Expats Seminar: networking & doing business in Malta

Expats Serminar in Malta: networking event, 26 September,2013, InterContinental Hotel, St Julian’s

Calling all new arrivals to Malta…

Malta has seen a great number of expat services spring up in recent years as the number of incoming foreign residents has grown.  The islands have around 20,000 expat residents whose numbers swell by around 3,000 a year. At Malta Inside Out, eight of our top hit topics relate in some shape or format to expat affairs, and we get a lot of personal enquiries each week from the newly-arrived or those thinking of moving here. Malta featured only recently on Islands.com at number three slot in an article entitled ‘5 Best Islands for Retiring Early‘. Malta’s ability to have weathered economic crises and its lifestyle and healthcare are key reasons for luring expats. Taxation, cost of living and the islands’ English-speaking credentials all tip the balance too.

Online fora aside, expats are also keen to meet up in the flesh to network. And a useful expat event is coming up soon…

Buoyed by the expat surge, local events’ company LEAD is organising for the second year running a seminar and networking event – Expats in Malta – to assist on a raft of issues from job hunting to financial management, setting up a business, property buying, retiring to Malta and aspects of integrating in the local culture and society.

Taking place on Thursday, 26 September from 17.30 at the Intercontinental Hotel, St Julian’s (details below), it’s both an info-gleaning and networking evening giving expats the chance to gain some sound advice from guest speakers –  professionals drawn from locals (long-time expats and Maltese) ‘in the know – as well as mingle with and sound out experiences from fellow expats.

Although Malta has a long history of welcoming expats, there are still many issues which new arrivals need assistance on despite the advantages of Malta being English speaking and a seemingly easy-to-move to destination. “Malta is a wonderful place to live but the main challenge for expats remains that of getting outside the expat community and making friends with local people.  Malta can be very welcoming, but it does take a special effort for expats to move outside their comfort zone to meet the right local people to do business with. That’s where events like this come in handy.” says James Grech, LEAD’s managing director.  “Expats also mentioned that they don’t know who they can go to in confidence to get services at local rates, rather than the special international rates that are sometimes charged.”

With so much advice online these days is still a need to press the flesh at events like LEAD’s?  “Moving to a new country is both an art and a science. We wish to give participants a unique insight through the points raised by our high-calibre speakers and the networking session that follows,” James Grech adds.  “This is a golden opportunity for expats to make valuable new connections to widen further their local network, as well as to give them a flavour of local life.”

What expat groups does LEAD think will benefit most from the event –  expats going it alone or those on corporate moves? “In terms of the information provided, it is probably the lone expats who will benefit more. However, as one of our speakers is going to point out, even those on corporate moves whose employers provide information packs still find there’s a lot to get to grips with when settling here. We feel the networking session will prove beneficial to all types of expat.”

Further Details

LEAD has kindly offered 4 COMPLIMENTARY TICKETS to the seminar for Malta Inside Out site users (tickets are worth Euro 40 incl. VAT). We’ll allocate these on a first-come-first-served basis and also one per applicant so we share the tickets around a bit. Just leave a message on our Facebook page for a chance to grab one.

Speaker line-up and footage of last year’s event here

Register for the event here.

Cost: €40 – includes free underground parking, coffee break and networking dinks and eats.

Photo: Mario Sainz Martínez