Deputy Prime Minister Borg meets with San Francisco mayor, OpenAI and Coursera
As he continued his official visit to the State of California, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Tourism, Ian Borg, held several high-level meetings aimed at strengthening Malta’s international partnerships in innovation, digital skills and emerging technologies, while reinforcing broader bilateral relations.
Together with the Honorary Consul Louis J. Vella, Dr Borg met with the Mayor of San Francisco, Daniel Lurie, at San Francisco City Hall.
“This was an important meeting because the State of California, and San Francisco in particular, are highly influential on a global level. By engaging with these leaders, we also underline that Malta’s potential is enhanced by its membership of the European Union’s single market. This is especially important in the context of the geopolitical challenges currently being faced around the world,” Dr Borg said.
“We discussed a number of opportunities, not only in traditional areas such as tourism and connectivity between countries, but also in relation to companies and enterprises with a global impact, many of which originate from this region,” he added.
With a continued focus on innovation and future-oriented cooperation, Dr Borg also held a series of high-level meetings with leaders from the technology and artificial intelligence sectors in San Francisco and the wider Silicon Valley area. These meetings form part of Malta’s efforts to strengthen international partnerships in innovation and emerging technologies.
“We also met with multinational companies, some of which we already work with, and others with whom we are now discussing future collaboration. Together with OpenAI, the creators of ChatGPT, we discussed not only the Government’s commitment to making AI tools accessible to everyone, but also the importance of training to ensure these tools are used effectively and responsibly, while being integrated for the benefit of society,” Deputy Prime Minister Borg stated.
He also met with representatives of Coursera, a global digital learning platform. “A number of Maltese institutions are already collaborating with Coursera to improve the skills of our current and future workforce, and in this regard, discussions focused on better understanding each other’s priorities and exploring further opportunities for cooperation,” he explained.
“All this clearly demonstrates that our country is not relying solely on traditional economic niches but is also embracing new and innovative tools to continue moving forward,” Dr Borg concluded.
This week’s meetings in San Francisco also reflect Malta’s strong international standing and the confidence and respect that international partners place in the country as a reliable and forward-looking partner.
Photos (ODPM-MFT)
