Malta: Doing business and staying in touch

Doing Business in Malta

Businesspeople are expected to dress smartly and English is widely spoken in business circles. Punctuality is expected and appreciated. Shaking hands and exchanging of business cards are normal, and being respectful to your business associates will go a long way.

Office Hours

Mon-Fri 0830-1730, Sat 0800-1300.

Economy

Tourism, real estate, financial services and online gaming drive Malta's economy and continue to grow from strength to strength.

Malta's agricultural sector is small, producing about 20% of the food its population consumes. Main crops are potatoes, tomatoes, barley and wheat.

GDP

US$ 12.54 billion (2017).

Main exports

Integrated circuits, refined petroleum, packaged medicaments and toys.

Main imports

Refined petroleum, passenger and cargo ships, recreational boats, crude petroleum.

Main trading partners

Italy, Singapore, China and Germany.

Keeping in Touch in Malta

Telephone

There are no area codes. Public telephone booths are available.

Mobile Phone

Roaming agreements exist with most international mobile phone companies. Coverage is good.

Internet

Wi-Fi is available in cafes, bars and hotels. There are also many free public Wi-Fi hotspots across Malta.

Media

Daily and weekly publications appear in both English and Maltese. In-Nazzjon Taghna and L'Orizzont are the Maltese dailies, with The Malta Independent, The Times of Malta, Malta Star and Malta Today being the English equivalent. Imported papers are available.

Television is a broad mix of English, Italian and Maltese with TVM being the national station, Super One TV being owned by the Labour Party, and Net TV by the Nationalist Party. There are commercial radio stations such as Bay Radio. Radio 101 is owned by the Nationalist Party and Super One Radio is owned by the Malta Labour Party.

Post

Good postal services exist within the island. Mail within the EU usually takes around five working days to arrive.

Most post offices open from 0730-1300 hours but some have extended hours.