter into this binding agreement to consolidate further the synergies created and build on them for growth in the Maltese economy.
“Through our global network, we are better placed than other banks to connect the Maltese business community with the right people in the right places,” said Richard J. Cottell, Head of Commercial Banking at HSBC Malta. “We have real local insight and understanding in those countries where we are represented and this global knowledge helps us to guide local business people with sound proactive advice and support. We also want our customers to find doing business internationally as easy as doing business in Malta.”
HSBC has a commercial global network comprising of more than 7,000 business experts in 65 countries and territories in the Asia Pacific region, Europe, the Americas, the Middle East and Africa.
