Malta Education Firms Eye Gulf Market
Dubai, December 15, 2011
“The concept of Malta as a hub of the Mediterranean is one which appeals to the companies in Dubai as they see Malta as a bridge to Libya and the North African market. Various pre-arranged one-to-one meetings were organized which served as an initiation for potential business opportunities, some of which are currently being actively followed-up and more visits are being planned by both sides”. This was stated by Mr Nick Callus, Chairman of Domain Group and Managing Director of Computer Domain Ltd following his return from the SmartCity Malta and TECOM Investments’ Education Cluster networking event for Maltese companies held in Dubai.
This successful event, which was held on the 7 December 2011 at the Dubai Knowledge Village Conference Centre, brought together companies of the Gulf countries from the training and education sector seeking to expand in the Mediterranean region.
Dr Charles Theuma, Principal, St. Martin’s Institute of Information Technology, part of the delegation said that “It was a pleasure interacting with Dubai-based educational institutes to share our vision and ideas. Both countries are similar in the fact that Dubai is the hub of the Middle East and Malta of the Mediterranean. It has been a fruitful visit and we look forward to mutual growth between the two regions”.
Mario Cassar, Chief Executive Officer representing NSTS who also formed part of the delegation said “We have been able to make contact with many key players in Knowledge Village. Following the successful visit, we are hoping to see the results throughout the coming year”.
The full day event hosted one-to-one meetings between companies with common business interests. The truly diversified and unique education fields of the participating companies included project management, security training, hair-professional agency, IT institutes, universities, HR consultancy, dance school and many more. The participants had very encouraging exchanges on co-marketing of programs, licensing of teaching expertise, and developing courses currently unavailable in the region.
Most interestingly, the strategic importance of Malta and its business links to Libya & North Africa attracted investors and Government officials of Gulf countries to the event.
Jin Won Choi, Executive Director of Strategy and Business Development at SmartCity said that GCC countries sponsor education of their students and public officers, and I was pleased to hear today from participating government officials that Malta can be their alternative location to traditional destinations.
Fareed Abdulrahman, Chief Executive Officer of SmartCity Malta, said: “Under our motto, “Network of Opportunities”, we develop programs that connect both countries and other regions of our presence. Today’s event served companies of the education sector, and our contribution will expand to other knowledge industries”.
“Education providers around the world, including business partners of Dubai Knowledge Village and Dubai International Academic City, are keen to forge partnerships to expand their operations. With the objective of creating new values for our business partners, we have brought together companies from the Republic of Malta and our business parks to explore the potential for collaboration.” said Dr Ayoub Kazim, Managing Director of TECOM Investment’s Education Cluster.
