Wed

Today was interesting we were able to meet the Ambassador. He seemed very down to earth and easy to talk to. We talked about his thoughts on Maltese business and how the US embassy helps to support business here. He said although they aren't like Malta Enterprise were they can offer incentives but they can spread the word about opportunities that are available and try to help the transition process go by as quickly as possible. Another interesting topic that came up as about human trafficking. Although we've all seen the movie Taken, the ambassador said that human trafficking isn't a big problem in Malta. In fact he said the numbers are so little it's almost non existent here. Malta is one of the safer places to travel because of the culture. Everyone is really close knit and keeps an eye on everything. Families are so close that students that go to the University live at home and most stay living at home till they get married. One of the bigger issues here is immigration. Malta's location is great for people passing through. It's right at the center of everything. They get a lot of people from Africa trying to pass through illegally to northern parts of Europe. Immigration is seen to be negative by the public just because they try to either send the people back or elsewhere. Because Malta is so small the government can't financially support all the immigrants plus there is little room on the island.