Malta welcomed the Federal President of the Republic of Austria, His Excellency Heinz Fischer and Mrs Margit Fischer on a State Visit in April 2012. During their visit, the President of Austria had talks with Malta’s President, Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition.  

Memorandum of Understanding

The Austrian President was accompanied by a delegation which saw the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Malta Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry, the Malta Chamber Foundation and the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber with the aim of strengthening the relationship between the three institutions and to further develop the relationship between companies from Malta and from Austria. There are currently 229 companies registered with Malta Financial Services Authority that enjoy Austrian shareholding.

Maltese-Austrian Business Forum

During his address to the Maltese-Austrian Business Forum, the President recollected the past 10 years of positive investment in Malta, demonstrated by the opening of branches of several Austrian banks in Malta and the majority shareholding of Vienna International Airport in the Malta International Airport. Dr. Abela, the President of Malta, continued that these relations have been enhanced by the conclusion of bilateral agreements including a recent agreement on reciprocal representation in the issuing of visas to tourists in November 2010.

Mentioning the development of the business park at the Malta International Airport, both heads of state augured further cooperation in economic and business relations such as that in the manufacturing industry in relation to injection-moulding, electronics and pharmaceuticals.