Pictured above: HSBC Malta Head of Marketing at Commercial Banking Nathalie Camilleri-Sultana and Head of Commercial Banking Michel Cordina, Magro Brothers CEO John Magro, Malta Enterprise CEO Marika Tonna, 6pm Managing Director Ivan Bartolo, and Malta Enterprise Chief Officer of Export Support & Clusters Joe Schembri

The prospect to turn a local business into a global conglomerate improved significantly for 17 Maltese companies after they were selected by the Go Global Programme – an initiative managed by Malta Enterprise and supported by HSBC Bank Malta.

The owners and representatives of the selected businesses joined a ceremony to mark the first wave of assistance. Launched in May 2014, Go Global is designed to help first time exporters or enterprises whose export revenue is currently less than 20 per cent.

Michel Cordina, Head of Commercial Banking HSBC Malta, said: “These firms stand to gain from HSBC’s global knowledge and connectivity as they shape the next course of their expansion beyond Malta.”

Go Global is supported by HSBC’s Malta Trade for Growth Fund, an initiative which aims to help Maltese businesses thrive by connecting them to international opportunities.

A key feature of the Go Global Programme is a free diagnosis of export readiness, an export management Master Class, as well as assistance for initiatives to build internal capacity or commission market research.

Through HSBC’s Malta Trade for Growth Fund, eligible businesses are able to gain a discount in pricing if they switch from a traditional overdraft to a structured trade finance product such as Export Loans or Invoice Finance.

More information about HSBC’s Fund is available online at www.hsbc.com.mt/50million. More information about the export expansion programme of Malta Enterprise is available at http://export.maltaenterprise.com