‘Malta’s neutrality facilitates business dialogue’ – Herald Bonnici weighs in on national debate

Malta’s constitutional neutrality is currently on the national agenda, with global geopolitical events forcing a debate that many may prefer not to have.

Ever a sensitive subject, the last European Parliament elections saw Nationalist MEP Roberta Metsola characterised as a warmonger by her opponents. Labour leader Robert Abela’s comments, last week, that Malta should “reconsider” how it interprets its neutrality, were then naturally seen a something of a U-turn.

While the strategic merits or otherwise of Malta’s neutrality are currently the subject of considerable debate, the business case for this neutrality is all too often forgotten.

“Neutrality is an advantage for us. It helps everyone to accept us and facilitates international dialogue by taking certain political agendas out of the discussion,” says Herald Bonnici.

Formerly CEO of Malta Government Investments Ltd, a state-owned holding company for major assets like WasteServ, Enemed and the Gozo Channel, he was pivotal in the establishment of a network of sovereign funds in the Europe, Middle East and North Africa (EMENA) region.

“We speak with everyone,” he told BusinessNow.mt in 2022. “Europeans have no problem to talk to us – we’re part of the EU. The North Africans have no problem to talk to us – we speak their language. The Africans have no problem to talk to us. The guys from the Middle East have no problem to talk to us.

“These are things that we might, at street level, take for granted, but they are certainly not taken for granted at high level negotiations.”

He explains that having a setting for multilateral discussions in which everybody feels comfortable to talk to each other is “crucial” for smooth proceedings and productive outcomes.

“And that is exactly what Malta brings to the table,” he says, crediting this, in part, to Malta’s strictly pacifist stance on the global stage.”

Mr Bonnici also believes that Malta’s neutrality is very important when it comes to promoting Malta as a hub for financial services, as he does in his current role as secretary general of the Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (PEVCA) Malta, and even as a destination for citizenship-by-investment.

However, he is in agreement with several voices in calling for an increase in Malta’s defence spending: “Yes, we have our allies, but we should also strengthen our defence,” pointing out that the country’s spending on defence falls short of international recommendations.

While many countries aim to spend two per cent of GDP on defence, Eurostat data from 2022 shows that Malta barely spends 0.5 per cent.