Commonwealth Secretary-General to visit Malta

Commonwealth Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma will visit Malta from 15-17 October 2009 ahead of November’s Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago.

This is the Secretary-General’s first trip to Malta since he took office in April 2008. Mr Sharma will meet with the President of the Republic HE Dr George Abela and hold talks with the Prime Minister The Hon Dr Lawrence Gonzi and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs The Hon Dr Tonio Borg.

The bilateral meetings will focus on the CHOGM 2009 agenda. Malta, which hosted the Heads of Government meeting in 2005, has actively promoted the interests of small states in the Commonwealth and is one of three Commonwealth countries that is also a member of the European Union.

It also played an important role in the Commonwealth as a member of the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (from 2002-2007), which deals with serious or persistent violations of association’s fundamental political values.

COMNET-IT, based in Malta, is one of the key members of Commonwealth Connects Steering Committee which is helping to bridge the digital divide across the 53 member countries. COMNET-IT was established as an independent international foundation in November 1995, with the Commonwealth Secretariat and the Government of Malta as its sponsors. COMNET-IT supports activities related to policy development and capacity building for implementing, managing, and using new information and communications technologies.

During his two-day trip, the Secretary-General will also hold discussions with the Minister for Gozo, The Hon Giovanna Debono and the Leader of the Opposition Mr Joseph Muscat.

For media enquiries, please contact Eduardo del Buey, Spokesperson, Commonwealth Secretariat at Tel: +44 (0)7740 450901; or e-mail: e.delbuey@commonwealth.int