During meetings in Rome this week, Malta and Italy agreed to set up a bilateral cooperation regarding tax matters. The two countries will be collaborating through joint technical working groups addressing issues such as enforcement of tax collection.
Finance Minister Prof. Edward Scicluna stated that Malta is seeking to adopt current best practices in carrying out its fiscal consolidation strategy and this collaboration will give Maltese officers the opportunity to observe closely and adopt the Italian model. He led the Maltese delegation, accompanied by Malta's Ambassador to Italy, Ms Vanessa Frazier, the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry for Finance, Mr Alfred Camilleri, and the Director General at the International Tax Unit, Mr Aldo Farrugia.
Italian minister Pier Carlo Padoan received this positively and stated that he was willing to embark on bilateral relations and to continue to strengthen the relations between Malta and Italy, particularly in view of Malta's forward-looking and ambitious fiscal policy and healthy investment relations between the two countries. Minister Padoan also promised to support Malta's proposal to become an operations base from which the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) can carry out its mandate.
Malta is currently encouraging the EBRD to carry out operations in North Africa and can benefit from various opportunities if it were to serve as an operations base for the Bank. Minister Scicluna thanked Minister Padoan for his commitment to cooperate with Malta.
Minister Padoan's delegation in Rome included several high-ranking Italian officers from the Ministry for Finance, the Treasury and the Guardia di Finanza, as well as by the Italian Ambassador to Malta, Giovanni de Vito.
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