“Back in December of last year, Malta spearheaded an initiative that brought on board Cyprus, France, Greece, Italy, Portugal, and Spain, where together we agreed to promote and work further in the blockchain and DLT sphere, share our expertise and knowledge, and most importantly enhance further our cooperation in this new emergent industry,” said Parliamentary Secretary for Financial Services, Digital Economy and Innovation Silvio Schembri.

“The signing of that declaration was clear evidence of a sense of acknowledgement of this emergent industry. Today’s initiative of a memorandum of understanding takes us a step further, it marks our commitment, as the seven EU member states, to establish a framework for the sharing of best practices in the design and application of DLT at a governmental level. This framework will help us as a region, to achieve the maximum potential of such technologies and enable us to enhance the daily lives of our citizens,” the junior minister added, tagging the MoU as a “historic milestone”.

Under the agreement, Malta, Spain, France, Italy, Greece, Portugal and Cyprus commit to exploring the possibility to cooperate on cross-border distributed ledger technologies projects and to share best practices in the application of distributed ledger technologies, according to the DOI press release. The MoU has established a framework for the sharing of best practices in the design and application of distributed ledger technologies at a governmental level between the countries.

The post Malta signs MoU on DLT cooperation with six EU countries first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

Malta hosted one of the five preparatory forums in April 2019 held in the run-up to the summit which focused on youth, education and mobility. 

The forum entitled “Investing in a Mediterranean Generation” brought together mostly youths from the region who spoke about their aspirations for the region. Maltese civil society representatives attended these five fora and have already received positive reactions from potential development partners, as the press release says.

President of the French Republic Emmanuel Macron engaged with the ten Chefs de File, including Simone Borg from Malta, the main representatives of civil society from each participating state that spoke on their experiences and their aspirations for the future, according to the DOI press release.

The Maltese Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Promotion Carmelo Abela, who was accompanied by Malta’s Ambassador to the Republic of France Helga Mizzi, highlighted the significant role played by civil society in this process, placing emphasis on youth potential and on the need to seize this opportunity to open up space for youth-led initiative in the region. 

At the end of the summit, Mr Abela held a courtesy meeting with the recently appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Algeria Sabri Boukadoum, wherein they discussed the enhancement of bilateral relations.

The post Maltese Foreign Minister Carmelo Abela participates in the Summit of the Two Shores first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

“Due to this action Air Malta flights to Paris Charles de Gaulle and Orly, Lyon and Marseille scheduled during this time may be affected. More information will be communicated as we receive it,” Air Malta said in the press statement.

The announced strike by French air traffic controllers — part of a national protest by public servants against President Emmanuel Macron’s planned reform to working conditions — is thought to affect air travellers Europe-wide, according to a report by Euronews.

The post France’s strike might affect Air Malta flights first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.