Alinghi and the Power of Partnership

Maltastar



Is there a message to be inferred from Switzerland`s Alinghi outstanding performance in winning the 31st America`s Cup and bringing the coveted Yachting honour to Europe as the first winning European team and succeeding where so many other established sea-faring European nations had earlier failed` It took 152 years for the Cup to return to Europe from where it left in 1851 and it had to be, incredibly, Switzerland, a land-locked country, to do it.

What chances would anyone have given to a land locked Switzerland to win the highest Yachting honour in the face of stiff competition from American, New Zealand and other European teams.

This is a prime example of what can be done if one believes in one`s inner strength and work together in perfect teamwork to build a team of result oriented professionals that are given clear objectives, motivation for the challenge and adequate resources to accomplish the task of them expected.

Coming right in the week when we are proceeding to an infamous and untimely referendum, one cannot but highlight some points which by a strange co-incidence of events bear a relationship to the Labour`s policy for establishing a close relationship outside membership with the EU.

`Is THE POWER OF PARTNERSHIP the best recipe for effective performance and for achieving objectives which only dreamers and hard-nosed doers can ever hope to achieve This policy was initially branded `Switzerland in the Mediterranean`. It meant to convey the message that Malta should strike an agreement with the EU modelled on the one Switzerland reached consisting of a series of bilateral agreements on various aspects which take account of Switzerland`s particular circumstances. It also meant to convey the message that outside the EU a country like Switzerland managed to reach a standard of living far superior to the EU average.

The complexity of the subject and scarce knowledge of the subject started unfortunately delivering a message that Malta wanted to join Switzerland instead of joining the EU, and critics easily denigrated the slogan by pointing to the absence of snowy mountains, green grazing grounds and St Bernard`s dogs to give a sense of non-reality to the whole project.

Gradually the slogan shifted from `Switzerland in the Mediterranean` to `Partnership` although in substance the project remained the same.` But though Switzerland was out of the slogan the Alinghi connection remained. Because Alinghi is not just a Swiss boat.` Its whole project was conceived by Ernesto Bertarelli a director of UBS Financial Services Group.` UBS were also the major sponsors of the Swiss challenge and they believed in the project so much that for two whole years they built their international marketing campaign around the Alinghi`s challenge for the Louis Vuitton Cup first and the America`s Cup later.

This provides two casual, co-incidental connections with Labour`s EU partnership project. Firstly yours truly, the most evident example in the local Press from Labour`s stables, has a professional connection with UBS Financial Services Group.` Secondly UBS, whose emblem prominently features on Alinghi`s hull and on its main sail, carries the logo message THE POWER OF PARTNERSHIP.

Am I allowed to dream that in Alinghi`s success there could be a hidden message for next Saturday`s referendum` Can I speculate that Switzerland opting out of EU membership and keeping freedom to trade internationally out of single market obligations, is likened to the Alinghi crew which although Swiss based and sponsored, contained the best elements from 17 different countries Not only non-membership does not mean isolation - it means reaching out to the best opportunities which non-EU membership flexibility allows for our sense of creativity and determination to dream, conceive and realise.

Is there a message in UBS logo line Is THE POWER OF PARTNERSHIP the best recipe for effective performance and for achieving objectives which only dreamers and hard-nosed doers can ever hope to achieve Can Malta realise its best potential by believing in the POWER OF PARTNERSHIP, by believing in its inner strength and by keeping the freedom to dream and strive for objectives which a fatigued nationalist administration cannot even imagine.

But last week UBS was not just successful as a sport sponsor. UBS Global Asset Management was awarded the title of Europe's top fund manager. The UBS business group came away with the highest honour, being named Best Overall Group, at the European Fund Awards 2003 in Luxembourg on Thursday, 27 February. The European Fund Awards are the result of a collaboration between the fund information and rating company Lipper, the independent Luxembourg fund advisor Fund-Market and the newspaper Luxemburger Wort/La Voix du Luxembourg. The jury awarded UBS the prize for Best Overall Group in recognition of its outstanding overall performance as a globally active fund manager over the past three years. Through the POWER OF PARTNERSHIP the Swiss beat the best of Europe`s finance house breed on their own soil. The editor will certainly forgive me this not-so-veiled advertising but the co-incidence is too strong to resist.

May the Maltese POWER OF PARTNERSHIP show its full force next weekend and then may be we can dream we can really have a Swizterland in the Mediterranean by persuading Alinghi to choose Malta for the America`s Cup challenge in 2007. We can certainly provide a better setting than anyone else!` Dream Malta dream. Don`t let the nauseating media barrage of the Yes campaign neutralise your senses.