The event dubbed “Lejla Sajfija” invited the children and their families from Fgura Skola Sajf, attracting more than a thousand people donating upon entering the charity meeting, according to the press statement.

“The bank is committed to playing an active part in the community. It is only by understanding customers’ needs and wishes that the bank can develop products and services relevant to people and their families,” said George Debono, Chief Commercial Officer BNF Bank.

“As we strive to give our customers the high-quality and personalised service they expect, we also aim to strengthen our relationship with them by understanding their aspirations for tomorrow,” said Sylvana Bonello, Fgura Senior Branch Manager.  

“BNF Bank’s values are consonant with those of so many people and organisations who wish to make a difference in the lives of people in need,” added George Galea, FES Centre Coordinator.

The FES represents a public entity within the Ministry for Education and Employment. It works with the Education Directorates to provide a range of innovative educational initiatives to​ meet the needs of the community, as the press release says. 

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The programme centres around a workshop entitled “Needs and Wants”, which adopts gamification to get children engaged and have fun while learning. The workshop was originally developed by the Primary Mathematics Support Team at the Science Centre Pembroke within the Ministry for Education for ‘X’Hemm Weekend’, a national STEM — the academic principle of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics — popularisation event and was specifically adapted for Skolasajf.

Playing the game during the workshop, children can earn credit when answering questions about financial literacy correctly and then they work on building a kite using the budget they have accumulated. Maths Support Team members and coordinators of the workshop Amanda Cilia, Analisa Magro, Francesca Cutajar and Jeanelle Attard agree that gamification makes a topic such as budgeting more interesting for children to learn the basics of budgeting.

“It is imperative that digital literacy increases across the board and especially important to start early so that children grow up understanding that one should live within their means and also plan for the future,” said David Spiteri-Gingell, Chairman of the RFCG.

“The introduction of the financial literacy topic in the Skolasajf programme is a step in the right direction, towards helping children become citizens that can make informed choices,” said Dermot Galea, CEO of the Foundation for Educational Services which manages Skolasajf. Mr Galea also lauded the partnership with HSBC, which is being consolidated every year.

The project will involve a total of 360 school children attending Skolasajf during this summer. This is one of a number of projects which HSBC Foundation and Ġemma are running in collaboration to enhance digital literacy among school children.

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The Central Bank of Malta (CBM) set up a public benefit foundation entitled the Central Bank of Malta Foundation on 5 July, according to a press statement the CBM published today.

The foundation falls under the Voluntary Organisations Act, Chapter 492 of the Laws of Malta, as provided for in Second Schedule to the Civil Code, Chapter 16 of the Laws of Malta.

“The Central Bank of Malta Foundation, having an autonomous Board of Administrators, will be administering funds intended to support projects of national stature with lasting visibility relating to education, culture, scientific research, preservation of Maltese national heritage, and social causes,” the press statement says.

The first administrators of the foundation are as follows:

• Chairperson: Marius J. Zerafa
• Yosanne Vella
• Marvin Formosa
• Pauline Lanzon
• Treasurer: Raymond Filletti

The post Central Bank of Malta establishes foundation first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

The SUM foundation is a public organisation and is to be run by a board of administrators, where the Maltese government will be represented by Malta Investment Management Company Limited (MIMCOL) as a creator of the foundation.

In order to position Malta as an ideal location for the creation of startups, entrepreneurship and innovative ideas, the SUM foundation will be a major policy driver in the implementation of the national start-up strategy, the government expects.

“Malta’s economy has changed and will continue to change thanks to our hard-working entrepreneurs. These entrepreneurs create jobs, contribute significantly to economic growth and boost innovation. Fostering entrepreneurship must become a visible part of the government’s economic policy,” said Mr Cardona.

The main objectives of the foundation will be to promote, research and analyse startups, and invest in the creation of an entrepreneurial culture. The foundation will advise the government through feedback and information gathered from the general public and from stakeholders, in order to improve and promote Malta’s entrepreneurial journey through various stages. Starting from awareness, all the way to ideation, enterprise initiation and development, international networking and growth.

“We are confident that this will allow for sounder policy-making and improve Malta’s standing as an attractive place to set-up and grow a business,” Mr Cardona said.

Although the startup ecosystem in Malta is in its infancy, the foundation will propel its development putting strategic efforts in areas which can effectively yield to the creation of more start-ups, and tackle known challenges such as the lack of venture-capital culture and access to finance, as the DOI press statement says.

“Fundamentally, the SUM Foundation will be a learning organisation that supports innovative entrepreneurship and the community behind it. We believe that enormous potential still lies locked and undeveloped in our economy,” added Mr Cardona. “We know that entrepreneurs must lead the start-up community.”

The post Minister Cardona launches the ‘Start-Up Malta Foundation’ first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

During the presentation of the contribution, Parliamentary Secretary for Financial Services, Digital Economy and Innovation Silvio Schembri referred to the inquiry on the consumption of gambling and gaming services by Maltese residents published at the end of last year by the Malta Gaming Authority (MGA). Mr Schembri explained that people who engage in gambling are most likely to be young adults or senior citizens and have a secondary level of education, likely to be unemployed, part-time employees or students.

“This is where the work of the foundation comes in by carrying out educational campaigns among the younger generations to instil among them the importance of achieving balance and to actively seek alternatives,” said Mr Schembri underlining how the foundation tends to reach out by means of sports activities amongst other initiatives.

In addition, the RGF has strengthened the self-exclusion processes under the supervision of the MGA. In the meantime, a call centre started to work on a 24-hour schedule, together with the much-needed website and chatline revamp, in order to provide a more user-friendly and eye-catching look at all the services offered, according to the press statement.

“Throughout our daily operations, Maltco strictly adopts responsible gaming principles since we truly believe in having the players’ wellbeing at heart. We want to ensure that our players are entertaining themselves in a responsible manner,” said Vasileios Kasiotakis, CEO of Maltco Lotteries Limited.

Moreover, Mr Kasiotakis also thanked all the stakeholders, agents and assistants for their significant contribution.

Shawn Zammit, General Manager of the RGF, expressed satisfaction with the investment that has been made in the call centre 1777, by which the foundation continues to offer a better free helping hand to those afflicted by the addiction. The Responsible Gaming Foundation started operating the National Gambling Helpline 1777 in September 2015.

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Ms Muscat stressed the need for policymakers to acknowledge that patients with rare conditions should be given the same importance as those with conditions that are more widely known, according to a press statement issued by the government’s Department of Information (DOI).

“These small minorities need to be given a voice and hope that their future is brighter and less lonely,” said Ms Muscat. She added that governments around the globe on this day and age should listen to advocates of rare diseases. It is time for these advocates to talk in unison so that policymakers realise that the rare diseases community is a voice to be reckoned with, the DOI press statement says.

The post Maltese foundation urges ‘holistic’ strategy for supporting rare disease patients first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.