Trade no longer just a driver of growth, but ‘an instrument of strategy’ – Malta’s Deputy Prime Minister

Trade is today being redefined, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Affairs Minister Ian Borg said at the opening of the Commonwealth Enterprise and Investment Council Trade & Investment Summit 2026.

The Deputy Prime Minister said that for decades trade was about optimisation, reducing costs, maximising scale and minimising friction. But Minister Borg said that now it is no longer just about efficiency, it is about security, resilience and also strategic positioning.

Over the past years global economic shocks have been felt as a result of a number of international issues, including the COVID-19 pandemic, the impact of the war in the Ukraine, and conflict in the Middle East.

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Minister Borg stated that the world is moving from globalisation to selective interdependence, from linear supply chains to networked systems, and “from open flows to trusted corridors. Fragmentation does increase costs, but it also creates new pathways, new corridors of trade, new capital alignments and new opportunities for those who can move early. Trade is no longer just a driver of growth, it is an instrument of strategy,” he said.

Minister Borg explained that this changes everything for business, saying that supply chains are now strategic assets, and that investment is about resilience not just return. “Optionality becomes as important as efficiency.”

He said that this is where the Commonwealth comes into focus, “as strategic infrastructure for trade in a fragmented world, a network of 56 countries connected not by geography, but by compatibility, shared legal systems, language and institutional framework.

“These are not soft features. They are hard economic advantages, because in a world where trust is declining, trade follows trust, and the Commonwealth is built on it. The direction is clear, moving from dialog to delivery, from connection to conversion. Because today the challenge is not alignment. It is execution.”

Conversations are not lacking, he said, but rather it is the conversion of relationships into trade flows, of access into investment, of networks into outcomes, which are lacking

Looking towards CHOGM 2026, he said that the focus must be clear, to accelerate partnerships, unlock investment and deliver growth.

He painted Malta as an example of this already happening due to its positioning as an open economy between regions, an EU member, and described it as “a natural bridge into the Commonwealth.”

“We have built strength in sectors driven by connectivity, financial services, logistics, aviation and maritime.” He said that the lesson is defined by the ability to connect, adapt, deliver, and by the State’s ability to act.

He said that Malta is building an agile, flexible and economy prepared for a more complex world through the recently launched Malta Vision 2050, and proceeded to question where they should go from here.

“In my humble opinion, first, we must build trusted trade networks in a world of uncertainty, trust becomes the currency of trade,” Minister Borg told those present at the council meeting.

“Second, we must align capital with purpose into resilience, climate adaptation and digital infrastructure. And third, we must strengthen the state capability, not in size, but in effectiveness. Finally, of course, we must deliver through partnerships.”

He said that no single actor can manage this transition alone. In this light, he said Malta has already appointed a special envoy dedicated to Commonwealth, trade and investment, intended to support businesses unlocking opportunities and facilitating real connections. This is why the Commonwealth Enterprise and Investment Council matters, he said, “not as a forum, but as a delivery mechanism, turning connectivity into capability, turning trust into transactions.”