DIARY OF EVENTS 2004 JANUARY - doi photography competition

important for the public to be aware that there were enterprises in Malta that were delivering a healthy
bottom line.
• 21 January 2004 The Maltese National Commission for UNESCO launched an interactive CD-Rom on
the National Library. The CD is the first in what is planned to be a long series on Maltese historical sites.
• 22 January 2004 Italian Deputy Premier Gianfranco Fini welcomed President Guido de Marco on behalf
of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who was indisposed. Mr Fini stressed that between Malta and Italy
there exist several familiar interests that will become even more common as from next May, “an important
appointment with history”.
• 22 January 2004 President Guido de Marco had discussions with Mr Fini at Palazzo Chigi, the Italian
Prime Minister’s office. President de Marco said that Italy had, throughout the years, demonstrated with
Malta a strict collaboration and co-operation in so far as political, economical, social and cultural ties were
concerned.
• 22 January 2004 Environment Minister George Pullicino launched the Enhancement Livestock Premium
Scheme, which is replacing the original Dairy Compensation Scheme, set up in October 2002. Mr Pullicino
said that the scheme, which would serve to promote local milk and beef, was being introduced to be in
conformity with the EU Common Agricultural Policy.
• 22 January 2004 Air pollution statistics released by the National Statistics Office show that road transport
was one of the major air pollutants in the Maltese Islands. At present vehicle density in Malta stands at
1.52 persons for each private vehicle.
• 22 January 2004 Tourism Minister Francis Zammit Dimech said that experts in the tourism sector were
forecasting an increase of three per cent in tourism in Europe and an international increase of around eight
per cent. Dr Zammit Dimech said that there were indications that the tourism sector in Malta would start
catching up in the second quarter of the year.
• 22 January 2004 Finance and Economic Affairs Minister John Dalli said that the Government would be
doing everything in its power to kill off excessive bureaucracy. Mr Dalli was addressing the main
commercial and industrial associations that submitted proposals on the Public Service White Paper, calling
for efficiency to allow businesses to work.
• 22 January 2004 IT and Investment Minister Austin Gatt inaugurated HSBC Bank Malta’s new internet
banking service. Dr Gatt said that there was much more room for take-up in internet banking: to date only
10 per cent of Maltese citizens and only 37 per cent of enterprises use online banking services. "We will
partner with banks to improve these to 50 per cent and 75 per cent respectively by end-2004," Dr Gatt said.
• 22 January 2004 EU Director General for Employment and Social Affairs, Odile Quintin, and
Parliamentary Secretary Dolores Cristina officially opened an artistic and photographic exhibition in
Brussels to illustrate the country's social, employment, and economic landscape.
• 22 January 2004 The National Statistics Office said that tourist arrivals last year had reached 1,126,601, a
0.6 per cent drop over 2002. In December, tourist arrivals numbered 54,690, a drop of 0.7 per cent when
compared to the same month the previous year.
• 23 January 2004 President Guido de Marco’s intensive State Visit to the Republic of Italy came to an end
with an official departure ceremony held at the Palazzo del Quirinale where he was bid farewell by
President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi. The President then proceeded to Vatican City, where he was received for
an audience by His Holiness Pope John Paul II.
• 23 January 2004 Prime Minister Edward Fenech-Adami said that, the challenges that the country is facing
call for urgent action, and the Malta Council for Economic and Social Development has a role to play to
lead to an agreement on a national agenda. Dr Fenech-Adami was delivering the opening speech during a
one-day conference called ‘A Public Service for the 21st Century’, at the Westin Dragonara Resort, in St
Julians.
Video and Audio recordings of the Prime Minister’s Opening Speech can be accessed at
http://www.doi.gov.mt/EN/News/newsitems/video+audiorecording%20-%20publicserviceact.asp