Biography

The Hon. John Dalli FCCA MCIM MP

Personal
Born on the 5th October 1948, the first of five children to Carmel and Emma Dalli.

Married on the 21st September 1975 to Josette nee Callus. They have two children, Claire and Louisa.

School and Qualification
John Dalli went through the public education system in Malta. He completed his secondary education at the Lyceum and passed on to studying for his accountancy degree at the Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology (MCAST). His training at MCAST was sponsored by the Malta Drydocks where he was engaged as a commercial apprentice.

As at the time the MCAST did not cater for the final years of the qualification for which John Dalli was studying, he finished his last two years of study through a correspondence course with a specialised UK institute, and managed to pass all his examinations and qualify as a Certified Chartered Accountant.

Today, John Dalli is a Fellow of the Certified Chartered Accountants of the UK and a member of the National Association of Accountants of the USA. He is also a member of the British Institute of Management.

Work Experience
John Dalli started his work experience at the Malta Drydocks where he joined as a commercial apprentice, working in the administration departments of the company and studying on a part time basis for his accountancy qualification.

After two years at the Malta Drydocks, John Dalli joined an advertising agency as their accountant. In December 1969, after one year with the advertising agency, he was selected to work as a junior accountant with Blue Bell Malta Limited, then the largest textile factory in Malta which was owned by an American company.

At the age of 24 he was appointed Financial Controller of this company which at the time accounted for 25% of the exports of Malta. In 1977 he was asked to move to the company’s head office in Brussels where he organised an international trading company and then was appointed as the manager of an international team to develop a computer management information system to control the total process of the company’s 25 subsidiaries in Europe.

In 1979 he returned to Malta with the company and in 1981 resigned from the company to contest the elections in Malta. After the elections, he set up a consulting company.

Stepping into Politics
John Dalli started to be involved in politics in Malta in 1971 when he joined the Nationalist Party youth movement. He helped to organise the movement at the grassroots and served in its executive committee until he left for Brussels in 1977. During this time he represented the Movement in the National Executive Committee of the Party.

When he returned to Malta in 1979 he was asked to head the Nationalist Party’s propaganda office in preparation for the election of 1981. John Dalli prepared the Party’s plan for economic revival of Malta and organised the marketing aspects of the election campaign. In the elections of 1981 he contested for the first time but was not successful.

John Dalli got more involved in politics, abandoning his consultancy and dedicating himself to organising the party. He organised the printing and publishing sector of the party and the financial structures of the party. He also introduced computers to the Maltese Political Scene. He developed programmes that would create databases on the voters in Malta, to facilitate access to these voters and to control the electoral process against abuse.

Ministerial Career and Achievements
In 1987 he again contested the elections and this time he was elected. He was re elected four other successive times –1992, 1996, 1998 and 2003.

When in 1987 the Nationalist Party was elected to government he was given ministerial responsibilities from the start and was appointed Junior Minister responsible for Industry. In the government formations that followed was given successive portfolios as follows:

From 1987 to 2004 (with a brief interlude of 20 months when the Nationalist Party went into opposition), he has been responsible for the economy and finance in Malta, His experience in private sector where he worked in high level management positions in Malta and abroad, both in industry and as a consultant, helped him to implement the root and branch reforms that were needed in Malta.

During his tenure, Mr. Dalli reformed and restructured the Maltese Economy, transforming it from a stagnant, centralised system to a vibrant market economy.

Under his direction, Malta saw the winding down of a number of public sector companies, a vast privatisation programme, the end of restrictive trade practices and the removal of exchange control.

Thousands of new jobs in higher level activities in the manufacturing and services sectors were created through the setting up of the Malta Freeport, the creation of a new Financial Services Industry and the launch of E-Commerce activities. At the same time public sector activity in the economy was greatly reduced.

During his long tenure as Minister of Finance (the longest in Maltese political history) John Dalli is best remembered for his modernisation of the taxation system, especially with the introduction of VAT in 1994 and again in 1998 and for his initiatives to curtail tax evasion.

In the periods 1987 to 1996 and 1998 to 2004 he was the joint chairman of the Libya Maltese Joint Commission which ensured the smooth development of relationship between Malta and Libya. This period covered the difficult times of the sanctions imposed by the UN on Libya. John Dalli sought to assist in all possible ways to ensure that appropriate services will continue to be enjoyed by Libya through Malta. Levels of economic activities between the two countries increased and the political relationship was reorganised.

Through this long serving function he has acquired a deep knowledge and understanding of Libya and has established a strong network at the political and executive levels of that country. He has followed the political and economic developments in Libya over the years and has kept himself current on the present developments in Libya. John Dalli is considered to be an expert on Libya and is being asked to speak about Libya in Business Meetings organised in Malta and abroad.

In April 2004 he was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs and Investment Promotion. In the few months that he occupied the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he had started reforms in that Ministry and positioned Malta to become a strong element in the European Mediterranean policy.

Resignation
In February 2004 John Dalli contested the election for the leadership of the Nationalist Party but was unsuccessful.

Only three months after there was a concerted attack in the press on John Dalli. In his letter of resignation, John Dalli stated that these attacks came from members of his own party.

On the 3rd July 2004 John Dalli resigned from the cabinet but retained his seat in Parliament. His letter of resignation stated that he was resigning because of attacks by members of his own party.

It now transpires that at the time of these attacks, a report was given to the Prime Minister implicating John Dalli in abuse in the adjudication of a tender for hospital equipment. This report was commissioned by one of the bidders (SIMED) who offered the investigator involved 3% of the contract value (this compensation would have amounted to around two million Euros) if the contract was adjudicated to them.

After John Dalli's resignation, the Prime Minister handed the report to the police. During the police investigation the author of the report admitted that it was a total fabrication. The police took action against this person. In November 2006, the author of this report was found guilty of fraud by the courts in Malta and sentenced to two years in prison.

Political Activity
John Dalli is still politically active in Malta. He is an objective analyst of the political and economic developments in Malta as well as the international relations of Malta. He is also active in the Executive Committee of the National Party and the General Council of the Party. He speaks out in the papers and in Parliament, making his views clearly known.

Vindication
On the 29th November 2007, the Prime Minister gave a press conference together with Mr. Dalli in which he declared that all the allegations and insinuations made against John Dalli were baseless and false.

He appointed John Dalli as his Special Advisor on matters of Finance and Economy.

Private Consultancy.
Mr. John Dalli is now running a consultancy organisation offering services in:

1. Assisting commercial organisation to develop strategies to meet the challenges and exploit the opportunities of a changing geo-political environment.
2. Introducing and facilitating the establishment of western companies in the North African Economies especially Libya

The company, John Dalli & Associates has offices in Malta and Tripoli.