(L-R) Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, LIA Chairman Hassan Bouhadi, Libyan Prime Minister Abdullah Thinni and Libyan ambassador to Malta Habib Lamin at an official meeting in Malta Wednesday (Photo: Libyan Government).
Libyan Investment Authority (LIA) chairman Hassan Bouhadi stressed that his team is busy undertaking its management of its investments and assets here in Malta and across its subsidiaries.
He said that they are intent on making sure that they protect, preserve and grow the investments to rebuild Libya.
Bouhadi, was part of the official Libyan government delegation that met with Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat yesterday. The delegation is on a three day visit to the island state of Malta.
The Libyan government delegation, the only internationally recognized Libyan government based in eastern Libya, was led by Prime Minister Abdullah Thinni and included the Deputy Prime Minister, the Minister of Economy, Minister for Education, Minister for the Interior, Minister of Labour and Social Affairs and the Deputy Foreign Minister.
The meetings between the official representatives of the two countries addressed means of strengthening cooperation between Libya and Malta on a number of important subjects including security, combating terrorism and illegal migration.
Bilateral discussions also addressed commerce and investment opportunities. The LIA’s, board, which recently moved its investment team to Malta, manages Libya’s sovereign wealth funds’ $67 billion investment portfolio.
Commenting on the meetings, Bouhadi said “Malta has opened its arms to the Libyan Investment Authority. Our office team in Malta is intent on benefiting from the safety and the security enjoyed on the Islands to manage the Libyan investments for the benefit of all Libyan people’’.
‘’We appreciate the support (here in Malta) from the Prime Minister, his cabinet, the banks and regulator. We have bolstered our team with new recruits today and we are intent on making sure we protect, preserve and grow the investments to rebuild our country’’.
“In the meantime’’, Bouhadi added, ‘’our governance structure is resilient despite the political turmoil in Libya and actions by those that seek to undermine our work’’.
‘’Our board is from across Libya and we have continued to meet throughout 2014 and during the first half of 2015. Unity exists at the LIA through its governance, commitment to our very clear mandate and because our institutional framework is intact’’.
‘’Likewise, our team is busy undertaking its management of the investments and assets here in Malta and across our subsidiaries. With the vast majority of our investment outside Libya in some of the world’s biggest corporations, we are busy and it really is business as usual”, Bouhadi stressed.
By Libya Herald reporter.
