The Malta Business Weekly met up with one of the representatives of the cryptocurrency project Curate (which has a native token called XCUR), Tomás Domingos. Domingos is the vice president of Curate, which is a gasless Non-Fungible Token (NFT) and peer-to-peer marketplace for people utilising cryptocurrency as a method of payment for buying and selling NFTs and physical goods.

What the NFT?

Many people find it difficult to wrap their head around what a NFT is, but it appears to be capturing the attention of a lot of people around the globe.

“I think the best way to explain it is that it is a token registered on the blockchain and it’s unique,” Domingos said.

NFTs are touted to be the solution to an underlying problem for digital artists to get paid for their work, but the sphere of NFTs is getting bigger and wider, with the concept expanding to gaming and photography, among other things.

“You started seeing it being implemented in fine art and now you see a lot of NFTs related to gaming. So, trying to restrict NFTs to one thing is a hard task when there is a lot going on around the subject at the same time,” Domingos remarked.

Curate – All-in-one marketplace

Being part of the project for Domingos is “to be a part of something that you love, which is crypto […] and it’s also very related to economics, which is another passion of mine”.

With the current state of affairs of the blockchain world, where innovative projects are starting to shape up and garner the attention of people, Domingos explained that their project is focusing on the edge they have over their competitors when it comes to minting NFTs and peer-to-peer marketplace.

“The biggest thing is that we are gas free […] it’s something that we’re fixing in the crypto world and something that needs to be fixed,” he said.

Domingos asserted that the team is building a project which is “future proof” and that the project is trying to do something which they feel is of crucial importance and which is “bridging the gap between mainstream commerce and crypto”.

“Every marketplace and platform will have different niches and quirks. We’ve built the best user experience on the market and we’re not done yet,” he said.

Domingos also noted that the project recently made history when it became the first marketplace on the iOS app store to allow buying and selling of NFTs. He also noted that they are the first major peer-to-peer, physical goods marketplace in the blockchain world.

The future of Curate

Asked about what Curate users should expect in the short-term future, Domingos said that there are a lot of works “in the pipeline”.

Other features, which the team is working on, include adding collections for NFTs, the import and export feature for NFTs and a different UI experience.

“Although we see the UI as really good, we feel that maybe right now is the time for an update,” he remarked. 

Curate is also looking to up the ante when it comes to marketing with partnerships and celebrities, while they are also working on listings on other exchanges. On the latter note, this includes major exchanges such as Binance, which the team has already submitted their application for.

Charity auction at the AIBC

At the AIBC summit, the project is going to be holding an NFT auction in aid of YoungMinds, a mental health charity.

“A community contest is going to take place where users of Curate submit their best NFT related to mental health. Then, we are going to pick the best NFT submitted as the winner,” he explained

Whoever wins the competition will get his NFT auctioned during the event and will get a verified badge in his Curate profile, allowing the winner to gain more exposure as well, Domingos said.

“It’s a really exciting opportunity for users and for us to give back to them,” he said. 

The post AIBC Summit: Curate hopes to lead the way for NFTs and peer-to-peer markets in the blockchain world first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

Speaking at a technical briefing, civil engineer Peter Adams from Arup – the London-based firm tasked with the project – said that they wanted to unlock the maximum benefit for the project in the least time possible, which is why the project would be split into phases. 

The first phase would be the red line – which goes from Bugibba to Pembroke and Sliema – would be completed in a period of between five and eight years, Adams said. 

The project would take a total of 15 to 20 years to complete, he said.

The metro system, as proposed, will include three metro lines with a total of 35km of tracks and 25 stations across Malta’s main urban area. The study suggests that the metro system will mostly be underground, with a small part of it above ground between Naxxar and Bugibba.

Transport Minister Ian Borg explained that when the metro is up and running, it will be complemented with a transport system which will take passengers to un-serviced areas.

“The bus network would feed into the metro,” the minister said. “The network reflects the current and predicted critical mass.” 

Adams said that Transport Malta had “made it very clear that we need to cater for all of Malta, and not just parts.” 

However, Borg said that Gozo had been excluded from the metro system because its population is too small for it to be feasible, and because “we want to keep Gozo’s uniqueness intact.”

“We looked at all modes. We didn’t start with just a metro – we looked at cable cars, and elevated systems. We ranked them all in terms of costs and benefits, and the proposed metro was the conclusion,” he said.

He also noted that certain issues which might be of concern, such as noise and vibrations, have all been considered when planning this project.  

“When you are building tunnels, there are well-practiced water management systems to follow. There is monitoring that goes there and there will be a dry system. We deal with it in construction and in other projects like this,” he noted.

As archeological discoveries in Malta are far from scant, this newsroom asked what would happen if they encountered such items of archeological and cultural significance while digging.

“The depth of the tunnels will be 25 metres. As soon we see any archeological artifacts we stop, we conserve, and then we continue. People who would be working on this project will be trained to know and respect this,” he said. 

Borg said that reaction to the project so far has been positive and that he would like to see further consultation from here on in. 

“I would like to see a national discussion. So far the feedback is exactly as I expected: the general public would like to see a mass transport project for Malta,” he remarked. 

The designated experts have had their say on the metro, but now it is crucial for the Maltese public to participate in the discussion, he said. 

An information centre has been set up next to the Triton Fountain in Valletta, which will be open for the public for 15 days in order to explain how the proposed system would work.

The proposed project also has a website, metro.mt, where one can submit their own feedback on the project.

The post First phase of metro project would be complete within five to eight years first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

Xuereb was appointed as OHSA chairman a few days ago and his official tenure started yesterday, 4 August. An architect by profession, Xuereb has vast experience under his belt when it comes to regulatory authorities such as the OHSA. He has also served as the president of The Malta Chamber of Commerce.

The OHSA is tasked with the regulation of safety of employees at workplaces and for this to be maintained in order to mitigate any potential injuries or deaths from occurring, among other issues.  The Malta Business Weekly  met with the newly-appointed chairman to see what his role will entail and what his main concerns are.

“I did interact quite significantly in the past in the area of health and safety within the building industry. And I, therefore, am not a newcomer to this regulator,” he said.

The chairman noted that he has been working very hard in his professional life to improve the standards of the industry and saw health and safety “as an opportunity to improve production, efficiency and quality of life, and therefore improve productivity, happiness, and all the management issues that normally go with any project”.

“I am very wary of the fact that there is risk in anything that we do. And of course, that risk also lies with how people feel and whether they are safe enough. It is always a constant worry, especially if you’re managing construction sites. Risk will always be there and that’s why laws are there; to ensure that risk is minimised and stand at its absolute minimum,” Xuereb said.

On his aspirations, the chairman said that he wants to first settle into the role, appreciate the work carried out so far and see what the next steps are for the OHSA to improve. “First to keep on reducing risk at the place of work, of course. So it’s not just the deaths, but also the near-misses, the injuries; all those things that can affect the life of any individual in our society, whether Maltese or not, as he or she forms part of our society.”

Communication is another factor that Xuereb wants to improve in order to ensure that there is “stronger interaction with the general public, not only with the employers or the employees, but also the people out there to appreciate the overarching value of health and safety”, he said.

He also remarked that Covid-19 might take a while longer until it dissipates, so the workplace might still have to take some measures posed by the “absolute authorities” which have guided workplaces “through these many sinusoidal waves”.

Recently, a lot of construction accidents or pictures of employees in the sector performing dangerous manoeuvres have been circling on social media and reported by news outlets. Asked about this, the chairman said that “although the industry is an important part of our economy… in one way or another, it remains an industry in which investment, improvement or regulation has remained very poor”.

He noted that if developers, contractors, architects, engineers and regulators do not collectively “up their ante and live up to professional expectations seriously… it is perhaps the reason why the building industry looks so bad”.

“I say look so bad, because you are right, in most instances, when I walk next to a construction site, I would be shocked by the visually apparent lack of seriousness, proactiveness and organisation that a construction site would have,” the chairman remarked.

“I think we have failed, we are still failing and it still looks really bad, and that is something we need to improve,” Xuereb said.

He observed that a new authority has been created to address this, which is the Building and Construction Authority (BCA). “It has been absent forever and it’s only about two months old now. But the remit of this authority is to address this void, which has remained unattended for the past years, as far as we can remember,” he said.

If authorities such as the BCA, the Planning Authority, the Environmental Authority, and so forth work hand in hand, whereby the enforcement of regulations is addressed, “naturally, health and safety and everything else that the OHSA focuses on will also be naturally improved,” he said.

“To build a project in Malta, you need to deal with tens of offices, authorities or regulations, which of course makes it very complicated for any operator, but also likewise very difficult for society to regulate and manage,” he observed.

However, the new OHSA chairman pointed out that when workplace injuries and death numbers are compared to other EU countries, he is “pleasantly surprised” to see that Malta is not faring off that bad.

“So this realistically implies that the efforts of the OHSA and the Health and Safety community of professionals over the years have been relatively good. The impression we get when we see construction projects, however, makes us think the direct opposite,” he said.

This does not mean that the OHSA will not be working to improve on its positive results, but rather the contrary. “We want our numbers to be the absolute best everywhere and consistently. Anybody who’s working on a construction site, or in a factory, or in storage and warehousing, needs to be educated, sensitive and careful because those are probably the riskiest workplaces.”

“Transport and storage is actually as high a risk as construction. But of course, in construction, you can see it, you can feel it, you can form impressions about it. Ultimately, our interest is for us to have the lowest statistics of injuries or deaths, irrespective of whether you see it or not,” he noted.

Asked about whether he feels that workers should know more about their rights and whether some form of educational programmes should take place to make them more aware, Xuereb answered “absolutely”.

“This is fundamental on a number of accounts, not only because we just want people to know their rights, but when you understand the risks of health and safety at the workplace – of the potential risk of not going home in the evening – then people become more sensitive and more careful, and therefore, the risk of people becoming injured is reduced,” he said.

Xuereb noted that one initiative that started a few years ago was the introduction of a skills-card for construction workers by the BICC. “This would indicate whether construction workers have a basic understanding of health and safety, their rights or obligations, what they should be doing, what health and safety truly means and what the consequences are,” Xuereb remarked.

“The other part is ensuring that the person wishing to work with a skill in any particular trade actually has that skill. So, one will have to prove that if he/she is skilled to plaster, then they should be aware of the risks of possibly getting hurt by plastering operations. Risk appreciation will lead to risk mitigation and this will ultimately lead to true skills carried out in a safe working environment. The continued roll out of skills-cards will enable improved and robust development of any sustainable business,” he said.  

Eventually, contractors in the building industry will equally be classified and licensed, he noted “and this will greatly assist to account what they, their management structures and their human resources are truly able and competent to do”.

That classification of contractors will also include “the ability to describe the complete nature of the skills that the contractor employs, but also the fact that all the workers would have a skill-card which will include health and safety training, and therefore the ability to understand risk and, of course, appreciate their rights”.

Xuereb remarked that this is still a “work in progress” and that as a country “we’re very late in introducing such protocols that lead to employee skill certification and contractor classification and licencing. I am optimistic that the new Building and Construction Authority will be prioritising this ambition.”

“However, I’m not going to look at the past, as there now seems to be a true and genuine willingness to see tangible and professional change. I am very hopeful that that willingness – with milestones, timelines and objectives like we would have in normal businesses – will be delivered, because we cannot risk postponing this anymore,” he noted.

Given that government’s plan for the country, for the next few years, focuses on specific topics, namely digitisation and green economy, Xuereb was asked how this would infiltrate within the OHSA’s sphere.

“Of course, I cannot be happier with you asking me about this since one of the focus areas of my current studies at the University of Cambridge, is the decarbonisation of the economy, which means that business and the workplace will transition to reduce its carbon footprint in a global effort to mitigate the effects of climate change. This transition towards a decarbonised industry will include much collaboration and innovation and this will be assisted by digitalisation,” he said.

The chairman noted that during the time he spent as president of the Chamber of Commerce, the Chamber launched the economic vision for all of the country. Bearing this in mind, he noted that digitalisation was clearly identified as an absolute objective and this will be extremely transformative for all industries, even when it comes to safety at workplaces. Continuous training, upskilling and reskilling will be paramount during this transition.

“Clearly, as all our industries develop – including the building industry – within the next couple of years, we’ll be seeing a huge transformation in the way technology and data will be deployed, the way instrumentation will be used and also in the skills that are required to be able to take us into this new era,” he said. “Frankly, the faster we’re able to get there, the better it is going to be in terms of improving performance, efficiency, and, bluntly, to remain competitive in the world. So I’m looking at this with business acumen and also from a health and safety point of view.”

Xuereb remarked that this transition will be crucial to the workplace environment, as “nothing beats objective measurement” which is introduced by such a digital shift.

“If I really wanted to know whether the quality of air or the vibration of a machine or the noise in a factory or the dust in a construction site are above safety thresholds, nothing beats actually measuring them on an ongoing basis in an objective manner. I see this as a great opportunity,” he observed.

On another note, he said that such technologies, such as AI, drones, 3D printing and so forth, which will “probably be used on a blockchain platform”, will also “take away a lot of emotional conversations and subjective interpretation of risk” when it comes to health and safety of employees.

This will lead the country to the opportunity to grow its economy in a safe way, by using technology effectively and decarbonise our economy in respect of our commitment with the rest of the world, he noted.

“My wish is for us to accelerate this transition and to be ahead of the transformation curve and not trail behind. That transition in the world will happen – no doubt in my mind. I just want to see our country drive the change ahead of the curve. So, the more we communicate and collaborate and become aligned to a common purpose, the more we’re able to inspire young, career-seeking or career-changing individuals who seek a safer and more prosperous future for themselves in our country,” he said.

The post New OHSA chairman calls for ‘more organisation’ on construction sites first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

Malta is ramping up its efforts to have more sustainable and cleaner energy production in the country, as the world adjusts to climate realities through various accords such as The Paris Agreement.

Dalli remarked that the government wants to invest in renewable energy and “it is the promise we made, and this is the promise we are implementing today through this scheme.”

The minister remarked that through a series of schemes, the Government is working to obtain energy in a more sustainable way. The current aim of the country when it comes to renewable energy sources stands at 11.5%, but the Minister remarked that the country will not only seek to reach that goal, “but do everything it can to surpass it.”

Dalli remarked that two months ago, the Government announced investment incentives for sustainable energy “which generate a 40kw peak up to 1mw peak”. These projects add up to a total of 31mw, she said. This means that an investment of €50 million in the span of 20 years would be spent in such renewable energy projects.

This investment is spread among 10 invitations which are open until July 2022, and up until now, the Government has already released 2 of these 10 invitations. “We issued an invitation for those interested in the project which generated 40kw and 100kw, and another invitation for a project which generates from 200kw to 1mw,” the Minister remarked.

The interest was rife, the minister observed, as an allocation that already surpasses a 4mw peak has already been reached. “When we see this amount of interest, this encourages us to announce more invitations for renewable energy projects with more thrust and with open hands,” she said.

With this project today, the minister remarked that they are aiming for installations of more than 1mw and with a total capacity of 16mw. “I believe this is a golden opportunity for those investors who want to invest in the installation in large places, such as barriers, landfills which are not being used anymore, industrial land, roofs, and car parks, amongst others.”

This investment would amount to €26 million in the span of 20 years, the Minister remarked. The financial aid through the feed in tariff will be set for a median of 12.7c for every kw which varies according to the category of installation.

“To give an example, in case of an installation in a car park, the maximum allocation is of 16.7c, while in Government land which would be passed over to private investors through a concession, this would have a maximum of 8.4c,” the minister noted.

These feed in tariffs are calculated and based on technical calculations which were made, Dalli said, “which base themselves on different types of installations which we would have evaluated.”

The minister said that later today, the list of maximum financial aid provided by the government through the feed in tariff will be published, which happened after a “technical analysis so to be just with the investors and at the same time ensure a practical and factual return to the Government.” These will be published on the regulatory website for energy and water, as well as through a Government statement.

When combining what was announced today with what was announced two months ago, the Government is allocating a capacity of 47mw through renewable energy sources and with an investment of €76 million in total for a 10-year period. “That is why I say we are ambitious,” Dalli said.

The minister noted that consultation with various stakeholders took place, as the Government wanted to avoid a situation “where the big and small investors end up competing and creating an imbalance.”

“We also wanted to ensure that investors remain interested in these projects and commit themselves to these projects.

Dalli remarked that the Government wanted to assist investors to plan ahead as well, so there will be a period of three months between 6th August and 5th October where the Regulator for Energy and Water Services (REWS) will be open to receiving the applications. More details can be found on their website.

The schemes were designed from scratch, Dalli noted, so that the Government “can be of help for those who are genuinely serious and is committing himself and wants to invest in this field.”

The minister noted that systems of bid bonds and performance guarantee were also established so that investments are assured. 

With this project, Dalli pointed out that Malta will be hitting four targets as proposed by the United Nations, which are affordable and clean energy, betterment of infrastructure and innovation in this industry, responsible production and consumption, as well as addressing climate change.

The post €26 million investment for large scale renewable energy project a ‘golden opportunity’ – Miriam Dalli first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

A second round of €100 vouchers per perspn aged over 16 was introduced in June to further stimulate the economy after a first batch of vouchers were distributed last year.

The  vouchers were split blue and red, with four €10 blue ones given to be used at retail and services shops, and another four €15 ones were to be used at restaurants and accommodation facilities. In total, €50 million was allocated.

The minister remarked that if one sees the multiplier effect of the first round of vouchers last year, it would mean that for every €1 was spent in vouchers, an additional €1 was spent.

When the first scheme was launched last year, €45 million were spent from vouchers only, with a total of €90 million spent by consumers.

Now, the minister remarked that due to the fact that people are more calm and willing to go out due to the vaccine, he expects that the multiplier to be higher than the previous batch.

Schembri noted that up until this week, in around six weeks, €16 million in vouchers had already been used through 500,000 transactions. €6 million of these were digital vouchers, while €10 million were physical vouchers. The average daily transaction value therefore stands at €390,000, and the average weekend daily transaction value (Friday to Sunday) stands at €624,000.

From the data gathered, up till now, €9.2 million in red vouchers were used while the reast, €6.9 million, were blue vouchers. The number of outlets accepting blue vouchers is 4,092, while those accepting red vouchers is 2,585, for a total of 6,677 outlets accepting vouchers.

When it comes to the distribution of the vouchers, 328,503 persons were eligible for the vouchers. 290,652 have collected their vouchers either digitally or physically, while 37,851 have yet to collect them from post offices in Malta and Gozo.

“These need to go to their local Maltapost post office with their identity card to collect them,” the minister said.

For this round of vouchers, Schembri said that the government has introduced a tracking system for those who do not know from where they need to collect their vouchers. This can be accessed through the Mimcol website, vouchersmimcol.com, where one needs to enter his ID card number and his document number on the back of the ID card. Once these details and inputted, the website will notify the person from where the vouchers can be collected.

Some people are saying that for some reason or other they did not receive the paper from Maltapost informing them that the vounchers could not be delivered as no one was home to receive the. The tracking number of this Maltapost paper can be obtained from this website, the Minister said.

In this case, the person would need to print it or take a screenshot of it, and then the person should take it with him along with his ID card number to the Maltapost branch as indicated on the website, and the person would be able to collect the vouchers.

For foreign residents with a different ID card, the minister said that there were cases where residency permits were not valid in April as they would have expired, so they didn’t know they were still living in Malta.

“In these circumstances, if a resident would have applied for a renewal of their residency permit before 31 April, but they wouldn’t have received the permit yet, an update from ID Malta was asked for and we are seeing that these will also be given the voucher,” the minister said.

If any queries remain, people can phone 80074904 or send an email on consumers@vouchersmimcol.com. These proved to be popular, as 33,311 calls were dealt with and 11,600 emails were received, the Minister noted.

Finally, Schembri said that when a person uses the digital voucher, the outlet which is going to accept the digital voucher “needs to finish the whole process” when it comes to accepting it. When scanning, the outlets need to be careful that the screen notifies that the transaction has been completed. “If the transaction would still be incomplete, the transfer of the voucher would not happen,” he said.

In terms of accountability, the government is suggesting that apart from the VAT receipts – a copy of which needs to be kept – a copy of the physical vouchers can be kept or taking note of the serial number of the digital vouchers.

“This is because Mimcol, from time to time, will be auditing a sample of outlets as was already done in the first round of vouchers because they would need to report the transactions and how the measure worked,” he said.

The Minister also remarked that if any of the outlets have any queries, they should either phone 80074950 or send an email on business@vouchersmimcol.com.

The post €16 million in Covid-19 vouchers spent in six weeks; 37,851 eligible people yet to collect them first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

Abela was speaking in an interview as part of a conference organised by FinanceMalta.

Malta was placed on the FATF’s grey list following shortcomings on, amongst other things, the prosecution of tax crimes – something which will detract from Malta’s attractiveness as a financial jurisdiction.  

However, the Prime Minister remains positive that Malta can get off the grey list as soon as possible.

The Prime Minister said that while the Government recognises and is working towards implementing the action plan agreed with FATF, he is “heartened by the positive signals already sent by two of the four rating agencies that rate Malta.”

“DBRS has confirmed our A rating, while Fitch have issued a press release to state that we will retain our A+ rating. The European Commission has also indicated its trust in our economy by upgrading our forecast economic growth by twice the amount it upgraded its forecast for the rest of the European Union,” he said.

Abela said that the Government is taking the FATF remarks seriously, and that the country is “redoubling [its] international efforts to successfully implement further reforms which boost resources to regulators, the courts, and our investigative and prosecutorial authorities.”

“Our economic vision shows clearly that good governance is one of our five principal pillars. Similarly, in our recovery plan, we have a priority area specifically dedicated to this, where we will be allocating another €10 million to strengthening our institutions,” he said.

The Prime Minister remarked that the digitalization of the justice system, the Permanent Commission against Corruption and the Asset Recovery Bureau amongst other things will also be strengthened.

Abela noted that he considers the financial sector as a “very valid and important contributor to the nation’s prosperity”, while also remarking that it forms an essential part of the diversification of Malta’s economy.

“To give one example; while our economy contracted by 7% due to the pandemic, the financial services sector alone rose by 6%. Financial services firms generate substantial numbers of high quality employment for our graduates and having a good financial services sector is a pull factor for foreign direct investment,” he said.

Asked about the ever-changing regulations the finance sector faces, the Prime Minister said that this is a reality the country must accept, as although the digital transition offers great opportunities, it has also created other risk factors.

“While in recent years, most of the effort to regulate the sector came in terms of the promulgation of new legislation, we are now more in the area of enforcement. While there is room for the authorities to improve, here, the onus will increasingly be on financial services providers,” he said.

Green finance is another area which the Prime Minister believes needs to be given more importance. “We are at the cusp of a veritable Green Revolution. Are financial services firms ready for this? Do they have the tools to provide access to finance for investments? Are they thinking of how to change that investment and financial strategies to take advantage and support the Green Revolution?” he asked.

However, Abela remained positive that this industry will benefit from getting the necessary attention from the Government in order to cater for their needs and changes which occur within the industry.

“The Maltese economy has doubled in size and offers huge opportunities to financial services firms. I believe that catering more for the needs of operators located in Malta could be a winning formula both for financial services firms and for the economy as a whole,” he said.

The post Abela ‘heartened’ by positive financial reviews, vows to ‘redouble efforts’ to get off grey list first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

Grech was speaking as part of a conference organised by FinanceMalta.

Malta was placed on the FATF’s grey list following shortcomings on, amongst other things, the prosecution of tax crimes – something which will detract from Malta’s attractiveness as a financial jurisdiction.

Grech said that the Opposition is willing to work with the Government to help Malta get out of the grey list, as the country currently lacks any desirable status to attract investment.

“It is important and paramount to understand and appreciate that the financial services industry, is one of the pillars of the Maltese economy. This didn’t happen by chance. It happened because the National Party in government decided to open up for it,” Grech remarked.

The Opposition leader said that in years gone by, the country made sure that this sector became successful as it built the industry on the country’s “trust, credibility, and reputation”, apart from the reputation of “multiple professionals and all the financial sector employees.”

However, the Opposition leader said that this is something which needs to be addressed today.

“What we have today is, unfortunately, the lack of these three things, and this is what we need to start addressing as soon as possible. Through trust and credibility, we can get back the reputation that Malta deserves,” he said.

Grech remarked that in order to get there, the country needs to not only look at ticking all the boxes from a technical perspective, “but we have to also convince our international partners, professionals abroad, and also countries like the United States, United Kingdom, Germany and the rest, that Malta has to and should be trusted,” he said.

The Opposition has been working “since day one”, as it “offered [its] full support and collaboration” to the Government, Grech said. “This has to be the way forward: a bipartisan approach to gain back credibility. But to go there, we need more information,” he said.

“This is why we asked the government to publish all the correspondence between the government and the FATF, and this is why we asked for a parliamentary debate and committee to be called on the this issue: because we want to help”, he said.

However, the Opposition leader remarked that the Government is rather unwilling to accept their help in this regard. “Unfortunately, the Government is still reluctant. We want to be on board but the Government has to let us be on board,” he said.

The Opposition leader also remarked that the Opposition met a number of social partners to discuss the FATF grey listing in order to listen to their views and concerns.

The post Malta lacks trust, credibility, and good reputation for the financial sector to thrive – Bernard Grech first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

Under the current travel restrictions, all unvaccinated arrivals must quarantine for 14 days – a go-around from what was initially a complete ban on unvaccinated travellers.

In the past couple of weeks, Malta saw a spike in cases where the country is now registering over 2,000 active cases of the virus.

Most of the new cases were attributed to non-residents and foreign students learning English in Malta, with the latter making up 25% of the total active cases, as per a Times of Malta report on Wednesday morning.

Bartolo remarked that the length of the travel measures will be decided by the Health Superintendent. “Our main aim will remain finding a balance between lives and livelihoods, and this seems to be happening.”

Bartolo was asked whether his Ministry has any statistics on how many bookings and how much income was lost due to the change in measures, to which he said the statistics will “start coming through in due time and once we have the results, rest assured that we will hand over all the necessary information.”

Asked what he thinks about the fact that 25% of the cases were English language students, the minister said that he is “disappointed to see that certain people are being discriminated against, as we don’t believe in discrimination.”

“I deplore any type of discrimination, wherever it comes from and whoever it happens against,” he said. Bartolo remarked that the students who came to Malta entered the country “according to the established rules by both the Government as well as Europe.”

The minister was asked whether he thinks that the recovery in the tourism sector will take a bit longer than was predicted, due to the spike in cases.

“Cases are increasing in other countries as well, and there are other countries which the ECDC removed from the green list after cases increased in the past few weeks, such as the Netherlands and Spain,” he said.

Bartolo said that the Government needs to be agile and take the decisions that need to be taken. “When we decided to accept only vaccinated tourists… this was because we prioritised health over tourism. Once we took that decision, we gave the unvaccinated tourists two options; either take the vaccine to come to our country, or – for those who had holidays on short notice – to cancel their holiday,” he said.

Asked whether the government could have taken the decision to only allow vaccinated tourists into the country earlier, the minister said that this was not possible. “There was an agreement with the European Commission regarding how things were going to move forward.”

“We first had to implement the measures we had in place before, where a person coming to Malta has to be either vaccinated or have a negative PCR test. Once we saw that the measure didn’t work, then we could divert to the restriction where only people who are fully vaccinated could enter the country,” he said. 

The post Health chief will decide how long restrictions for travelling to Malta will be in place – Clayton Bartolo first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

130 countries and jurisdictions joined a new two-pillar plan to reform international taxation rules and ensure that multinational enterprises pay a fair share of tax wherever they operate.

Speaking at the FinanceMalta’s annual conference about the international minimum level of taxation, the minister remarked that back in January he said that the country should be “agile and wise” in the way the country negotiates with this deal.

“It was becoming evident that what was happening at an international level most probably would challenge our tax regime,” he said.

The minister reiterated that what he said back then still stands, especially right now with the way things are evolving at Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) level.

The minister noted that he has been involved in discussions at different levels for the past eight months, and he remarked that he has “never seen the EU working at such a fast pace in order to enact something.”

“The way how the OECD is negotiating with other countries is that if there are any countries who are completely against this new idea, those countries are being told to leave the negotiating room and let the others decide. So we cannot from our side just say that we do not agree with this for the simple reason that that would mean that we would be completely excluded from the negotiations,” the minister observed.

He noted that the country should be wise enough to understand what others are after, “because if we understand what others are after, I can imagine and I can understand that even the other countries will understand what we are after.” 

“At the pace of which such reform is being negotiated, I am quite sure that most of these countries would be willing to negotiate in order to make sure that this reform ultimately gets over and done with. In this spirit, I think that as a small nation together with other small countries, we can also negotiate and make sure that what we have achieved so far remains there. Negotiation is perhaps the best tool that we have in order to make sure that we continue to maintain what we have achieved so far,” he said.

Regarding the FATF greylisting, the minister said that the country “should not feel discouraged, but rather it should give us an incentive to work more in order to make sure that our financial sector emerges stronger after the necessary work that we need to do.”

The minister remarked that over the past two years, Malta made significant steps to address financial regulatory shortcomings, so much so that they passed the MONEYVAL test a few months ago. “Unfortunately, two out of the 50 indicators were deemed not to have delivered sufficiently enough by the FATF,” he said.

“A lot of work has been done. This is the message that all of us should convey, even to third parties especially abroad… we need more time in order to ensure that what we have legislated throughout the past months starts to bear fruit,” the Minister said.

Regarding the Maltese economic recovery from the pandemic, the minister once again reiterated that no higher taxation will be implemented in Malta so that the economy “lands softly”. 

The post Minister positive Malta can negotiate its position on international minimum taxation first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

The strategy is based on five pillars which provide the outline for Malta’s economic vision, which are Sustainable Economic Growth, Infrastructure and Investment, Education and Employment, Environment, and Governance and Rule of Law.

“We need to build an economic vision in order to have a sustainable future. We are seeing that we involve the primary ministries in all of the vision we have announced. Never until today could we appreciate the economic synergy of all stakeholders due to the Covid-19 pandemic,” the Minister said.

The Minister remarked that the country finds itself in a good position to discuss the future of Malta. “Today, we have one of the highest percentage of people vaccinated in the world, so we know we can look forward now.”

One of the things the Ministry is looking at is improving infrastructure, which the minister remarked that it does not necessarily entail road infrastructure, but infrastructure on a much larger scale.

“Apart from the physical infrastructure, we have another infrastructure. For example, Malta will be one of the few people which has 5G coverage throughout the whole country,” he said.

Furthermore, the Minister noted that the investment in infrastructure would not necessitate the lack of care towards the environment either. “The investment in infrastructure would also mean investment in the environment. For example, the investment in electric car infrastructure would help the environment even more,” he observed.

The minister remarked that in terms of economic stability, Malta stood in 77^th place a few years ago in the World Economic Forum, but it now stands in first place.

Another issue which the minister addressed was the corporate tax system, which he noted that in Malta it remains robust. However, he noted that the country should remain vigilant of new corporate tax systems which would bolster the country’s likability.

“The corporate tax system is very strong, but if we don’t recognise that there are new corporate tax systems which are being introduced and are attracting a lot, we are going to suffer,” he said. 

He noted that the Government wants to help start-ups prevail and bloom in the country. “We have the infrastructure; it is the ideal land for a start-up to perform a scale up. Israel has a system for start-ups which is very good, but when it comes to scale up it would be very difficult. This is something we can look at in order to attract more start-ups not only to start, but also to scale-up,” he said.

When it comes to the private sector, the Minister encouraged them to continue being creative and sharing their ideas with the Government. “The best ideas don’t come from the government, but from the private sector. The government needs to see that it is an enabler in this,” he said

He also noted that the Government, companies and people should keep their eyes peeled on new technologies which are emerging, as the pandemic has accelerated the technological shift and a lot of new technologies which were once unimaginable are here with us now.

“The pandemic accelerated the technology shift. There are new technologies which are closer to the mainstream than we think. We need to see the constructive criticism so we can improve, increase the proposals, and be at the forefront. The important thing is that we have a government that listens,” he said.

In his final remarks, the Minister said that the Government is actually asking for constructive criticism in order to improve the country’s prospects. “The more we listen to all stakeholders involved, the more we can progress,” the Minister remarked. 

“We want to gather the ideas of everyone. This is a small country; we can’t waste our energy on small things. We have the resources and talent to continue moving forward. We need to be selective in terms of which investments we choose, but we want to consult and hear,” he remarked.

The Minister was also joined by four other speakers from the Government: Minister for Senior Citizens and Active Ageing, Michael Farrugia, Minister within the Office of the Prime Minister, Carmelo Abela, Parliamentary Secretary for European Funds, Stefan Zrinzo Azzopardi, and Permanent Secretary of the Ministry for Transport, Infrastructure and Capital Projects, Joseph Caruana.

Michael Farrugia

Minister Farrugia said that “one of the first steps to ensure the welfare state of our country was economic strength”.

“We need to think of intergenerational people. Not only do we need to increase the services, but also increase the quality of the services we give, while also auditing these services. We need to see these social deficits and we want to increase wellbeing regarding them,” he said.

The Minister noted that he is aware that there are a number of people in our society who need help, “and in the silence of their homes call for it”.

He observed that this is why projects such as LEAP were introduced. Furthermore, next week, the Government will be launching new standards from what it had in the past, “so that we increase services in the homes of the elderly”.

Another pilot project will also be observed when it comes to senior citizens who feel lonely but are able to take care of themselves on their own. “We are envisaging a project for independent living, and this pilot project will have different structures. These people would be taking care of their own space but in an environment where they would be with other people.”

The minister also remarked that the country needs to also aim for the sustainability of pensions.

Carmelo Abela

Asked about the reaction of Malta Council for Economic and Social Development (MCESD), the Minister said that it was very positive. He remarked, however, that it is not possible with the government alone to have a strong vision for the country.

“We are discussing how much we are ready to have great ambitions – this cannot happen with the government alone only. We need to discuss together,” he said. “I believe in social dialogue, and even we see the story of the country, whenever we discussed together, we did better.”

The Minister also noted that two other factors that Malta needs to keep an eye out for are the conditions of workers and discussions abroad.

On the former point, the minister said that “we cannot aspire to have better economic outcomes if we don’t recognise the need to improve the conditions of employment.”

Stefan Zrinzo Azzopardi

Azzopardi acknowledged that Malta is now in the phase where the country has submitted its economic recovery to the EU.

The Parliamentary Secretary echoed Schembri’s words in saying that infrastructure is not simply roads, “but also relates to issues such as energy, water, digitisation,” and so forth. “If one looks at the priorities, you notice that green economy and digitisation are at the forefront and that we will be making a lot of investment so that we reach the environmental aims,” he said.

He also noted that the government is looking at the second interconnector as a solution to energy capacity and alternative. Furthermore, he highlighted that the educational infrastructure is something which is also very important for the Government and need to address, such as early school leavers.

Joseph Caruana

From his part, Caruana noted that infrastructure is interwoven with the economic development of the country.  He noted that in 3 years only, more than 500 roads were constructed. “The Government’s plan is to continue changing the quality of life of people for the better”, he said.

More open spaces for residents would also be considered, while the regeneration of public spaces is something which is also crucial in the country at this day and age.

The post ‘Government will listen to all stakeholders to choose right options for Malta’s future’ – Schembri first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.