Two flyovers have recently been opened at the Marsa junction, offering a direct route to and from the airport. The one-level intersection of Marsa, through the investment, is being turned into a multi-level one, the tallest flyover rising above four storeys in surpassing the flyovers below it. The widest of the seven structures will include four vehicle lanes, which will fork into two different flyovers, each with two lanes.

Ian Borg, Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Capital Projects, said that three tunnels will be built soon, in addition to the development works on the already existing Kirkop tunnel.

“We believe that work should be done holistically because we believe that the people’s quality of life depends on balanced solutions,” the minister said, adding that the government implements a “blend of solutions” in order to support a “better environment” and “adequate air quality”.

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“The vision we share with the private sector for the Central Business District, is bringing about the kind of investment that will truly nurture this prominent business area,” Minister for the Economy, Investment and Small Businesses Chris Cardona said at the launch.

Established in 2016, the Central Business District Foundation — a public-private partnership between the government and the private sector — is entrusted to implement a vision for Mrieħel so as to ensure a suitable environment for businesses. Originally called as Industrial Zone of Mrieħel, the project was more recently renamed as the Central Business District.

The planned business hub aims to support the many employees hailing from the 260 economic operators based in the area, by providing open green spaces and amenities, such as restaurants, gym, and childcare services, contributing to a healthier work-life balance, according to the DOI press statement.

The Ministry for the Economy says it is “committed to sustain the local economy and create an increasingly competitive and attractive environment that generates investment.”

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The company expects the facility to be the main access point for its products into European and additional markets. MGC Pharmaceuticals will also be carrying out research and development activities in the field of medical cannabis, bioscience, chemistry, agronomy and clinical research.

“The signing of this contract represents the culmination of our ambition to centre our operations in Malta and be a part of this island nation’s drive to become a beacon in Europe for the growth and development of this industry,” said Nativ Segev, Founder, Director and Head of Business Strategy of MGC Pharmaceuticals that has facilities all over the world, ranging from Australia to Slovenia.

“We believe that Malta’s easy access into Europe, ability to encourage and facilitate local development in a timely and efficient fashion and forward-thinking legislators and government are but a few of the reasons that make Malta an ideal operations base for the company during the years to come,” Mr Segev told Business Malta today.

“Today, Malta has a global reputation for being a high-quality hub for the pharmaceutical industry. However, investors are also becoming increasingly optimistic about the opportunities the island offers in emerging areas such as the medical cannabis industry,” said Minister for the Economy, Investment and Small Businesses Chris Cardona, when announcing the investment.

“By being the first EU member state to provide a regulatory framework, we were able to attract the right kind of business and this sector is already contributing to Malta’s economic growth,” the minister said during his address.

During his address, Mr Cardona said that since introducing legislation on the production of cannabis for medical and research purposes over a year ago, the industry has performed a significant growth in the country.

EDITORIAL NOTE: The present article has been updated with a comment by Mr Segev, sent to Business Malta on 9 August 2019.

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The group is managed by SOL Networks, which is an umbrella brand for more than 15 projects including Dating.com, Lovinga and Tubit.  

“Operating SOL Networks from Malta has not just been enjoyable; I believe it has been crucial to our success,” board director Alla Gubenko told Business Malta.

“Our businesses are all about connecting with people, and being headquartered in Malta lets us do just that. The business climate is ideal, the location offers access to European and emerging markets, and the government is extremely supportive. We couldn’t be happier or more excited about the future,” Ms Gubenko told BM.

Dating.com said it has noticed that dating app users are increasingly “uninterested or unimpressed” with swiping left or right when deciding whom they would or would not like to date with. Therefore, the platform added a live streaming service to its array last year, to allow members to communicate and interact with more matches at once. 

“We are committed to continuing to lead the way in helping people make genuine, lasting connections around the globe,” said Alla Gubenko, board director in Dating.com Group.

“Focusing on business development and technology investment represents the best way to increase the quality of the industry generally and the capitalization of our company specifically. To that end, we are excited to help produce the next generation of live-streaming products and to acquire IP products in the near future,” Ms Gubenko added. 

“We are one of the fastest-growing companies in Malta and operate a global social discovery platform Dating.com Group. It enables people from around the globe to connect through the power of shared interests and mutual benefits. The group’s brands include Dating.com, DateMyAge, LovingA, Tubit, AnastasiaDate, ChinaLove. We have more than 73 million registered users across the globe,” Ms Gubenko.

SOL Networks is an international internet-holding company headquartered in Malta. Dating.com Group has offices in seven countries and a staff of more than 500 with more than 73 million registered users across the entire portfolio.

EDITORIAL NOTE: The present article has been updated with Anna Gubenko’s comments about the role of Malta in the operations of the group.

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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.

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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.

“Selecting the best AML solution plays a huge part in eliminating risks and protecting your business from being associated with illegal financial activity,” according to the Computime Software.

Using artificial intelligence (AI), AML software works to identify what deviates from the norm as defined by the programmed rules. As such, Computime software urges that the rules must be set up well, in order to filter out suspicious transactions.

Furthermore, the company says that if there are too few or too many alerts of possible suspicious activity based on the number of transactions, it might be a sign that the transaction monitoring system does not work as intended. Therefore, testing and tweaking the software is needed.

Nevertheless, Computime software notes that using the right technology solutions is useless on its own; the hiring of compliance officers with previous investigative and forensic accounting training, along with knowledge of the business line is crucial. It also must be accompanied by proper training to help them what to look for and how to correctly handle generated alerts.

“It is also vital to have a solid controls process, which involves superiors analysing and verifying the results of AML alerts,” the company’s blog entry underscores.

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FIMBank says it “owns a strong position” in contributing to the development of this platform.

The bank is, in fact, highly active in major export markets such as India, the Middle East and Egypt, where it can partner with FCI — the global representative body for factoring and financing of open account domestic and international trade receivables — members through the 3+ and 4 “corner model”, according to the press release.

The bank’s global presence and specialised teams allow it to effectively implement FCIReverse type facilities.

FIMBank’s presence in import markets will be a key business driver for other participants in the program, under revenue sharing agreements. FIMBank shares were listed in June 2001 in Malta for the first time.

The FIMBank Group has built an international factoring network — securing debt collection and improving cash flow. The Bank’s Mediterranean Factoring Department (MED) factors in Malta, offering a comprehensive range of factoring services.

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The project includes the introduction of a new system of culverts connecting to an existing reservoir together with another reservoir that will be built as part of the same project, as well as work towards the regeneration of the village square.

The first phase of the project included a new stormwater culvert system with around 830 metres of pipes which will direct rainwater from the square to a new reservoir that will be built in the second phase and with a capacity of around 11,000 cubic metres, which system will also connect to a number of grilles along the width of the roads in question, Ministry Permanent Secretary Christopher Cutajar said. He added that service cables will be removed from facades in the square and new paving will be installed.

“This is a project that will improve infrastructure in Mqabba, a sustainable project which will embellish this locality while considering the needs of the community. Finally, this project will improve quality of life in Mqabba and that is our primary goal,” Mr Cutajar said.

Upon announcing the completion of the first phase, Ian Borg, Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Capital Projects, talked about plans for the regeneration of the village square that he described as an important community meeting space. The minister also praised the cooperation between the government and the local councils, according to the DOI press release.

“We are committed to seeing to improvements on every level in our country. The government is committed to raising the level of our country’s infrastructure – road infrastructure, facility infrastructure and public spaces infrastructure, among others,” Mr Borg said.

Mayor Charlene Muscat tagged the project as an “unprecedented investment in Mqabba”.

The post Mqabba regeneration’s first phase winds up first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

Nibe Beverages has grown at a rate of 33% since 2017. In comparison to 2003 when the company’s staff only counted two, Nibe now provides job to 50 full-time employees. The company invested €1m in its business in 2017 and also entered the North African market, says the press release.

“Nibe Beverages is another example of the potential of a Maltese company, with an economy-stimulating government that considers their added-value,” said Chris Cardona, Minister for the Economy, Investment and Small Businesses, who visited the company in San Gwann along with Aaron Farrugia, Parliamentary Secretary for European Funds and Social Dialogue. The economy minister also praised the company for its sustainable operations that suggest awareness of the company’s impact on the environment. This aspect “is one that businesses should consider, as both business and country can benefit from it,” the minister added during his visit.

“This [Nibe’s success in growing] is the economic model our country has adapted: create work, create wealth, and ensure that wealth to participate in all layers of society. This wealth has been created with the capital that the government invests, with European funds, and by local and foreign business investment”, said Mr Farrugia.

The company benefited from a European fund for a project worth over €600,000, which supported the company’s zero-waste model adoption and new lines of production. Nibe also benefited from a labour training program financed by European funds, the DOI press statement adds.

Mr Farrugia underscored that the Business Enhance scheme used by Nibe is not limited to small and medium enterprises, but also available to start-ups and companies that want to diversify and engage in e-commerce.

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