Tamil Nadu - Chennai

New taxation pact between Malta and India on cards

CHENNAI: The 1994 agreement between India and Malta on the avoidance of double taxation is being revised, and a new pact may be signed early next year, High Commissioner of Malta to India Wilfred Kenely said on Saturday.

Addressing members of the Southern India Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SICCI) here, he said the most obvious areas identified for the bilateral relationship are healthcare, pharmaceutical, logistics and maritime activities. Indian companies producing feature films could think of Malta as a destination for shooting, he said. Steven Spielberg’s “Munich” was shot in his country. Hospitality and tourism were among the other areas. As tourism was in the early stage of development in India, there were possibilities of Maltese investment here.

Noting that his country had a population of less than half-a-million, Mr. Kenely said Malta, by itself, did not offer an attractive market, and anyone wanting to expand would rather look at bigger markets. But his country, because of its strategic location, would be a gateway to Europe, north Africa and the Middle East.

He said his country, being small, had not gone in for heavy industry, but financial services and logistics, which were dependent on the knowledge of human resources.

M. Balasubramanian, president, SICCI, said cotton, clothing, organic chemicals, accessories and textile were among the products exported from India to Malta.

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