Eminent scientists and thinkers from around the world were brought together in Malta for the ‘Cosmos in the Med’ workshop, the latest in a series of ‘Teaching the Universe’ workshops given by Nobel laureate Professor George Smoot.
An American astrophysicist and cosmologist, Professor Smoot won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2006 for his work with John C. Mather that led to the discovery of fluctuations in the Cosmic Microwave Background.
The latest edition of the Doing Business in Malta report is available online.
The report does not only give an overview of the Maltese economy and work carried out by Malta Enterprise in the past year, but it also provides the current investors' outlook as well as basic data about setting up and operating in Malta.
Malta Enterprise is organising a photographic competition with the scope of diffusing better appreciation and understanding of Malta’s rich industrial heritage and milieu, which spans back for entire decades and reflects the changes that the country itself has gone through.
Foreign direct investment flows in Malta within the manufacturing industry in 2013 amounted to €90.8 million.
This compares very favourably with the previous year, when a negative flow of €82 million was recorded within the manufacturing industry.
The statistics, which were published by the National Statistics Office, show that the stock of FDI in Malta within the manufacturing sector has increased from €799.6 million in 2012 to €881.5 million in 2013.
The skills and abilities of local artisans as well as the quality of local food and wine were the focal point of the Wine and Artisan Festival held at the Ta’ Dbiegi Crafts Village in Gozo, which attracted large crowds of locals and tourists over two evenings on August 22 and 23.
A total of 17 new FDI projects have been approved by the Malta Enteprise Board of Directors during the first six months of 2014, maintaining the positive momentum that saw a record 36 new FDI projects being approved throughout the previous year.
Between them, the new FDI projects approved between January and June 2014 are expected to generate 624 new jobs within three years.
The Houston Intercontinental Chamber of Commerce (HICC) and Malta Enterprise have signed a Memorandum of Understanding in which they agreed to attract investment from the United States to Malta and to support Maltese firms wanting to do business in the US.
HICC is the largest and most influential chamber of commerce in the state of Texas, USA. Its members range from small businesses to some of the largest corporations on the Fortune 500 list. Amongst its affiliates are such companies as Halliburton, AT&T, Noble Energy and Lone Star College.
Malta’s trade with the Commonwealth countries rose to a total of €1.2 billion euro in 2013, an increase of €0.7 million from the 2012 level.
Both imports and exports contributed to this increase. Imports from Commonwealth states at €680.3 million surpassed exports by €182.6 million. In 2012, the trade balance in favour of all Commonwealth countries stood at €190.3 million.
Imports from all Commonwealth countries in 2013 represented 15.3% of all imports. At €497.7 million, sales of goods from Malta to the same countries made up 12.9% of all exports.
Malta Enterprise has launched a revised Get Qualified scheme by means of which students undertaking courses in specific industries or areas of study may get part of the costs back as a tax credit.
Indeed, upon completion of their course students will be able to recover up to 70 per cent of their expenses on registration fees; fees paid to the university, institution or other recognised training or educational entity; as well as examination fees. Tax credits are, however, capped depending on the level of qualification or certification being obtained.
Malta Enterprise has launched two new programmes for export. These programmes will yield 485,000 euro of assistance to industry to export locally manufactured products. The programmes cater for industries that are new to export as well as to those that wish to expand their current export market.