Relations with Libya might not be as intimate as they were in the 1980s, but former ambassador GEORGE DOUBLESIN tells Matthew Vella that commercial ties remain the strongest aspect of our neighbourly bond.
I was appointed ambassador to Libya in 1994. Previously I had been chargé d’affaires in Riyadh in Saudi Arabia. Government wanted to appoint an ambassador in Saudi Arabia, and appointed Adrian Mercieca. Soon enough, then foreign minister Guido de Marco called me, informing me that he wanted me ‘closer to Malta’, telling me he wanted me to be posted in Libya. I remember asking for a day or two think about it and to consult my late wife about moving to Libya. Libya was then under United Nations sanctions, and we could not fly to Tripoli but go by boat. Friends warned us of the scarcities that plagued Libya, and yet there were none, or else nothing that scared us off. My wife Margaret was pleased about the move, and she always remarked that Libya had retained its traditional, Arabic character despite its ongoing modernisation.
I remember one of the first things I saw in Libya were the houses built by Maltese migrants there, built with Maltese stone – the community there had been living since the turn of the century. My instructions there were to maintain the best relations with Libya while keeping in line with the UN restrictions and to keep my eye on commercial relations there. I was already well informed of Maltese companies doing business in Libya – being trained well in Arabic, I was usually engaged to carry out translations of contracts and correspondence from the Arabic for Maltese companies. I knew of companies such as Medelec, Rotos Ziraya, and Limsuk, among others.
The leap in quality from Saudi Arabia was big and indeed satisfactory. While Maltese business in Saudi Arabia did not have a long tradition and often was difficult in terms of accessibility, in Tripoli it was almost the opposite. There were companies doing business in Libya since before Malta’s independence. The drydocks were one such case, having carried on contacts it took up from Bailey’s. You could say Libya had been a training ground for the Maltese export trade – when Maltese entrepreneurs were being encouraged to look for foreign markets by the Malta External Trade Corporation (METCO), Libya was always the easiest market.
It was the easiest for simple reasons: proximity; the fact that the Libyans knew us and the value of our product; and sure enough, that age-old ingredient, language. Language helps. Not everyone speaks English in Libya, but they surely understand Maltese, and Maltese firms earned their stripes in foreign trade by starting off in Libya.
My job entailed helping both those who came asking for help, but also to encourage Maltese firms to come to Libya. I obliged by compiling statistics, research, and market information on pricing, competition, and products and companies selling their products on the market. My open-door policy meant that I would stop from anything I was doing at that moment if a Maltese national required my help, and that I would assist anyone requiring my guidance anytime they asked. I think it sent the message that the embassy was there to help out.
Certainly, the companies that started off in the 1960s and 1970s in Libya benefited the most – they enjoyed easier access then – and today Corinthia and Air Malta, and also Panta Lesco, enjoyed great benefits when they first entered the market.
I did two tours of duty in Libya, of three years each. In 1997, the permanent secretary Salv Stellini asked me to stay there. I was pleased with the vote of confidence, and although I wished to move elsewhere, being the obedient kind I accepted the posting gladly. After 1998, with EU membership negotiations now becoming a prospect, we also had to get to terms with the future of travel to Libya: previously, entry of Libyans and Maltese into the two nations was facilitated by the so called ‘pink book’ travelling document, that did not require a passport. It was neither country’s pleasure to have this practice stopped, given that EU requirements would mean a visa system would have to be effected. But on the other hand, there was no other way of going about it, and we had to accept the rules of the EU. I’d say that had our relations not been already good for some time, this change in travelling requirements would have affected us negatively. But neighbours realise they have to live side by side. If Libya was upset by this development, it was not upsetting enough to affect our relations as two countries that needed each other.
Malta and Libya had already had relations sealed through the 1984 Treaty of Friendship and Solidarity, which after 1987, the new Nationalist government wanted to renegotiate. One of the things the government wanted to amend was certain obligations relating to military cooperation – the word ‘solidarity’ seemed to reek of certain agreements with communist countries. Then again, Malta has always told Libya it wanted to help where possible, except where UN sanctions restricted such aid. For example, during the sanctions the Maltese postal service would handle all external postage from Libya to the world; the ferry to Malta provided an important life-link for the country and allowed day travellers to stock up on medicines and other items in Malta and return to Libya the next day; and Air Malta provided Libyans with a point of departure to the rest of the world.
Even though we might be overshadowed by overtures from other countries to Libya, Malta will still remain close to the country. We understand the mentality. Malta understands Libya and we react early to developments there, and our entrepreneurs will always be interested in the large market that exists in Libya.
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