Debono Grech, Joe
Joe Debono Grech was born in 1939 in Malta. He is the current Minister for the Economy, Investment and Small Business of Malta.
Political career[edit]
He started his political career in the Labour Party in 1959 both as a Secretary and also as a President of several branches of the party. In 1959 he was one of the founders of the "Brigata Laburista". In 1967 he was elected Secretary of the Labour Youths and the representative in the bureau of I.U.S.Y. for the same committee. In 1969 he was appointed Deputy Leader for party affairs. He was elected in the Maltese Parliament in 1966 and in all subsequent elections until 2013. In 1983 he was elected minister of Parastatal and Investments and then he held the Agriculture and Fisheries portfolio for four years until 1987. When Labour was re-elected in 1996 he was appointed Minister of Transport and Ports. From 2003 till 2008 he was the shadow minister for the Malta International Airport and the country’s security. He worked in the General Workers Union as a Secretary for the Chemical, Petrol and General workers. Today he is the shadow minister for the Defence and Harbors. He represented the Union in Gozo and currently he is the representative of the Labour Party in the Council of Europe and a member of the Socialist Bureau in the Council of Europe, since 1998. He has been a member of the National Executive committee of the party since 1960. He belongs to the Party of European Socialists (PES).
