MBR_ISSUE 47_JAN_LR

Malta Business Review
NEWSMAKERS
Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Promotion Carmelo Abela & Minister of
Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu
Malta and Turkey discuss bilateral ties,
regional and international issues
Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Promotion Carmelo
Abela hosted his counterpart Minister of Foreign Affairs
of the Republic of Turkey Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu during his
official visit to Malta. “This visit is a timely opportunity to
reaffirm our commitment to our bilateral relations and
the consolidation of the already excellent political and
commercial ties between two countries.”
During a warm and frank exchange, Minister Abela stated
that, “our strong relations were given further impetus
through our collaboration on several fronts and the everincreasing
commercial exchanges between Malta and
Turkey. This visit will surely encourage us to tap further
into the potential of developing political, economic, trade
cultural and social relations.”
The two ministers discussed issues of mutual interest
in relation to the Euro-Mediterranean region, other
regional matters and multilateral issues, including the
developments in Libya, Syria and the Middle-East, as
well as the EU accession process of Turkey, common
challenges, and cooperation opportunities in the
Mediterranean.
Minister Abela and his counterpart also brought up the
issue of migration. Like Malta, Turkey understands very
well the ramifications that migration brings. “We believe
that unity, solidarity and resilience through proportional
burden-sharing are the key, and we truly appreciate
Turkey’s efforts for hosting Syrian refugees and other
migrants from other countries like Afghanistan and
Pakistan”, said Minister Abela.
Discussions also focused on the flourishing trade and
investment flows. The cooperation between the two
countries increases the two-way trade between Malta
and Turkey. Minister Abela said that the target is to
intensify our commercial ties with a prospect of rendering
our trade volume closer to the $1 billion target. In this
regard, both parties discussed the boosting commerce
through a string of repeat businesses to heighten thriving
patterns in bilateral trade.
Political consultations like these serve our purpose to
build stronger bridges of affinity between Malta and
Turkey. MBR
Credit: DOI/THE MINISTRY FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND
TRADE PROMOTION
Malta-Algeria Joint Commission
Malta-Algeria Joint Commission convenes
after thirty years
The fifth session of the Malta-Algeria Joint Commission
was convened in Malta from 18 to 19 December 2018.
The Joint Commission was co-chaired by Minister for
Foreign Affairs and Trade Promotion Carmelo Abela and
Minister of Energy of the People’s Democratic Republic of
Algeria Mustapha Guitoni. This session brought together
more than 50 technical delegates from various sectors to
discuss the enhancement of cooperation and exchange
of expertise in a number of fields of mutual interest
including, health, the environment, energy, water,
education and training as well as economy, industry and
commerce.
The re-activation of the Joint Commission was an
important milestone as it has been re-activated after an
absence of 30 years.
A bilateral meeting between the two Ministers was
also held at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and Trade
Promotion. In highlighting the excellent relations that
exists between Malta and Algeria, Minister Abela said,
“We need to continue following up on these technical
talks with a view to further enhance the existing
ties between both countries at all levels, including
people-to-people contacts and commercial exchanges.”
The spirit of affinity and cooperation at the bilateral
levels is also reflected at the regional one. Malta and
Algeria currently hold the co-Presidency of the 5+5
Western Mediterranean Dialogue. Both sides agreed to
continue dedicating their efforts in ensuring that issues
pertaining to the Mediterranean region will be given due
prominence. In this vein, Malta looks forward to hosting
the 15th Session of the 5+5 Foreign Minister Meeting
that will take place from 17 to 18 January 2019, and
which it will co-chair with Algeria.
Following the bilateral meeting, the two Minister
signed the following texts; the Agreed Minutes of the
Fifth Session of the Malta-Algeria Joint Commission,
the Agreement in the Veterinary Health Sector, the
Memorandum of Understanding in the Field of Health
and the Memorandum of Understanding in the areas
of Plant Protection and Plant Quarantine. This was then
followed by a press conference. MBR
Credits: DOI
Multilateral Convention to Implement Tax Treaty Related Measures to
Prevent Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (MLI)
Malta ratifies the Multilateral Convention
to Implement Tax Treaty Related Measures
to Prevent Base Erosion and Profit Shifting
The Secretariat of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation
and Development formally acknowledged
receipt of the instrument of ratification of the Multilateral
Convention to Implement Tax Treaty Related Measures to
Prevent Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (MLI), which was
deposited by Malta today together with the relevant list
of reservations and notifications, following signature by
Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Promotion Carmelo
Abela.
Minister Abela stated that the ratification of this
convention underlines the active role that Malta plays in
the development and implementation of international
standards in taxation, good governance, together with
the government’s determination to effectively fight all
types of abuse of tax systems.
The MLI has the objective of offering tangible solutions
for governments to close the gaps in existing international
tax rules by transposing results from the OECD/G20
BEPS Project into bilateral tax treaties worldwide. The
MLI will modify the application of thousands of bilateral
tax treaties concluded to eliminate double taxation,
and implements the agreed minimum standards to
counter treaty abuse and to improve dispute resolution
mechanisms while providing flexibility to accommodate
specific tax treaty policies. MBR
Mgarr Harbour, Gozo
Good Christmas for business in Gozo:
More than half a million people cross the
channel during Xmas holidays
The popular program 'Christmas in Gozo' ended with
the arrival of the Three Slaten Maġi in Betlehem in
Ghajnsielem. For another year, business in Gozo has
experienced very good results thanks to the strong
investment made by the Ministry for Gozo at this time
of year.
From statistics issued by the Gozo Channel, it is clear
that during the month of December 2018 until 6 January
2019, they crossed in total 501,907, passenger and
156,343 vehicles compared to 464,837 passengers and
141,349 vehicles that crossed the lines in f this same
period last year. This means that there was an increase
of 8% on the number of passengers and an increase of
11% in the vehicles that crossed the line. The busiest day
was Sunday, December 30, 2018, with a total of 25,186
passengers and 5,670 vehicles on 76 trips operated by
the Gozo Channel company.
The Minister for Gozo Dr. Justyne Caruana welcomed
these encouraging figures where Gozo saw a strong influx
of tourists, both Maltese and foreign, who chose Gozo
as their destination for these holidays. Caruana said that
this influx and increase in numbers is not a coincidence
but thanks to the work of the Ministry for Gozo that
acknowledged a huge program during these days of joy,
which program spread across Gozo and that it surely hit
tastes of everyone.
The Minister for Gozo stated that the owners of
establishments and restaurants were very satisfied
with the influx of people in this period and praised the
structured and thoughtful way of how the program was
worked on, Ministry for Gozo. Caruana said that these
results fill up with courage to organize more cultural
level events in Gozo in the next few days and months.
Minister Caruana recalled how this cultural program has
already been launched which program is available on the
visitgozo.com site
The CEO of the Gozo Tourism Association Joe Muscat said
that on these festive days the tourism performance in
Gozo was a very good one. From reports we have from
various categories in the tourism sector on the Gozitan
island, it seems that the Christmas period and the first
of the year were the best in recent years. The number
of visitors in Gozo was evident with the Gozitan hotels,
which reported a very good demand for accommodation,
while the farms also reported that they had a good
occupation especially at the end of the year. The demand
in the accommodation was from both the domestic
market and the foreign market. Another sector that
reported a good holiday period was that of restaurants.
This category had very demanding days during the week
between Christmas and New Year.
Joe Borg, on behalf of the Gozo Business Chamber, said
that the 'Christmas in Gozo' campaign organized by the
Ministry for Gozo has definitely met its expectations. Borg
said that Gozo was advertised as the ideal place for a
person to enjoy these festive days, which definitely had a
positive impact. MBR
Credits/Photos: MGOZ
50