Prime Minister Robert Abela has set his sights on bringing SiGMA’s largest conference back to Malta.
The events and media company moved its flagship European gaming conference to Italy this year and instead organised a smaller-scale event in Malta.
But on Monday, the CEO of SiGMA Group, Emily Micallef, did not rule out the possibility of bringing the company’s main event back to Malta if infrastructure improved.
Speaking on Wednesday, Abela said that was his government’s aim.
“SiGMA’s next event will be held in March. My ambition is for the upcoming event in March to continue growing until it once again becomes one of SiGMA’s largest events,” Abela said.
This year’s SiGMA event in Malta was expected to attract around 12,000 delegates, compared to the roughly 27,000 its flagship conference drew last year.
The smaller event, like last year’s bigger one, is being held at the Malta Maritime Hub (MMH).
Nationalist Party deputy leader Alex Perici Calascione led a PN delegation to the Malta event on Wednesday, its final day. The delegation included PN Secretary General Charles Bonello and the party’s two leadership candidates, Alex Borg and Adrian Delia.
They were given a tour of the convention by SiGMA founder Eman Pulis, who was accompanied by Chief Operating Officer Heathcliff Farrugia and Robert Cutajar, Head of International Partnerships (Europe and Mediterranean) at SiGMA.
Eman Pulis with the PN delegation. Photo: PNTalks to construct a new national convention centre on the site currently occupied by the Malta Fairs and Conventions Centre (MFCC) are under way, as exclusively revealed by Times of Malta earlier this year.
Speaking to journalists on Wednesday, Abela said that the new convention centre will be large enough to cater for bigger events, and would be located in a place that will not cause traffic headaches.
He could not provide a timeline for when the project will begin, but noted that discussions are currently ongoing between those holding temporary emphyteutical rights to the land and those who will be joining them in the concession.
“We are going to push this project to move forward in the most efficient way possible without any bureaucracy,” Abela said.