Malta’s High Commission in the UK working intensively to promote Malta

Since being appointed Malta’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom in January 2025, Professor Stephen Montefort has embraced his new role with the same energy and empathy that characterized his medical career.

Montefort is using his experience to strengthen healthcare ties between Malta and the UK. Malta sends around 180 complex medical cases to Great Britain each year, while British citizens residing in Malta receive free medical treatment in Malta.

A key focus of his role is strengthening relations between Malta and the UK, especially after Brexit. Malta has the unique distinction of being one of only two countries that are members of both the European Union and the Commonwealth.

Montefort is also focused on enhancing trade between the two countries.

In May 2025, Montefort participated in Europe Day celebrations held in Liverpool and was greatly impressed by how open this dynamic city is to trade and business.

“Fortunately, I met Peter Schriewersmann, a German businessman who had been living and working there for the past 18 years and who was deeply involved in Liverpool’s and Wrexham’s business, cultural, and civic communities,” he told this newspaper. “Together we came up with the idea of creating links between Maltese businesspeople and commercial entities and those in Northern England and Wales.”

A Maltese trade delegation visited three cities in the UK

In August, they visited Malta and held meetings with representatives from TradeMalta, the Malta and Gozo Chambers of Commerce, the MFSA, and Malta Enterprise. These organizations welcomed the idea positively and joined efforts to help bring this vision to life.

The initiative gained further momentum during an official visit Montefort made to Cardiff in October. Together with Malta’s new Honorary Consul, Reuben Mifsud—who is also a businessman—they decided to include Cardiff’s business community in the planned trade delegation. They chose to focus on areas outside London, believing the capital was already saturated with business activity, while the selected cities offered more favorable opportunities for Maltese businesses seeking to enter the British market.

“Our plans then received a major boost when Tania Brown, the new CEO of TradeMalta, became involved,” Montefort said. “Together we developed a program that included an intensive day in each of the three cities for a delegation of around 40 people, which also included representatives from the MFSA, Malta Enterprise, ITS, TechMT, and the Malta and Gozo Chambers of Commerce.”

Montefort said they chose to focus on the sectors of technology and digital innovation, advanced manufacturing and engineering, and hospitality, but eventually also included life sciences and financial services.

The intensive daily sessions included keynote presentations and question-and-answer sessions, featuring Maltese individuals already established in the UK, including hotelier Winston Zahra and pharmaceutical executive Gabriel Micallef, as well as John Keefe, a Liverpool entrepreneur who has already opened a branch of his technology company in Malta. They shared their experiences of investing in their respective countries.

The Chambers of Commerce, universities, and local councils of the three cities gave the Maltese delegation an outstanding welcome and invaluable support, leading to important contacts and new friendships. Representatives of all the Maltese entities explained the advantages and incentives associated with setting up businesses in Malta, generating considerable interest. Significant follow-up activity is expected, and the initiative was so well received that TradeMalta and the High Commission are already planning to repeat it in other UK locations in the near future.

“Minister Ian Borg (then Minister for Foreign Affairs) and Permanent Secretary Christopher Cutajar were instrumental in supporting this trade delegation, which will undoubtedly continue opening new opportunities in the UK market—a market that remains of great importance to the Maltese islands despite certain difficulties that arose after Brexit,” Montefort said.

A delegation of ambassadors visits Malta

The work of the High Commission did not stop there.

Speaking to this newspaper, Montefort said that since becoming High Commissioner, during his regular meetings with other ambassadors accredited to the UK, he noticed that there were sometimes vague or inaccurate perceptions about the Maltese islands.

To address this situation, he began planning to bring to Malta a delegation of ambassadors accredited to the UK, many of whom are among the most senior diplomats in their respective countries. He also included countries that do not have resident ambassadors in Malta.

A number of ambassadors to the UK visited Malta and paid a courtesy call to Chris Fearne, newly-appointed minister of foreign affairs

Ultimately, he brought to Malta the ambassadors of Hungary, Bulgaria, Luxembourg, Romania, and the European Union, together with Zambia’s High Commissioner. They were joined by the Dean of the Diplomatic Corps, the most senior ambassador accredited to the UK, who serves as Ambassador of Honduras.

In addition to visiting various sites in Malta and Gozo, members of the delegation met with the Archbishop, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the new Minister for Foreign Affairs Chris Fearne, and Permanent Secretary Christopher Cutajar. They also held meetings with the MFSA, TradeMalta, Malta Enterprise, the Malta Tourism Authority (MTA), and the Malta Chamber of Commerce. In Gozo, they met with the Gozo Business Chamber, the GRDA, and the GTA, where they discussed ways their countries could strengthen collaboration with Maltese counterparts.

The ambassadors also became more aware of the opportunities Malta offers in trade, business, finance, tourism, culture, the film industry, and the production of food and wine. They were hosted by Xara Experience, the Chairman of the Mediterranean Conference Centre, and the British High Commission, where they also met participants from the trade delegation that had visited the UK the previous week.

“At the end of the visit, the ambassadors expressed how impressed they were by our islands and the organizations they met,” Montefort said. “They promised to share the valuable information they gathered with their respective countries, and many of them said they would return to Malta in the future.”

He added that none of this would have been possible without the support of the MTA, KM Malta Airlines, Malta International Airport, Heritage Malta, the Malta Film Commission, Meridiana Wines, Sunday in Scotland, Grand Hotel Mġarr, db Seabank, and the Grand Hotel Excelsior. Nerissa Sultana and Francesca Caruana from the High Commission ensured that everything ran smoothly and efficiently.