More local businesses need to ‘take the plunge’ and seek opportunities abroad – TradeMalta CEO

Trade Malta CEO Anton Buttigieg has encouraged more local businesses to “take the plunge” and look for opportunities for growth beyond Malta’s shores.

This comes after R.A. & Sons Manufacturing Ltd, a Gozitan manufacturing company of specialist products for the construction industry, recently signed a strategic partnership agreement with Ghana’s JL Properties Gh Ltd. This agreement came to fruition after months of hard work and meticulous preparation during a recent gathering in Malta.

The journey started when James Orleans-Lindsay, Chief Executive Chairman of JL Properties, was seeking business opportunities to enhance his existing business, particularly his flagship construction projects and real estate interests. Jean Claude Galea Mallia, Malta’s High Commissioner in Ghana, had introduced JL Properties to R.A. & Sons Manufacturing Ltd, and at the start of 2023, the Gozitan company joined the trade delegation to Ghana organised by TradeMalta, which continued to pave way for this collaboration.

Mr Buttigieg, who presided over the signing ceremony, said: “TradeMalta is committed to supporting Malta-based businesses in their export endeavours.”

He remarked that Ghana offers “huge business opportunities” in a wide range of sectors including manufacturing, health, training, and education.

“I am happy to see this collaboration between the two companies and I hope that this will inspire other businesses to do the same. These prospects are the result of the growing relations between the two countries during the past five years when TradeMalta held its first trade mission to Ghana,” he continued.

“I encourage more locally-based businesses to take the plunge and look for opportunities abroad to grow and thrive,” Mr Buttigieg concluded.

R.A. & Sons Manufacturing Ltd Director Raymond Attard announced that as a result of the agreement, the company will be assisting JL Properties to set up its own manufacturing site in Ghana. Together, the two companies will be producing construction materials concentrating on specialist products for dampness and humidity problems in the construction sector, a major challenge in Ghana particularly in Accra, which lies below sea level.

Dr Lindsay said he was “immensely happy” to seal the agreement and emphasised that these products are a “game-changer for the construction industry in Ghana”. He added that he is looking forward to “further strengthening” the collaboration between the two companies.