Japan eyeing Malta as strategic location to reach Europe and North Africa

Japan is looking at Malta as a destination which is strategically located to reach European and North African markets, the Japan External Trade Organisation told Prime Minister Joseph Muscat.

During a meeting in Tokyo - where the Prime Minister is currently leading a trade delegation to discuss possible new areas of trade initiatives between Malta and Japan - JETRO’s chief executive officer Hiroyuki Ishiga said that Malta’s economic success far exceeded expectations.

Muscat told the Japanese that Malta is set to be a new home for the second largest aircraft leasing company in the world, an emerging sector which he said showed how diversified the Maltese economy was.

The Prime Minister highlighted that Malta’s economy involved “much more than the tuna industry”, which is a sector very well-known in Japan, explaining that contrary to popular perception, the island’s biggest export is microchips. He underscored that Malta had been successful in various economic areas, ranging from the manufacturing to the services industry

Muscat added that Malta’s new blockchain legislation gave this area a certain degree of certainty, and that the island is the first jurisdiction to have specific legislation in this sector, which is of considerable interest to Japan.