The Commercial Courier

THE COMMERCIAL/69

COURIER THE OFFICIAL BUSINESS MAGAZINE OF THE MALTA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, ENTERPRISE AND INDUSTRY SINCE 1947

DECEMBER 2016 / JANUARY 2017

Fortune favours the bold Discovering Clemens Hasengschwandtner’s fearless use of colour

NEWSPAPER POST GOLD COLLABORATING PARTNERS

IN THIS ISSUE WHAT’S ON THE HORIZON FOR THE ECONOMY AND BUSINESS? / PARLIAMENTARY SECRETARY IAN BORG ON MALTA’S PREPARATIONS FOR THE EU PRESIDENCY / CHAMBER PRESIDENT ANTON BORG LOOKS BACK ON 2016 AND REVIEWS THE CHALLENGES AHEAD FOR 2017 / TRADE MALTA CHAIRMAN DAVID G.CURMI DISCUSSES HOW LOCAL ENTERPRISE IS REACHING FOREIGN MARKETS / BUSINESS PERSONALITIES WINSTON J. ZAHRA, HELGA ELLUL AND PAUL FENECH SHARE THEIR PLANS FOR THE CHRISTMAS PERIOD / A PEEK INTO CONTENT HOUSE GROUP’S STYLISH NEW OFFICES / THE LATEST BUSINESS NEWS

THE COMMERCIAL/69

COURIER DECEMBER 2016 / JANUARY 2017

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food trends

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85 INTERVIEW

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“GOVERNMENT AND THE MALTA CHAMBER, THROUGH TRADEMALTA, NEED TO ENCOURAGE MORE BUSINESSES TO EXPORT, IN ORDER TO REBALANCE THE ECONOMY TOWARDS A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE”

THE RISE AND RISE OF MALTA’S ECONOMY: IS IT SUSTAINABLE? Martina Said speaks to economist Gordon Cordina and sociologist Michael Briguglio to find out what challenges lie ahead for Malta’s economy in 2017.

TradeMalta chairman David Curmi discusses how the agency is working toward achieving its mission – that of helping businesses based in Malta grow in international markets – with Sarah Micallef.

21 INTERVIEW MAKING MALTA MORE COMPETITIVE Malta Chamber president Anton Borg chats to Martina Said about the recent Budget, the serious lack of available human resources on the island, and his priorities for his last few months as president.

29 INTERVIEW TAKING ON THE PRESIDENCY OF THE UNION Jo Caruana interviews Parliamentary Secretary Ian Borg to determine what Malta’s upcoming Presidency of the European Council will mean for our island, as well as what it will determine for Europe.

37 IN FIGURES MALTA AND THE EU… IN NUMBERS A look into the figures related to Malta and the EU.

93 LIFESTYLE WHAT MATTERS MOST

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From parties and socialising to intimate family celebrations, Jo Caruana asks three of Malta’s best-known entrepreneurs what they love most about the festive season.

73 DESIGN TRENDS

109 MEET THE ARTIST

ACHIEVING THE PERFECT BALANCE BETWEEN CORPORATE AND PLAYFUL

IT’S A COLOURFUL WORLD

Sarah Micallef talks to Content House Group director Jesmond Bonello about the process behind the company’s stylish new offices in Mriehel.

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stablished in 1947, The Commercial Courier is the official magazine of the The Malta Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry. It is the leading business magazine, having one of the best distribution channels in the sector. The publication is distributed for free to the members of the The Malta Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry. It is also distributed with The Malta Business Weekly as well as delivered to leading business people on the island.

The Exchange, Republic Street, Valletta VLT1117 Tel: +356 2123 3873 Fax: +356 2124 5223 info@maltachamber.org.mt www.maltachamber.org.mt

Articles appearing in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of The Malta Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry.

Publisher

All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission of the publishers is strictly prohibited.

53.

style review

Martina Said meets Clemens Hasengschwandtner at his home, hostel and personal art gallery in Birgu to find out about his work, distinct style and what brought him to Malta.

Editor

Kevin J. Borg Editorial Coordinators

Sarah Micallef Edward Bonello Content House Ltd Mallia Building, 3, Level 2, Triq in-Negozju, Mriehel BKR3000 Tel: +356 2132 0713 info@contenthouse.com.mt www.contenthouse.com.mt

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ON THE COVER Detail from painting

by Clemens Hasengschwandtner

Malta chamber’s bronze collaborating partners DECEMBER 2016 / JANUARY 2017

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CC Editorial

A rare opportunity to shed light on issues that matter Malta’s first turn at the Presidency of the European Union is already showing signs of extraordinary traits due to a fateful string of events that will certainly shape it. The United Kingdom will most likely be triggering Article 50 of the EU Treaty, starting the process of their exit from the European Union in the first six months of next year. As predicted, this will throw the entire Union into unchartered territory, and this is expected to define Malta’s Presidency to a significant extent.

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n the other side of the pond, the United States will be swearing in Donald J. Trump as its 45th President in January 2017. Signals about his Presidency so far are mixed, but it will nonetheless have a direct effect on the special trade and investment relationships that exist between the EU and the US. Nevertheless, these extraordinary events must not throw Malta’s plans for the Presidency into disarray. Malta must keep a wide view of the international scenario, yet it must also make the utmost of this rare opportunity to achieve the goals that can truly push towards a more competitive

DECEMBER 2016 / JANUARY 2017

Union within the wider context of a more prosperous economy.

The Malta Chamber has therefore made a series of recommendations for Government to consider as Malta holds the Presidency of the EU Council in 2017. At the top of the Chamber’s agenda is Malta’s geo-physical reality as an island state. The Chamber argued that island states in the European Union, while they suffer from the same cost and scale disadvantages as other islands that form part of larger countries, do not benefit from the same compensatory measures allowed to them as remote or island regions.

The costs incurred by local industries

on island states to overcome permanent natural barriers are in fact exerting a notable negative impact on the competitiveness of local operators, particularly manufacturers.

This goes against the EU’s intentions for an industrial renaissance through a direct 20 per cent contribution to GDP across Europe.

The Malta Chamber has urged the Maltese Government to use its position to place this issue on the European Agenda and request the European Commission in anticipation of the planned review of Regional Aid Guidelines in 2018 with a view to agree on equal compensatory measures for both island states and remote/island regions.

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CC Editorial The Maltese Presidency should also turn its focus on ensuring that Council conclusions and inter-institutional compromises are reached as legislative proposals put forward by the European Commission stemming from the Single Market Strategy and the Digital Single Market Strategy.

It is vital that non-tariff barriers that still exist as a result of certain incompatibilities in member states’ legislation are smoothed over in order to ensure that the single market finally moves towards reaching its full potential. In addition, any effort to legislate should protect enterprises from suffering legislative collateral damage as a result of discrepancies in national law, or as a result of regulation or deregulation.

A list of legislative proposals made by the Chamber included addressing geoblocking, ensuring a level playing field among operators, the reduction of administrative burdens and incentivising digital technology as a means of improving productivity.

The Chamber also drew Government’s attention towards the importance of Research and Innovation – a key element of Europe’s competitiveness. The EU is losing thousands of its researchers who are moving to countries where the R&I industry is more vibrant and conditions are more favourable.

Although the EU’s economy is the largest in the world, it is not innovation-friendly enough, particularly for the SMEs that are the backbone of the continent.

The OECD estimates that, for high-income

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A list of legislative proposals made by the Chamber included addressing geo-blocking, ensuring a level playing field among operators, the reduction of administrative burdens and incentivising digital technology as a means of improving productivity.

countries, investment in innovation and intangible assets like skills and R&D account for over 60 per cent of labour productivity growth. Stronger innovation performances in member states also lead to higher employment rates. Following the crisis and the recent economic revival of the Union, it is the opportune moment to implement the policies and actions necessary to foster a competitive economy built on innovation.

While the Innovation Union is the solution the European Union has implemented, it is proving to be only part of the solution as SMEs, Europe’s main economic driving force, are not engaging in the level of innovation required for Europe to retain its position as a globally dominant economy.

The Maltese Presidency should drive the European Commission to tailor the Innovation Union to the needs of SMEs as they lack access to sufficient financing and human resources. Both these elements are fundamental for the realisation of innovation.

In conclusion, the Malta Chamber is confident that Malta will certainly step up its game during the EU Presidency. This is a rare opportunity for Malta to determine the priorities of the European Union and shed light on issues which are often overlooked.

Throughout Malta’s Presidency months, the Malta Chamber shall actively seek to seize the opportunities to strengthen its engagement with its counterparts across the European Union in as wide a spectrum as possible. The Chamber intends to raise institutional cooperation to previously unprecedented levels.

To this end, Chamber President Anton Borg, in advance of the Presidency was nominated Vice President of BUSINESSEUROPE, which has placed the Chamber at the optimal position to follow and influence discussion at a European level. The Chamber has already in the past weeks welcomed advance delegations from influential organisations such as AmCham (The American Chamber of Commerce to the European Union), France’s Medef (Mouvement des Entreprises de France) and Germany’s BDA (Bundesvereinigung der Deutschen Arbeitgeberverbände) as it outlined its priorities for Malta’s Presidency.

The Chamber will definitely be playing its role as Malta’s foremost businesses representative body in Malta, as it will continue to offer its full availability to assist in the undertaking of the EU Presidency as required. cc

DECEMBER 2016 / JANUARY 2017

CC COVER STORY

The rise and rise of Malta’s economy: Is it sustainable?

As 2016 draws to a close, the applauded successes achieved by the country’s economy throughout the year are somewhat overshadowed by doubts over whether or not the bubble will burst, and if it does, what then? Martina Said speaks to economist Gordon Cordina and sociologist Michael Briguglio to find out what challenges lie ahead in 2017.

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ew could undermine or downplay the notable success achieved by Malta’s economy in recent years.

National Statistics Office (NSO) figures revealed a 6.3 per cent increase, in real terms, in the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2015 over that achieved in 2014. And this year, estimates for the first quarter of 2016 amounted to a 7.6 per cent increase when compared to the corresponding period last year. In real terms, GDP went up by 5.2 per cent.

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Such positive achievements raise questions about whether 2017 will continue with this upward trend, and if so, how it’s expected to be achieved. Economist and Executive Director of E-Cubed Consultants Dr Gordon Cordina says Malta’s economy is best analysed through separate analyses of different sectors. “This is because growth has to be mainly driven by export demand, rather than domestic demand, with the latter then responding to the employment and incomes created in export activities. Domestically-

oriented sectors, such as construction, also have their own specific driving forces, of which external demand forms an important component through tourism and acquisition of real estate by foreigners.

“The strong growth of the Maltese economy over these past two years was to my mind mainly driven by a strong tourism demand, as well as the influx of workers, both Maltese and foreigners, into the labour market,” continues Dr Cordina. “This said, manufacturing has performed generally DECEMBER 2016 / JANUARY 2017

CC COVER STORY

better than expected, while ‘new economy’ service activities also continued to drive GDP growth. Economic growth statistics also benefited from turnaround in the bottomline of public sector activities, including electricity production. Malta is proving to be attractive to foreign direct investment in manufacturing and service activities.”

Dr Cordina adds that such trends point to obvious questions regarding the extent to which such growth is sustainable, because economic dynamics over time and across the world indicate that booms must inevitably slow down. “This could happen as the growth in the labour force cannot continue indefinitely, tourism is more difficult to encourage in the off-peak rather than the peak season, while ‘new economy’ sectors are approaching maturity and possibly facing their own specific challenges. On the other hand, investments in new activities and the improvements in the country’s credit ratings point to the real possibility of continued growth.”

Sociologist and University lecturer Dr Michael Briguglio, the former leader of Alternattiva Demokratika and a spokesperson for the citizens’ movement Front Ħarsien ODZ, says that despite Malta’s overall positive assessment, sustaining the current rates of growth in 2017 will be a primary challenge. “Government seems to be banking too much on big capital projects, particularly development projects, as well as certain sectors, such as gaming.

Whereas so far this has had a positive outcome in terms of economic growth, one has to see whether it’s sustainable,” says Dr Briguglio. “It doesn’t mean momentum will stop in 2017, but Government should start thinking seriously about diversifying Malta’s economic policy, something which has also been highlighted by the Minister of Finance, Edward Scicluna, a few months ago.”

The rapid rate of construction taking place around us is not only altering Malta’s skyline, but its overall image and accessibility too.

“The strong growth of the Maltese economy over these past two years was to my mind mainly driven by a strong tourism demand, as well as the influx of workers, both Maltese and foreigners, into the labour market.” – Gordon Cordina DECEMBER 2016 / JANUARY 2017

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“I have my doubts about the attractiveness of a permanent building site, but having said that, more tourists are coming to Malta, although one also has to look at return rates and other factors,” he continues.

“Some form of development has to take place, but what I’m not seeing are plans.

For instance, the Paceville masterplan

put forward by Government doesn’t seem to be evidence-based, but rather based on a wish list to fulfil certain interests.

Whatever path governments take, one very important dimension is that policy-making is evidence-based. Are we sure that this level of development is sustainable? And in terms of sectors, such as tourism, are we sure that

this path will reap its dividends?”

Dr Cordina is in agreement, and adds that one main concern is that as a small economy, we can hardly afford mistakes in major investments. “It is essential to properly phase the sequence of supply with the development of demand, particularly in sectors which are especially prone to cycles including construction and real estate. The country also needs to face major demographic and environmental challenges in the years ahead, which will require significant public expenditure. It is thus essential to retain focus on efficiency in Government expenditure and on the collection of revenue due.”

The challenges the country faces, however, do not start and stop with the economy. One other challenge which seems to be on many a person’s mind is whether Malta’s economic growth is being reflected in social equity.

“The Paceville masterplan put forward by Government doesn’t seem to be evidence based, but rather based on a wish list to fulfil certain interests.” – Michael Briguglio 16

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“Certain political scandals which surfaced in recent months, such as the Panama Papers, are in a way symptomatic of this malaise in good governance.” – Michael Briguglio “On the contrary, I think there’s a growing divide between certain social categories.

In the last Budget, Government introduced some measures which can help tackle certain inequalities, however, other issues go beyond that. For instance, there’s no national debate about precarious employment. Precarious employment is very difficult to define, however, it appears that there are many workers, especially foreign workers, who are in unregulated sectors of the economy and exploited in a way which deserves to be addressed through policies.”

Dr Briguglio adds that there are also many regulated workers, including foreign workers, with very low wages who are experiencing increases in rent prices, and again, what Government did to address this in the Budget is not enough. “It appears that our policy making is very much based on the model that specific big players are allowed to develop in certain ways, and the Government believes that there will be a trickle-down effect – there needs to be a stronger social dimension in this approach. Having said that, reforms were introduced by Government in the past years, such as the tapering of benefits and active employment measures which do help empower certain categories to DECEMBER 2016 / JANUARY 2017

enter the world of employment. So it’s not a black or white situation.”

Notwithstanding the promising strides made in various areas of the country’s overall fiscal growth, there’s a discrepancy between that which is being achieved and that which is being reported in local and international media and surveys. For instance, last September, a VAT gap study funded by the European Commission – as part of its work to reform the VAT system in Europe and clamp down on tax fraud and evasion – found that 35 per cent of all expected VAT revenue in Malta went uncollected in 2014. Malta’s VAT gap, that is the difference between expected VAT revenue and the actual amount collected, was the third worst in the EU. In 2014, Malta lost out on €351 million in uncollected revenue.

Also, last October, the World Bank released its Ease of Doing Business rankings, in which Malta placed last among European Union member states, despite having climbed four places on a global level, from 80th place last year to 76th place this year. The second-worst EU country with which to do business, Greece, placed 15 spots higher than Malta on a global level, in 61st place. And the unsurprising cherry on the cake, Maltese roads ranked as the second worst in the whole EU, according to a European Commission survey published last October which measured performance in

key transport sectors. How do these kinds of statistics reflect on a country that can boast one of the best economies among the 28 EU member states?

“There are many ways of looking at these statistics, but I tend to associate all this with governance,” says Dr Briguglio.

“When a European Union country has such terrible roads, infrastructural issues and environmental issues, it’s not a coincidence. It seems that a lot of policies are tilted towards short-term economic growth, and there isn’t enough awareness on quality of life concerns. I would associate this with a lack of good governance, a lack of accountability, and a lack of truly independent authorities – various authorities are led by hand-picked political appointees, and while it’s acceptable to have people who are somewhat close to the Government heading authorities, they should be there on the basis of competence not on the basis of who they know.”

As a local councillor in Sliema, Dr Briguglio adds that he’s witnessed a general lack of accountability and enforcement first-hand, such as, for instance, in road construction. “Governance is about having evidence-based policy making, but also about having proper management, and Malta rates very poorly here. Unfortunately, certain political scandals which surfaced in recent months, such as the Panama Papers, are in a way symptomatic of this malaise in good governance.” cc

“The country also needs to face major demographic and environmental challenges in the years ahead, which will require significant public expenditure.” – Gordon Cordina

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Making Malta more competitive In view of a flourishing economy and positive outlook for the coming year, President of the Malta Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry Anton Borg says it’s no time to sit back and enjoy the ride. He chats to Martina Said about the 2017 Budget, the serious lack of available human resources on the island, as well as his priorities for his last few months as president.

I Photos by Alan Carville

n the run up to this year’s Budget speech, and well before it too, the Malta Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry repeatedly appealed to Government to enhance Malta’s competitiveness and seriously address factors that may hinder it, namely energy costs and an inadequate labour supply for businesses.

“Overall, there were a number of opportunities for Government to improve Malta’s competitiveness through this year’s Budget, but they weren’t taken up,” says Malta Chamber president Anton Borg. “We feel there was scope to reduce energy DECEMBER 2016 / JANUARY 2017

tariffs in particular, to reduce the cost burden currently faced by business operators, in order to give us a stronger competitive edge than the one we currently have.”

And while the 2017 Budget was hailed by Government as a social Budget, Mr Borg asserts that the introduction of excise tax on essential day-to-day products imposes higher costs on everyone, especially on the low-income earner. Additionally, it may impede companies’ cash flow and make it harder for them to compete with individuals or companies that use unorthodox measures of importation, potentially exacerbating the already existing problem of tax evasion.

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“Introducing a measure [to increase the minimum wage] that may have a domino effect on other wage levels will ultimately increase the entire wage bill and put us out of competition.”

“This was our very claim to Government in response to the introduction of excise duties. This measure helps those evading tax and increases the country’s tax leakage problem, while those who declare all their products and operate by the book are now placed in a less competitive position,” says Mr Borg. “We’ve been asking Government to address the issue of undeclared imports for a while, and even suggested a simple solution whereby all large vehicles, namely vans and trailers, are scanned upon entering the country. Every individual will be required to file a return on what was brought in within a stipulated time, and that is compared to the scan, highlighting discrepancies. The method is non-intrusive and will encourage people to declare.

Government, however, has not adopted our proposal.”

Mr Borg asserts that while a number of Budget measures were certainly positive – namely the reduction of tax from five per cent to 1.5 per cent on the transfer of family businesses – Government is banking on the fact that the economy is doing well. “Every wave must come down, and we’re currently riding the crest. Eventually, the economy will start to slow down, and we haven’t seen measures intended to prolong this wave. No measure was introduced that will impact the economy negatively either; but considering the country’s solid finances, we expected proposals that will improve Malta’s competitiveness overall.”

Despite this, however, it is no secret that businesses on the islands are doing well and in all sectors. For the first time in a considerably long time, Malta’s manufacturing industry recorded a growth in real terms during the first six months of 2016 over the previous years’ figures, according to the National Statistics Office (NSO).

“Growth in the manufacturing sector is very encouraging, and overall it is no perception that the country is doing well, positively reflected in the low levels of unemployment, for instance. However, there is a serious problem with finding the right workers, which is a primary concern for businesses looking to expand,” asserts Mr Borg.

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CC INTERVIEW “Until recently, the main obstacle for businesses was access to finance. This has been replaced by a lack of available human resources, and we should not underestimate just how serious this problem is. As a country, we have an opportunity to strengthen our industry, become more competitive and bring more work into Malta, but we are letting the opportunity pass us by and losing out in the process,” he explains.

“We should be incentivising and attracting foreigners into the national labour market, while making the process for them to obtain the required work and residency permits easier and more efficient.”

Pressure on wages is also resulting in added pressure on business operators.

While Mr Borg asserts that the issue of minimum wage is of concern to the Chamber as no individual should be living below the poverty line, surveys carried out among its members reveal that the vast majority of them do not employ workers with a minimum wage. “There are 3,700 people officially on minimum wage locally, and while we need to address certain sectors which are employing on minimum wage, we also need

DECEMBER 2016 / JANUARY 2017

to put things in perspective. Introducing a measure that may have a domino effect on other wage levels will ultimately increase the entire wage bill and put us out of competition.”

Meanwhile, 2016 might prove to be an exceptional year in terms of GDP growth – the first six months of the year are indicating a 4.1 per cent growth over the same period last year. “Last year’s growth of 6.3 per cent was already outstanding; however, a five per cent growth on top of that is certainly the envy of a lot of countries around us. Also, the country’s deficit now stands at 0.7 per cent, which means we almost have a balanced budget.”

Despite these healthy figures, Mr Borg asserts that there are exceptions. “In terms of expenditure, recurrent expenditure has gone up by €200 million, whereas capital expenditure – that is, money spent on the country’s infrastructure, for example – has gone down by €200 million, a worrying figure. To me, this shows that Government is not really investing in the future, but spending more money on running the country at present.”

“If companies struggle that much with setting up a business in Malta, yet we’re second in terms of economic growth, can you imagine what Malta’s growth would be like if we weren’t at the bottom of the list?”

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“Introducing the Chamber to younger generations is vital.”

Last October, the World Bank released its Ease of Doing Business rankings, in which Malta placed last among European Union member states, despite having climbed four places on a global level, from 80th place last year to 76th place this year. The secondworst EU country with which to do business, Greece, placed 15 spots higher than Malta on a global level, in 61st place. What does this say for Malta?

“We have an economy that is doing exceptionally well – would you expect us to be ranking so low in the ease of doing business? It’s surprising, especially when we have one of the best economies among the 28 member states. If companies struggle that much with setting up a business in Malta, yet we’re second in terms of economic growth, can you imagine what Malta’s growth would be like if we weren’t at the bottom of the list? It’s a pity to see these results, because investors will take a good look at these findings and question why on earth they should invest in the worst-ranking EU country.”

Mere months away from the end of his two-year term, the Chamber president looks back at a number of achievements over the course of his tenure. Trade Malta, which was established shortly before he took office and had been in the pipeline for a while, was the first Public Private Partnership (PPP) of its kind set up between the Chamber and Government, and has proven to be a success over the last year and a half. “The response we had was extremely positive. As a Chamber, we are very satisfied with what’s been done in this short period – there is certainly room for growth but it’s moving in the right direction.”

Education Malta, the second PPP between Chamber and Government, will be tapping into an entirely different sector and will no longer be under the remit of Trade Malta.

“However, it will have the same scope, that is, to attract international institutions to come to Malta, to help companies operating in Malta with a focus on education pursue internationalisation, to encourage 26

an exchange of tutors and students and facilitate this exchange, and to encourage more interaction between academia and industry. These are the key areas that Education Malta will be focusing on, while leaving the rest to Trade Malta. The rest excluding ICT that is, as ICT is the next PPP in the pipeline.”

Over the coming months, Mr Borg will also be looking to continue to attract young

members to join the Malta Chamber, while encouraging them to be active and involved.

“Introducing the Chamber to younger generations is vital. We don’t want them to become members for the numbers, or to lower the average age,” he jokes. “We have many bright, young people in Malta, and they should never be underestimated – they have a lot of ideas to bring to the table and we should capitalise on that.” cc DECEMBER 2016 / JANUARY 2017

CC INTERVIEW

Taking on the Presidency of the Union As Malta approaches its first Presidency of the European Council, Jo Caruana interviews Parliamentary Secretary for EU funds and the 2017 Presidency Ian Borg to determine what this role will mean for our island, as well as what it will determine for Europe.

Photos by Alan Carville

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his isn’t an easy time for the European Union. From the terrifying rise of far right parties to relationship challenges with the US, it is easily facing one of the most trying periods since it was set up.

From a local perspective, though, Europe is going strong. And, after 12 successful years of membership, Malta is getting ready to take on its most significant official role yet: the Presidency of the European Council.

DECEMBER 2016 / JANUARY 2017

“We are now ready to not only sit around the table and present Malta’s position but also to lead and give political direction,” says Dr Ian Borg, Parliamentary Secretary for EU funds and the 2017 Presidency. “We have some excellent stories to tell about our economy and the performance of employability for instance, as well as on issues like migration. On the latter point in particular we have expressed solidarity for the last decade and, for several years, on

our own; now it’s at the top of the EU agenda and our input is crucial.”

Minister Borg believes that Maltese businesses, families and consumers have all benefited tangibly from EU membership.

“The single market has been very advantageous for Malta and opportunities are now right for us to preside over the Council and to ensure its completion, as there are still lots of legislative proposals needed to ensure its completion.

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“Both the single market and the energy union will feature prominently on our agenda in the coming months. Similarly, we would very much like to eliminate issues like geo-blocking (the use of certain online services in particular member states and not others) which is unacceptable and discriminatory.”

The Minister also highlights measures that have been in discussion for several years but which now need to be acted upon to make a difference to the lives of both Maltese and Europeans. “For instance, we hope to get rid of mobile roaming charges once and for all, as this is something that’s important for our citizens. Above all else, we need to help people understand that the Union is still relevant for them, and what it is doing for them.”

He also highlights our need to associate with our immediate region, namely southern Europe and the Mediterranean. “Often we speak of the region we live in when it comes to political conflicts, terrorist attacks and issues like migration. However, during this Presidency it is also crucial that we encourage an open and ongoing discussion with our friends in the north of Africa and especially in Libya. We need to incite communication within Libya, so that the citizens can decide what sort of country and democratic institutions they would like to see, so that we can be there ready to support them in achieving that – something that, in hindsight, the international community did not do well in 2011. We have to build on some of the successes we did see emerge from the Arab Spring, namely in Tunisia, and work for further positive results.”

Of course, it is also expected that our current political circumstances will weigh heavily on Malta’s Presidency. “We will certainly be waiting for British Prime Minster Theresa May’s letter of notification triggering Article 50, and expect this to reach us right in the middle of the Presidency at the end of March,” the Minister continues. “We must handle those negotiations effectively for the EU, while also ensuring a fair deal for the UK. Britain is, after all, a country that will remain an important ally for the Union and Malta, and that needs to be addressed. Nevertheless, we now need to focus on conserving the EU project as a whole and protecting the remaining EU27. Thus, the new relationship of the UK with the EU should not be more attractive than membership itself, as this will only lead to others choosing to exit.

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“Above all else, we need to help people understand that the Union is still relevant for them, and what it is doing for them.”

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CC INTERVIEW

“With that in mind, the Union definitely needs to keep growing not shrinking, which is why I am worried about the rise of the far right in places like France, Hungary and possibly Denmark. Thus, this is the EU’s time to deliver. It is no coincidence that our Presidency will mark the 60th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome. It will give us the opportunity to reflect on the fact that Europe has been a peaceful continent for 60 years – something that should not be taken for granted.

“Thankfully, in Malta, 82 per cent of the

DECEMBER 2016 / JANUARY 2017

population now supports membership but, in other parts, many are starting to question it and that’s alarming. European citizens want to know why it takes so long for something to be decided upon in Brussels, and then even longer to be actioned. The only way to rebut that is to work hard and to regain trust, and we hope to achieve that during our Presidency. On top of that, we also look forward to working closely with the new US administration in the White House and to building upon the existing relationship between the States and the EU.”

“The 60th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome will give us the opportunity to reflect on the fact that Europe has been a peaceful continent for 60 years – something that should not be taken for granted.”

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“Now, 12 years after our citizens took the excellent decision to join Europe, it is time for us to give back and to keep building a Union that will benefit all European citizens in the years to come.”

So while Brexit and the Trump administration will no doubt dominate the media, Minister Borg hopes to keep the focus on other legitimate aspects of the Presidency, including social inclusion, maritime opportunities and key legislation, “because that is what our citizens want us to focus on and we owe them that,” he says.

Minister Borg also believes local citizens have a number of key worries that he hopes to allay, including what the Union is doing to counter possible terrorist attacks.

“Regional conflicts are also a major concern,” he continues, “and we want to be able to discuss these issues and provide answers.”

However, in spite of the clear indications that the next few months will be turbulent for the EU, Minister Borg is confident that Malta will rise to the challenge during the Presidency and make a difference to Europe’s future. “Failure is not an option.

We have put a fantastic team together, locally, in Brussels and in our multilateral embassies, and have carried out the necessary capacity building exercises needed to boost the other connected departments. We know what we want to achieve and we are ready to go the extra mile to make this a success.”

Finally, looking to the future for Malta and the EU, the minister believes this is definitely the right time for us to lead.

“This Presidency will no doubt give Malta the chance to shine. I believe it will shed new light on our ability to be honest brokers round the table in Brussels in the future too. Now, 12 years after our citizens took the excellent decision to join Europe, it is time for us to give back and to keep building a Union that will benefit all European citizens in the years to come,” Minister Borg concludes. cc 34

DECEMBER 2016 / JANUARY 2017

CC in figures

IN Figures

Malta and the EU

58%

of Maltese feel that Malta’s membership within the EU is a good thing, above the EU28 average of 53 per cent

84%

33%

of Maltese believe the EU contributes to economic growth in Malta, slightly lower than the EU28 average of 35 per cent

30%

58%

of Maltese believe tackling poverty and social exclusion should be a policy priority for the EU, followed by immigration policy (48 per cent)

33%

of Maltese think Malta’s standard of living has improved as a result of EU membership, higher than the EU28 average of 19 per cent

of Maltese prioritise the importance of solidarity between the EU and poor countries, more than those who believe in solidarity between member states (21 per cent)

88%

69%

31%

of Maltese would like the European Parliament to play a more important role than it currently does, above the EU28 average of 46 per cent

of Maltese want the EU to focus more on combating climate change, above the EU28 average of 23 per cent

45%

54%

7%

of Maltese believe the EU brings new job opportunities to Malta, above the EU28 average of 30 per cent

of Maltese believe protecting human rights should be the EU’s foremost priority, slightly lower than the EU28 average of 57 per cent

of Maltese feel strongly about a research and development (R&D) policy that ensures competitiveness and innovation, lower than the EU28 average of 13 per cent

Source: Malta International Airport DECEMBER 2016 / JANUARY 2017

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Source: Gozo In Figures, National Statistics Office, Malta

of Maltese agree that what brings citizens of different member states together is more important than what separates them

Source: Eurobarometer ‘Parlemeter’ poll, 2016

of Maltese believe Malta has benefitted from being a member of the EU, above the EU28 average of 60 per cent

CC PROPERTY

A holistic approach We all know it’s better not to go it alone – and that’s exactly the approach that RE/MAX Malta is taking by creating alliances with key market professionals, including MAX Insurance Brokers.

Here CEO Kevin Buttigieg tells Jo Caruana why the company has taken this approach.

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hen it comes to something as important and mammoth as buying property, it helps to have as many experts on your side as possible.

One company that knows that only too well is RE/MAX, where the directors have chosen to take steps to form an alliance with key partners and to provide their customers with a holistic approach that truly benefits them.

When it comes to its vendors specifically, RE/MAX Malta strives to go the extra mile by giving them access to an unparalleled range of services and options. Beyond that, there are also a number of niche services that the company offers, to ensure that each property is highlighted to a particular market.

RE/MAX has four distinct programmes beyond its base services, each of which is tailored to the needs of particular clients.

For instance, the Exclusive programme targets sellers who put their property on the market with RE/MAX exclusively for a term of six months. “We achieve success in this respect by providing all the marketing opportunities possible to promote these exclusive properties,” says RE/MAX CEO Kevin Buttigieg. “Our tailored programme starts with professional staging and photography, as well as the use of an interior designer who may also create 3D renderings to fully showcase the potential of your property in the future.”

The next programme is the RE/MAX Collection, a sub-brand that collates luxury property and appoints agents that are specialised in this area. “We even have a dedicated website for this niche market, and give our agents special training to enable them to excel in terms of the knowledge they have and the customer service an affluent client should receive,” Kevin continues.

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Commercial property is also given its niche, and RE/MAX offers another sub-brand that focuses on it specifically. “Commercial property cannot be dealt with in the same way as residential property because there are a number of very particular aspects to it, like relocation services, funding services, insurance and business licenses. So, we also have agents specialised in this area that are trained and licenced by RE/MAX to operate in this particular field.”

Finally, the company recently introduced its Auctions, which provides a completely different customer process that’s more focused on the experience. “After all, property buying should be fun, and this is where the dedicated auctions team comes in,” Kevin says with a smile.

Beyond that, though, RE/MAX also offers a range of specialised products that help the company to distinguish itself from its competitors. As a result, the agency has established key partnerships with complementary businesses that enable it to provide an ever-more holistic service to its customers and to make the buying/selling process that little bit smoother.

“One such partnership is with MAX Insurance Brokers, an insurance broker,” Kevin goes on to say. “We created this alliance because we don’t believe our clients should be abandoned when a property reaches the promise of sale stage; they should not be left to find compulsory insurance on their own. On the contrary, this extended service will help to complete the sale in the smoothest manner possible.”

He explains that, because MAX Insurance is a broker, it isn’t tied to any major insurance company. The company, which is headed

by James Mizzi – a licensed broker with 25 years’ experience in the field – is also an expert when it comes to Insurance Policy identification, and especially when it comes

“Our set up allows us to provide a prompt service to RE/MAX Clients, thus achieving the best possible results in the least possible time.”

DECEMBER 2016 / JANUARY 2017

CC PROPERTY

to business transactions. “James and his team will identify the right policies according to legal requirements but always in the interest of the client,” the CEO says.

Thus, MAX Insurance’s role is to search for quotes on the customer’s behalf and to secure the best price possible for their insurance services. “Of course, the lowest price isn’t always the guarantee of the best insurance policy,” Kevin says.

“They can compare quotes and find the best value option based on the clauses of the policy, as well as its price. They can also assist the client when it comes to taking the right decision on the customisation of the policy, as you may find you’re paying much less in terms DECEMBER 2016 / JANUARY 2017

of monetary value but your coverage will be much less than other policies that request higher premium value.”

Beyond that, Kevin explains that MAX Insurance may negotiate better prices than an individual may attain on their own. Plus, buyers who have purchased through RE/ MAX are provided their due importance in terms of service and lead times for a quote.

“Our set up allows us to provide a prompt service to RE/MAX Clients, thus achieving the best possible results in the least possible time.”

For RE/MAX, the MAX Insurance partnership serves to underline its ethos of always finding more ways to elevate the

service given to their customers. “We are a dynamic business and we believe that these alliances ultimately benefit our customers. We have placed this kind of innovation at the very forefront of our goals and believe that this is not only achieved through technological investment, but by providing extended value to our customers that they would not get from other real estate agencies.

“At RE/MAX, we truly believe that we sell properties better by using our expertise in the area, and magnifying it by bringing in other experts to handle the areas we are not as proficient in. It is our goal to make alliances with the very best people in the market, to the benefit of our customers,” Kevin concludes. cc 39

CC CASE STUDY

Employee perks and rewards Finding good, hard-working and reliable employees is tough enough, but retaining them in a competitive job market is even harder. Nicholas Ponniah, the founder of CorporateVIP, tells Marie-Claire Grima how the company helps other firms create incentives, motivations and a healthy work-life balance for their staff.

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community – an emerging market which has seen a number of companies with a skilled and talented workforce crop up in the past few years.”

When a company signs up with Corporate VIP, each employee registered with the scheme gets a company-branded membership card and access to the online platform, which is divided into three separate portals, namely local offers, cashback shopping, and travel. With local offers, members benefit from privileged prices and preferred rates from over 220 local merchants within several categories ranging from health and fitness, restaurants and cafés, shopping, personal services and more.

Meanwhile, the cashback shopping portal allows each member to get cash rewards every time they shop at one of CorporateVIP’s 1,600 online merchant partners. “Cashback ranges from one per cent to 50 per cent depending on the merchant,” Nick explains. “We have relationships with brands that our members know and love such as booking.com, Ali Express, Microsoft, Sports Direct and many more.”

The third portal is focused on travel, allowing members to access exclusive flight, car rental and hotel discounts across hundreds of brands in numerous countries. The perks don’t expire and can be used repeatedly.

CorporateVIP is now in the stages of planning its fourth portal – on-site services. “Many of the employees who work long hours find it hard to make time to run simple errands or do things for themselves, whether that’s getting a haircut, changing the oil in their car, or treating themselves to a massage, so the plan is to bring these services to them,” says Nick. “Companies which can offer efficient on-site services to their employees will see improved productivity, job

Photos by Alan Carville

ith around 72,000 registered companies in Malta, ranging from small firms to big branches of international conglomerates, finding good employees and keeping them happy has become more of a challenge than ever before.

Competition is relentless and investing time and money on training people, only to have them leave for more attractive prospects within a matter of weeks or months is a huge drain on valuable resources. As a result, many companies have started focusing more on what they can do for employees to keep them happy, help them manage their work-life balance, and allow them to do more with the money that they earn at the end of the month.

Having witnessed the rise of ‘employee perks’ all around the world, Nicholas Ponniah realised that the time was ripe to develop CorporateVIP, a local rewards and benefits platform that would improve work-life balance, increase productivity, and attract and retain the best people. “I noticed the trend in employee rewards and benefits platforms when working for companies like Yahoo Australia, and start-ups in Singapore and the UK. Employee rewards and incentives are now a staple in the workplace as more companies embrace the reward culture attitude to employee engagement, retention and recognition.

“Having been in Malta for two years and seeing many new international companies opening offices here, I started to think about how a rewards and benefits platform could impact the workplace and give an additional tool for CEOs and Human Resource managers to reward and recognise their teams,” Nick says.

“Malta was ideal as a test platform, to prove that the concept can work within a smaller

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DECEMBER 2016 / JANUARY 2017

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“The key to a successful company is a happy workforce. And what makes people happy is a culture that recognises and thanks them for being part of a team.”

DECEMBER 2016 / JANUARY 2017

satisfaction and staff retention.”

Nick says that the main challenge in setting up CorporateVIP in Malta was getting in front of the decision makers to explain all the benefits of the platform and promote the reward culture the company is trying to create. “The price of membership costs between €1 to €5 per employee each month. We can service companies with as few as five employees to larger companies with more than a thousand, with a tiered pricing model that makes it affordable in every case. But while employee motivation and awards are widespread concepts overseas, they have been slow to reach Malta, perhaps because there has not been a solution like ours until now. We know employers want a solution because we have been doing extensive research and the feedback has been very positive. The more appreciated an employee feels, the more likely they are to stay at their job. Most of the time when people are feeling disengaged, it’s because they feel their manager or the company doesn’t appreciate them, and services like ours go a long way towards easing that feeling.”

“Furthermore, companies may think that they can negotiate their own deals with local and international vendors, as companies like Google and IBM do – however, not every company is a Google or an IBM, and has the resources to administer such a scheme. We provide a valuable service – and economy of scale – for everyone else.” Among its clients, CorporateVIP now counts companies in both the private and public sector, including MITA, FIMBank, Air Malta, Betsson Group and many more. And while its main focus is on companies, CorporateVIP has also been adopted by some firms seeking to create an easy and efficient rewards system for loyal customers and premium members.

Encouraged by the success of the company in Malta, CorporateVIP has set up its second office in another emerging market – Belgrade, Serbia, with Tallinn in Estonia opening in the new year. “We’d like to target different cities rather than entire countries, and now that we have a base in the Balkan and Nordic territories we can explore new opportunities in that part of Europe. In the meantime, we would also like to continue servicing our current clients in Malta and building an even broader client base while providing the same tailored services we have offered so far,” Nick concludes. “The key to a successful company is a happy workforce.

And what makes people happy is a culture that recognises and thanks them for being part of a team.” cc 41

CC business

Fast forward As we turn the page over to 2017, seven industry players share their thoughts with Marie-Claire Grima on what the new year might herald for their business, as well as the sectors within which they operate as a whole.

Dr Pierre Vassallo

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Patrick Tabone

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Charles Attard

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DECEMBER 2016 / JANUARY 2017

Matthew Spiteri

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Sarah Gauci Carlton

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Jimmy Cutajar

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Neville Cutajar

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Dr Pierre Vassallo Managing Director, DaVinci Health “Malta has made great strides forward in the development of its medical sector. These strides began and were driven by the return of many Maltese medical specialists to Malta, which started in the early mid 90s and continues unabated till today. This return of professionals and intellect brought with it expert knowledge and a fresh workforce that our medical system badly needed to mature and refine to the level that it has reached today.

“In 2017, we are nearing a threshold in the development of our medical sector that is levelling out on par with the best tertiary referral centres in the developed world.

Although the speed of our progress will appear to be slowing down, this gives us time to refine the management of our services to improve our efficiency and to enhance the overall experience of our patients.

“The outlook for the Maltese medical industry is good because of the increasing demands for medical services both in volume

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and complexity. The same situation is occurring worldwide.

“Our priorities at DaVinci for 2017 are to review and restructure our workflow processes and our buildings so as to fine-tune the way in which we deliver our services. The competition we experience from both Government and the private sector has never been greater. We need to review what we do well to reduce costs and maximise patient satisfaction.

“Malta’s relatively small size is a major limitation when considering investment in the medical sector. We need to seize opportunities arising from overseas markets to fully justify even the present investment.

The current situation with international security is not helping this sector of our market. However, we hope and expect that when the dust settles, we will be able to benefit from opportunities arising from the rebuilding and restructuring of our neighbouring countries.”

DECEMBER 2016 / JANUARY 2017

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Matthew Spiteri Managing Director, Altern “As we approach 2020, Malta’s renewable targets set up by the EU become ever more important. The Maltese Government has just issued the new National Renewable Energy Action Plan (NREAP), which sets the trajectory of renewables for the coming years, and it is clear that solar and energy-efficient technologies will play a critical role within our island. As we move towards utilising cleaner sources of energy, companies such as Altern will play a pro-active role in achieving the country’s objectives.

“From a local perspective, Malta’s micromarket remains the biggest hurdle in rolling out technologies across the industries, primarily due to economies of scale. As a company, we have embraced this challenge by offering flexible and innovative solutions that have reasonable return on investments, guaranteeing renewable energy uptake. Our holistic approach towards sustainability helps us tackle organisational energy footprints effectively, ensuring the best path towards

net carbon neutral buildings, through technological implementation, project financing, as well as a paradigm shift in one’s frame of mind.

“As a company, we strive to offer the best value for money through professional services and high-quality products, and this remains our top priority. Photovoltaic is an important local business, yet the potential in energy-efficient solutions such as LED lighting and Combined Heat and Power (CHP) has become equally significant. Our locally-manufactured LED lighting puts us in a unique position to offer custom-built systems which have become bestsellers – efficient as well as aesthetically pleasing. In the past years, Altern has worked extensively on setting up financial structures that can aid renewable energy uptake effectively.

The team has been working hard together with our partners and this is set to increase further in the coming year, with new project financing models being made available to companies and members of the public.”

Patrick Tabone Managing Director, Sigma Coatings “In the decorative home paints market, consumers are becoming more and more discerning and demanding – they know that when it comes to painting a house, a quality product will more than pay for itself. This is obviously good news for a premium brand like Sigma Coatings. Our marine business remains strong, and we expect further growth too in the protective coatings market – technical paints, coatings and linings for industry. This is an area, too, where our corporate customers are appreciating ever more the fact that the right coatings can protect their investments effectively, and positively impact their quality. Therefore, overall, we are expecting another year of solid growth, and have been gearing ourselves up accordingly.

“Three years ago, we set ourselves some ambitious targets in terms of quality and growth. We have invested heavily in our production capacity, quality processes, and health and safety, and 2017 should see the successful completion of several of these projects. Beyond this, a number of factors have meant that increased demand for our products might be our greatest Photos by Inigo Taylo challenge next year. With the investments DECEMBER 2016 / JANUARY 2017

and improvements that we have made, I’m confident that we will be equal to the challenge.

“We produce and distribute most of our products under license to PPG – the world’s largest paints and coatings company. Our range of products is already an extremely wide one, but we are working with PPG to

increase that range and to increase local production even further. Obviously, that means a process of constant auditing and quality assurance, but that is something we are used to. We have been ISO-certified for more than 10 years now, and the focus on quality is something that keeps us performing at our best. I’m convinced that it has been the consistently high performance of our products, together with high standards of service, which have allowed us to win a progressively large share of the local market. The future is bright – and we’ll help to paint it!”

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Jimmy Cutajar Managing Director, Global Freight Solutions “The Maltese logistics sector has unfortunately been neglected for many years. Evaluation of the current trends shows that there is a dwindling negative trade performance. Continued trade deficits show us that the trend is still ongoing, and far from reaching the desired positive objectives.

“In my view, we have to evaluate Malta’s weaknesses such as under-qualified workforce in the logistics sector, lack of guidelines on how processes are further smoothened to encourage use of European procedures which will cut down on costs, especially within the Free Trade Zone (FTZ) and restructuring of terminal operator charges, specifically for cargo that is in transhipment which arrives in one port, and exits from another.

“GFS’ outlook for 2017 is quite positive.

We are looking forward to enhancing our ability by supporting the Government’s view in recognising the need to implement developments such as the Hal Far Complex.

It will be a challenging year, since the desire for growth is unprecedented; however we cannot achieve such a feat without

the required help of the authorities, since Maltese logistics operators are losing a lot of cargo routing due to the high charges our esteemed clients are requested to pay by the port operators. One has to bear in mind that Malta is an island and in order to achieve competitiveness to attract such FTZ transactions handling costs, customs formalities and bureaucracy have to be drastically reduced. We will also persevere by exploring niches beyond the local market, promoting Malta as a logistics hub and trying to attract more logistical solutions via our island.

“GFS is continuously investing in its infrastructure, development of IT systems, modus operandi, and implementation of ISO standards, together with the continuous agreement with reliable worldwide partners, thus enabling the company to offer tailor-made services to its clients.

Continued development of the company’s structure enables GFS to offer more options, competitive pricing and reliability, and the company’s vision is to keep developing and sustaining growth within our shores and beyond.”

Neville Cutajar Managing Director, 3a Malta “Malta’s financial services sector continued to expand during the past year, increasing its contribution and significance to the economy. Although there is potential and belief that this sector will continue its growth in 2017, there are also challenges that we need to counter to continue to attain the level of growth to which we have become accustomed in this industry.

“These challenges are related to regulatory changes, as well as international developments, such as Brexit. Additionally, there are also internal considerations such as ensuring that we find solutions to delays in the administrative processes undertaken by the relevant regulatory authorities, as well as improving the efficiency in processing and granting of new licenses.

“3a’s business is in value-building whilst conducting its business of maximising

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returns on the investment decisions being made by its clients. This will remain relevant as well as our focus to continue to expand the 3a brand internationally.

Doing business is becoming more complex due to regulatory, technological and logistical changes occurring more quickly and therefore this is an opportunity to continue to assist our clients in these dimensions. We are today in a position to offer more than the traditional services clients used to request and we are focused on giving clients a more holistic service package. Clients are therefore becoming more demanding of specialist knowledge but at the same time yearn for an ongoing professional business relationship. 3a’s approach to dealing with clients enables us to strike a balance between both these pressing needs.”

DECEMBER 2016 / JANUARY 2017

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Charles Attard Owner, Juanafil Consultants “Currently, the demand for human resources is high, while the supply is very low. Malta seems to be importing both skilled and unskilled workers, and local firms are providing the necessary training. At Juanafil Consultants, our specialty is head hunting.

We also excel in business management, company formation, administration, consultancy, secretarial, book-keeping and payroll, and we are involved in the call for applications for new jobs, shortlisting candidates and interviewing and recruiting workers for our customers, besides completing all statutory paperwork for the registration of employees and their monthly payroll.

“Our challenges are purely commercial.

Like any other business, we continually find difficulty in delivering the impeccable service

at the least cost possible. Ascertaining the cash flow is not easy either since local banks are not helping at all. We are successfully surfing on the idea of resource-sharing between companies within the Juanafil Group and other commercial collaborators.

This idea of resource-sharing is picking up very well and we are now implementing this with our clients.

“Our priority for 2017 remains that of living our motto: ‘The prestige lies in our clientele’. Already with a hefty client base, we value our success and look forward to continuous modest growth for all the companies within the Juanafil Group. We will be focusing on existing clients that share our growth experience, new start-ups requiring our expertise and foreigners wanting to invest in Malta.”

Sarah Gauci Carlton Commercial Manager, Creek Developments “Malta’s maritime sector, particularly the Malta flag, has been held in high regard for many years, but until recently the yachting sector suffered from an insufficient supply of high-quality berths. Over the past few years this has been changing, as the privatisation, renovation and development of marinas in an increasingly competitive local environment has driven up standards and increased the numbers of berths, such that Malta now boasts a number of world-class marinas for yachts and superyachts, and is firmly established as a yachting hub. Government policies to encourage the sector have also resulted in growth of the yachting services sector, from yacht yards to surveyors, chartering, brokerage and registration.

“The outlook for the industry in the year ahead is positive; the efforts of the past few years have placed Malta in a prime position to reap the rewards of this investment and capitalise on the central location, kind climate and stable political economy.

Moreover, incentives to attract high-networth individuals to settle and invest in Malta have bolstered the local yachting sector.

“In 2017, a new luxury marina will begin operating just outside the Msida and Ta’ DECEMBER 2016 / JANUARY 2017

Xbiex Marina. Creek Developments is very confident of the quality and standards of the shelter, service and facilities we offer, and believe that the presence of another high-quality marina nearby is more of an opportunity than a challenge, as it shines a spotlight on the locality and creates a hub. Moreover, a major challenge for any company operating when conditions are easy is to avoid complacency. The close presence of a worthy competitor nearby forces honest reflection and efforts to reach ever higher standards, which is excellent news for our customers, healthy for Creek Developments Plc, and over the long-term, beneficial to Malta’s yachting sector.

“Creek’s priority in 2017 and all the years to follow will be to ensure that we meet and exceed our customers’ expectations of quality of service and facilities, anticipate the demands of the market, and after years of continuous innovation, seek exposure to a wider market. It should not be forgotten that many neighbouring countries are currently passing through difficult periods to the detriment of their yachting sectors; we should expect that when they recover they will be looking to regain the lost market

share, hence the Maltese yachting industry in general must take full advantage of the current boom to develop uniform excellence at competitive prices and ensure that success is sustainable long-term.” cc 51

Seasonal style

70s inspired suits, shimmery metallic colours and feminine pleats abound this season, promising chic silhouettes for the festive season and beyond.

Martina Said picks her favourite winter fashion trends.

01. Military chic The classic military style made a comeback in women’s ready-to-wear collections – from long coats, short jackets and knit dresses revamped with bows, pompoms and oriental prints to classic structured styles using wool and leather, this is a winter must-have.

STYLE

REVIEW

05. 70s style While some designers threw a number of original 70s trends into their 2016/17 collections, others re-interpreted them with modern twists – such as Joseph Abboud’s collection, with subtle fits and flares, vintage buttons, various styles of tweed and distressed wools.

01.

06. Shine and shimmer From metallic tones to hints of glitter, sparkles and studs, if there’s any time of year to bag yourself a flashy pair of shoes, it’s now. Look out for pairs in suede, with straps and chunky buckles for an on-trend winter 2017 look. cc

02. The biker jacket Equally timeless is the biker jacket, which ruled the runways in black and brown leather. Accessorised with buckles, zips, studs and even vintage jewellery, for men and women alike, this punk-inspired number is suitable for office wear, evening wear and any occasion under the sun.

05.

Joseph Abboud

03. Floaty pleats

Burberry

From Céline to Valentino, feminine pleats proved popular among a crop of top designers, featured in skirts and dresses in the softest and most elegant of colours, including beiges, nudes and blush.

02.

04. Sky blue Despite evoking a springtime feel, sky blue is proving to be a popular colour this winter, particularly in men’s coats and sweaters, marking a refreshing change from darker, wintrier shades of blue.

The versatile colour pairs particularly well with beige, tan, grey and rust.

Givenchy

Jimmy Choo

06.

Savile Rogue

04.

Zara

DECEMBER 2016 / JANUARY 2017

03.

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CC TECHNOLOGY

DataByte celebrates its 30th anniversary with WORKFORCE™ Maltese IT Company DataByte is celebrating its 30th anniversary as an IT solutions provider with the launch of its latest product WORKFORCE™, a fully integrated suite of HR software systems built on a robust cloud infrastructure.

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ataByte has built itself a reputation over the last 30 years, one that is primarily built on guaranteeing its full commitment to all its clients for its software projects. During these years, the company has worked with quite a vast range of clients from various private and public sectors both locally and abroad, and each of these customers presented their own particular requirements. This drove DataByte to deliver high-end solutions that are efficient and effective. Since its inception 30 years ago, the company always gave maximum attention to its clients, so much so that this trait has long become the hallmark of DataByte’s own quality charter.

Co-founder and managing director Frederick Micallef explains that over the past 30 years, DataByte has been exposed to a wide range of hardware, software and communications technology generations, from the very early legacy systems on very basic standalone and simple networks on narrow bandwidth to present day complex cloud infrastructures on high bandwidth, and can offer and support technology-driven solutions that optimise the very latest offerings to benefit its clients. IT risks have unfortunately also exploded at more or less the same rate, and the awareness of such risks needs to come very much at play.

Director Dr Kevin Camilleri asserts that the investment in more recent years in cloud

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infrastructure has prepared DataByte with some solid software products to offer locally and online, to help propel the company through the challenges of the coming years. This investment in technology and up-to-date knowledge profile comes also with continuous investment in R&D, and is topped with a young team of software engineers who import their own knowledge and aptitudes to satisfy the requirements of the company’s clients. “This combination of business experience and exposure, R&D, technology awareness and HR gives us the key to put us right there as software supplier of your choice,” adds Dr Camilleri.

Both directors exhibit a very strong sense of excitement and preparedness for the future and the challenges that will come their way.

Cloud technologies DataByte has re-invented itself a few times over its business life cycle. Five years ago, when cloud technology was at its inception, the company started to steer itself on the course to further develop its service offering through a cloud infrastructure. Shifting one’s technology base does not come easy but the company’s focused strategy, resource commitment and R&D were clearly aimed in this direction. Earlier this year, the company launched Fusion, its own robust cloud-based Internet platform on which it is delivering its first cloud-based solution in the form of

a suite of software products specifically focusing on the HR management function.

Enter WORKFORCE™!

WORKFORCE™ provides a fully integrated solution where the wide range of DataByte’s HR solutions and modules integrate seamlessly with no need for any interfacing or middleware. This product has been developed from the ground up on the basis of a very strong market requirement for its operational functionality. The software integrates all DataByte’s HR modules for improved client benefit and efficiency. The various updated HR modules offered through this clouded solution operate on a common HR database layer and the knowledge base of each module is also fully shared within other related modules within WORKFORCE™. By way of example, a person who is registered as being on leave will be automatically alerted when he tries to ‘punch in’ for work or post a time sheet for the day. Scheduling a job for an officer towards a client project in the Rostering and Scheduling system will highlight the fact that that person is possibly terminated on the date through a payroll function. This is the degree of integration that WORKFORCE™ provides. Mr Micallef says, “although many companies have diverse HR modules to cater for their needs, these are most likely provided by different suppliers, and this degree of integration is very often missing and difficult to achieve. This will be a driving force in placing WORKFORCE™ on the market both locally and abroad.”

DECEMBER 2016 / JANUARY 2017

CC TECHNOLOGY tenant (client) that is typically charged on a per user basis. WORKFORCE™ is also planned to have a dashboard style BI layer and is also covered by very good audit trail functions.

WORKFORCE ™ The full suite of WORKFORCE™ will build up to include Leave Management, Visitors Registration, Payroll, Time and Attendance, Rostering and Scheduling, Time Sheet Management, Extended HR Database and Performance Appraisal. The good aspect of WORKFORCE™ is that it will support even more modules, which can be built and added to the suite to meet the company’s clients’ needs. Dr Camilleri says, “there is a steady stream of valid client recommendations for system add-ons. This is a very healthy measure of our product launch success and gives us a strong stimulus to commit further into our project.”

The advantages of WORKFORCE™ lie in the fact that besides having full and seamless integration, the HR modules made available to clients are on a pick and choose option from the full suite. One company may opt only to have the Leave Management System while another may integrate Leave Management, Payroll, Time and Attendance and, say, the Rostering and Scheduling function according to its needs. Besides the modules themselves, advantages are also drawn by the fact that there is simply no need for any capital expenditure by clients to support the system infrastructure as well as there being no need for any support teams and backups.

Infrastructure costs are kept to an absolute minimum as no servers, operating systems, backups and disaster recovery infrastructure are required. Only devices (PCs, laptops, tablets and smartphones) DECEMBER 2016 / JANUARY 2017

connected to the Internet and users drive the system. The solution is pure Software as a Service (SaaS) based. The only charge comes from the annual software license that is applicable for as long as the company decides to use the module(s) it requires.

Apart from this, the way the product is deployed allows for a cost of ownership, which is only set by the fee required by each

Secure environment Cloud-based products require security, availability and the integrity of the data set out on the cloud. When one is made aware of the strict enforcement of the very rigid policies that secure cloud infrastructure that supports systems similar to any cloud backbone, there is hardly any room to question the reliability and the security of such set-ups. Only a very small percentage of infrastructure set-ups in most of the even larger organisations get anywhere close to the security and robustness that serious cloud service offerings provide. FUSION™ offers a robust platform on the cloud infrastructure so that cloud-based products like WORKFORCE™ are secure and robust.

The confidence of the environment that is offered is based on information security, availability and integrity to as close as 100 per cent as is technically possible by the service provider of our choice with world class system integrity. This is ensured thanks to our provider’s total integration of teams of infrastructure, operating systems, database, Disaster Recovery, security and Business Continuity experts who support the system on wide area replicated networks that are geographically separated to secure maximum availability and up time. cc DataByte is currently promoting the WORKFORCE suite and you may be their next visit. Call them on T: 23456 300 or send an email to E: info@databyte.com.mt.

(l-r) Kevin Camilleri – Director, Frederick Micallef – Co-founder & Managing Director, Kenneth De Martino – Chairman, and Joe Ross – Co-founder & Board member

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CC make the headlines

Inherited a property?

Do you want to sell, but it’s too complicated?

Selling an immovable asset can sometimes be incredibly time-consuming and also very sensitive, especially when other family members are involved.

In past years, when selling became a dispute, the law from our Civil Code stated that 10 years of co-ownership through inheritance must have elapsed before filing any court action. However, in 2015, the timeframe was reduced to three years; Article 495A from our Civil Code gives majority heirs of an estate a final option should an agreement for the sale of an immovable asset not be made. It states the following in the first extract: “495A (1) Except in cases of condominium or necessary community of property, where co-ownership has lasted for more than three years and none of the owners has instituted an action before a court or other tribunal for the partition of the property held in common, and the co-owners fail to agree with regard to the sale of any particular property, the court shall if it is satisfied that none of the dissident co-owners are seriously prejudiced thereby, authorise the sale in accordance with the wish of the majority of co-owners regard being had to the value of the shares held by each co-owner.�

Within the local real estate industry, a large portion of real estate is co-owned by large families which in some cases has left properties abandoned and dilapidated for more than 20 years. We believe these beautiful properties need action so that they can once again become homes. As a company in recent years we have taken interest and dedicated much of our time to solving a number of these disputes, and with the aid of our in-house legal team and professional advisors from different industries around the island, we have manged to reach positive conclusions for our clients. cc For more details or information do not hesitate to contact us. www.evsaragrech.com

DECEMBER 2016 / JANUARY 2017

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NEWS Events & Initiatives

01. Budget 2017 – Live updates and reactions The Malta Chamber broke new ground on Budget day, providing its members with minute-by-minute updates and live reactions to the Budget 2017 speech as it was being read out by the Minister of Finance on Monday 17th October.

The detailed coverage of the Budget speech followed in the Chamber’s tradition to provide its members and the public with reliable and accurate reporting on Budget day.

Chamber staff updated www. maltachamber.org.mt with the latest measures and incentives being announced, as well as with the immediate reactions of the Malta Chamber to relevant issues.

Immediately following the termination of the Budget speech, Malta Chamber members exclusively received a summary of the Budget 2017, compiled by the Chamber in collaboration with Gold Partner RSM Malta Ltd. The Chamber also issued its official preliminary reaction to the Budget to the media.

02. Chamber welcomes tax evasion unit

the importance of the Chamber’s arguments and have set up a unit that will target tax evasion,” a statement said.

The Chamber welcomed this development and offered Government all the help at its disposal for this project to be a successful one.

03. Chamber shines a light on access to finance Access to finance remains one of the most significant obstacles for the growth of companies. During such times of economic prosperity, many seek to expand, modernise or diversify their operations, yet are faced with numerous difficulties to secure capital from commercial banks and other sources of financing.

The Malta Chamber together with Grant Thornton, Bank of Valletta p.l.c. and Malta Stock Exchange saw fit to organise a timely information session on three diverse financing options currently available to Malta’s enterprises and entrepreneurs,

held on Friday 14th September.

In one afternoon, the event condensed substantial information on the ERDF 2014-2020 Grant Schemes for Enterprises, totalling a co-financing pool of €50 million, the Bank of Valletta JAMIE Financing Package, MSE’s Prospects, as well as the role of a corporate advisor in tapping these funds.

In his welcome address, Chamber President Anton Borg urged Malta’s entrepreneurs to consider opportunities to secure new capital as a means to embrace digitalisation and implement modern technologies, thereby futureproofing the company’s operations and ensuring survival in a rapidly changing and globalised economy.

Guests were also addressed by Bank of Valletta Chief Executive Officer Mario Mallia; Measures and Support Division within MEAIM Director General Moira Attard; Bank of Valletta Chief Business Development Officer (Credit) Albert Frendo; MSE CEO Simon Zammit; Grant Thornton Partner George Vella; and Deputy Prime Minister Louis Grech.

03.

The Malta Chamber welcomed news of the setting up of a long overdue unit that will target tax evasion through a joint effort between the Inland Revenue, the VAT Department and Customs.

The Chamber had been extremely vociferous on this subject in the past, as it consistently argued that tax evasion deprived the state of substantial funds that could be used better and it placed honest businesses at a disadvantage.

“The Malta Chamber is pleased that the concerned authorities have understood

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04. Digitalisation – Do or Die As part of the national SME Week, the Malta Chamber organised an event dedicated to the challenges of digitalisation in today’s world, titled Digitalisation – Do or Die. The event was organised with the support of the Ministry for the Economy, Investment and Small Business, as well as Microsoft Malta, RSM and BOV. For this seminar, a number of speakers shared their insights from various perspectives of this global trend which is opening new markets by connecting people, businesses and things. Digital technology is blurring the lines and is creating a commercial environment that is open for business anytime, anywhere and in any way the customer or buyer prefers to acquire a product or a service.

In his welcome address, the Chamber’s Deputy President, Frank V. Farrugia said that digital capabilities are increasingly determining which companies create

04. or lose value. One must realise that a digital strategy and a business strategy are now one and the same.

A successful digital transformation demands a high level of coordination and a whole new set of capabilities.

Guests were also addressed by Marios Issaris, Marketing and Operations Director, Microsoft Greece, Cyprus and Malta; Gordon Micallef, Director RSM Malta; Ing Conrad Pace, General Manager at Prominent Fluid Controls Ltd; Christian Ganado, Director at Melite Retail; Ivo Camilleri, Executive Head, Electronic Banking Services at the Bank of Valletta; and David Serge, Director Operations at Stargate Studios.

05. Education Malta launched The Malta Chamber together with the Ministry for Education launched Education Malta, a not-for-profit foundation with the objective of promoting the internationalisation of education in Malta and attracting foreign educational entities to establish a presence in Malta.

“The newly established Education Malta will primarily harness this economic potential and provide a structure to promote investment and support to stakeholders in this sector,” said Anton Borg, President of the Malta Chamber on 27th October, as he was addressing the media during the launch of Education Malta.

Mr Borg said that Education Malta follows in the Economic Vision of the Chamber for Malta, which promotes the cooperation between Government and the private sector in a way that best capitalises on the strategic strengths of each.

Evarist Bartolo, Minister for Education said that Malta was seeing substantial interest from international educational entities seeking to establish here to attract foreign students to study locally. Malta should endeavour to attract quality institutions.

06. Employer organisations call for caution over raising minimum wage

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Malta’s private sector organisations represented by the MCESD (the Malta Employers’ Association, Malta Chamber, and GRTU) jointly expressed their concern DECEMBER 2016 / JANUARY 2017

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on the direction taken with regard to discussions on poverty and the minimum wage. The employer bodies said that the country’s efforts should be targeted specifically at eradicating poverty whilst safeguarding competitiveness and long-term economic growth.

In a statement to the media, the employer organisations said that in the current economic scenario, they believe that it is unacceptable to find certain cohorts of the population that are still beset by poverty and deprivation.

They believe that it is the joint responsibility of government, politicians, social partners, employers, employees and civil society to ensure dignity for the entire population. All stakeholders have a role to play and important responsibilities to carry.

07. Employer organisations advocate for more businessfriendly EU ahead of Malta’s EU Presidency Difficulties and barriers in selling cross-border and inferior goods finding their way into the European single market

due to a lack of market surveillance were amongst the issues raised by a delegation of employer organisations in a meeting with Prime Minister Joseph Muscat.

During the meeting, the Malta Business Bureau, the Malta Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry, Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association, GRTU Malta Chamber of SMEs, and the Malta Employers Association said that businesses were still facing difficulties to sell crossborder due to member states failing to provide mutual recognition to goods.

Meanwhile, service providers were facing barriers to establish cross-border operations due to endless national requirements, while a lack of market surveillance was resulting in inferior products from third countries finding their way into the European single market.

Furthermore, the Maltese employers argued that the EU should confirm itself as a global actor by reinvigorating the Mediterranean as an area of peace, cooperation and prosperity. It should also make itself more attractive and make it easier for talent from third countries to come to the EU and contribute towards its growth, productivity and innovation.

08. Transport strategy – What’s next?

The Malta Chamber discussed the recently published Government Transport Strategy and Master Plan during an event on transport strategy.

“There is a clear need to integrate land use, development and transport management,” said Chamber President Anton Borg in his welcome speech during an event entitled the Transport Strategy – What’s Next? organised by the Malta Chamber in collaboration with the University of Malta.

The aim of the event was to present the recently published Government Transport Strategy and Master Plan, which identifies a vast array of projects that need to be implemented. These include a number of road interventions, infrastructure to promote cycling and other modes of transport, and long-term projects such as the Malta-Gozo permanent link and a mass rapid transit system.

The event was also addressed by David Sutton, Chief Officer at Transport Malta; Andre Fenech, Head of Policy Development at the Malta Chamber; Prof. Maria Attard, Director at the Institute for Climate Change and Sustainable Development; Dr Philip Von Brockdorff, Head of the FEMA department at the University of Malta; and Konrad Pule, General Manager of Malta Public Transport. The event was chaired by Chamber Board Member and Chairman of the Energy and Environment Committee, Perit David Xuereb.

09. The logistics sector in Malta – What prospects?

08.

DECEMBER 2016 / JANUARY 2017

In a statement issued on 7th November 2016, the Malta Chamber through the Executive Committees of its Logistics Business Section and Shipping and Bunkering Business Section, together with the Association of Ship Agents and the Association of Groupage Operators, expressed its position on the Request for Proposals launched recently by Malta Enterprise to design, construct, finance, operate and maintain an International Logistics Hub. The project is meant to utilise the existing area of the Groupage Complex in Hal Far to develop a strategic hub for international business.

The Malta Chamber and the associations share a positive view on this initiative and agree that it can indeed prove to be a valuable asset to the Maltese 65

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10.

logistics sector, to complement the services offered by the Malta Freeport and other valid operators. The planned expansion at Hal Far is approximately four times the existing warehousing space.

The Chamber warned that in order to turn Malta into an international logistics hub, there would be numerous decisions to be taken. This would eventually strengthen a potential pillar of our economy.

10. Malta Chamber President participates in highprofile BusinessEurope meeting in Brussels As Vice-President of BusinessEurope, Malta Chamber President Anton Borg participated in a meeting with CEOs from some of the most prominent multinational corporations in Europe, who exchanged views with a number of European Commissioners on issues relating to their different portfolios.

The participants had the opportunity to

discuss the most prominent issues that are currently on the EU agenda including the volatile international situation and implications on investment with the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs Federica Mogherini.

The meeting also discussed what the focus should be to complete the Digital Single Market and take steps forward in digitizing industries with newly appointed Vice President Günther Oettinger; the challenges of creating a single energy market and expectations of the Energy Union Winter Package with Vice President Maroš Šefčovič; and the boost in private investment as a result of the EU Investment Plan with Vice President Jyrki Katainen.

The participants also had a discussion on the implications of Brexit on their companies as well as on the EU and the UK in general.

11. MBB’s 20th anniversary celebration On 11th November, the Malta Business Bureau organised a lunch-time concert and reception held at the Malta Chamber to commemorate the organisation’s 20th anniversary. Welcome speeches were given by MBB President Dr John Vassallo, and past presidents Joseph R. Darmanin and Chevalier Anthony Cassar.

The concert was performed by the ‘re:orchestra’ of Rotterdam, considered by specialised media as one of Europe’s best chamber orchestras.

The event was sponsored by MBB President Dr John Vassallo, Dr Marianne Noll, The Malta Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry, and The Westin Dragonara Resort, member of the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association.

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DECEMBER 2016 / JANUARY 2017

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NEWS Internationalisation

01. Chamber underlines priorities with EESC ahead of Presidency During his visit to Malta, President of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) Georges Dassis met with all the social partners represented on the MCESD and discussed issues of migration, regional aid and other matters of economic and social bearing ahead of Malta’s Presidency of the European Union in 2017.

Malta Chamber President Anton Borg said that on a humanitarian level, Europe had a moral obligation when dealing with migration. In the case of Malta, he said, migration could also be seen in a different light, as the country is currently experiencing the lowest unemployment rates ever recorded, and is starting to experience skills gaps in certain areas.

He said that the local workforce had evolved over the years as the country developed. “This is bringing about gaps in the labour market which migration may be a solution to,” Mr Borg affirmed.

Mr Dassis also attended a meeting with the employers’ organisations at the Malta Chamber where discussions centred around the importance of social dialogue at European and national levels. At this meeting, the organisations presented Mr Dassis with the Employers’ Joint Agenda for Malta’s EU Presidency.

The Joint Agenda advocates an EU which is less rigid and more business friendly with clear, pragmatic and realistic priorities and where the focus is on the concrete delivery of these priorities.

Mr Dassis’ visit was coordinated by Stefano Mallia and Tony Zahra, Malta’s Employers’ Group members on the EESC.

02. MEDEF delegation visits Chamber Addressing a delegation from France’s MEDEF on a familiarisation visit to the Malta Chamber ahead of Malta’s EU Presidency in 2017, President Anton Borg said that the Chamber intended to further its endeavours, on behalf of its members, on the European stage.

“We shall do so through active representations and discussion with Government and the pan-European organisations in which we are active members, namely BusinessEurope, Eurochambres and the Employers Group within the European Economic and Social Committee,” he said.

Mr Borg noted that the forthcoming Presidency is the country’s first, and there DECEMBER 2016 / JANUARY 2017

01. exists every intention for a concerted effort to make it a successful one. “Everyone is well aware of the highly interesting yet particularly delicate timeframe during which Malta will hold the Presidency. The first half of 2017 is expected to be characterised by political and economic uncertainty – with a new American President and discussions on Brexit, all while operating within a context of widespread political and economic instability in neighbouring regions and the resulting unprecedented migration crisis and threat of terrorism,” he said.

“Despite such high priority items on the European agenda, Malta also intends to champion a business-driven agenda,” Mr Borg stated. “Earlier this year, the Malta Chamber of Commerce advocated the need for a Manifesto of Employers’ Priorities for the duration of the Presidency and

beyond. The Chamber led discussions amongst Malta’s employer organisations and other stakeholders at both bipartite and tripartite levels, followed by promising discussions with Government.”

The manifesto includes priorities such as the design and implementation of a set of policies that strive to overcome the structural handicaps of business operating from islands in the EU, the completion of the single market and an overall strengthening of the Innovation Union with an aim to enhance the research and innovation capabilities of Europe’s SMEs. “It is therefore encouraging to note that the flagship priority of our two organisations, that of restoring and safeguarding the conditions for the competitiveness of our respective economies, are in synchronisation,” he said.

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03. Russia and Malta build closer ties Addressing a business forum as part of a delegation led by the Prime Minister in Russia, Malta Chamber President Anton Borg said that the world’s largest country and the European Union’s smallest one have a lot they can collaborate on, for the countries’ mutual benefit.

“The sustained business interest that exists between our two nations underlines the commitment and genuine intentions that exist at both ends, to take our healthy relationship to the next level. I honestly believe that we have a bright future of collaboration to look forward to,” Mr Borg said.

The President said that Malta has proved to be a valuable and formidable ally in international trade. The island’s position in the middle of the Mediterranean as well as its membership in the European Union place it at the optimal position to carry out trade successfully with three continents. Malta’s long history in this regard is a testament to this.

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02.

Mr Borg said that Malta is currently going through one of the most economically successful times of the recent past.

“2016 has proved to be an extremely positive year for business. Our private sector has enjoyed a positive trend which has encouraged an appetite for investment both from local sources but more so from international interests varying from China, the United States,

Qatar and several others,” he said.

In this context, the Malta Chamber was in the perfect position to promote investment and collaboration in determinate areas that were identified in the economy from early on.

Mr Borg also spoke briefly about the various sectors identified in the vision, including financial services, the ICT sector, the health services sector and the education sector among others. cc DECEMBER 2016 / JANUARY 2017

CC DESIGN TRENDS

Photos by Alan Carville

Achieving the perfect balance between corporate and playful The recently completed offices of Content House Group, located in Mriehel, serve as a reflection of the dynamic team that spend their days there – a team which has gone from a three-man show to one of Malta’s largest publishers in print and digital media in just over a decade. Sarah Micallef talks to company director Jesmond Bonello about the process behind their shiny new offices.

DECEMBER 2016 / JANUARY 2017

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ontent House Group director Jesmond Bonello recalls how back in 2005, the company began operating out of a small office in St Julian’s. “There were three employees for the first year and a half, so it suited us well, but by 2008, staff numbers had grown to eight, and every inch of available space was utilised, including the kitchen. We made the decision to move to our current office block in 2009,” he says.

At the time, the directors didn’t anticipate that the company would grow much more than that, so they designed and equipped their offices across one floor. Fast forward to 2015, and staff numbers stood at 20 and counting – leading to the extension of the Content House offices over another level, moving the sales team up to the penthouse.

“As staff numbers rose, so did the need for more space, and we wanted a more balanced and comfortable environment for our employees. It is important for the sales team to be together in one space as they motivate and rely on one another, but the space downstairs was getting too crammed,” Mr Bonello says, explaining that given the high-pressure and challenging environment within which the team operates, it was important for them to have an open space which they can move around in if they need a break from their desk.

The new layout on the penthouse level gives the team the best of both worlds – a feeling of space while still being together, as well as a large opening to the back terrace, which lets in light and boasts picturesque views reaching up to Mdina, despite the office being in an industrial area.

“The floor plan was designed in such a way as to allow the maximum amount of light possible to flow through the space,” Mr Bonello continues, adding that the main focus upstairs was on achieving a light and bright open-plan layout. The space was further opened up through the use of large

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apertures and far fewer closed offices, which were separated with glass partitions in place of walls. Meanwhile, when it came to décor, the use of industrial elements such as exposed concrete ceilings and factory-style pendant lights, and bold touches in the form of statement wallpaper and artwork created a far less formal feel that better reflected the young and dynamic team. It was this effect that led to the redesign of the existing floor below, bringing them closer together in look and feel.

“After completion of the penthouse level, we decided to carry out significant works on the existing floor to bring it more in line with the cleaner, brighter and more casual approach we adopted upstairs. This wasn’t an easy decision as it was still relatively new, but we felt it would be beneficial to the team and company as a whole,” says Mr Bonello.

“As staff numbers rose, so did the need for more space, and we wanted a more balanced and comfortable environment for our employees.”

DECEMBER 2016 / JANUARY 2017

CC DESIGN TRENDS

“The floor plan was designed in such a way as to allow the maximum amount of light possible to flow through the space.”

Taking feedback from the team into account and weighing up the existing layout’s strengths and weaknesses, the focus was on bettering areas which were previously lacking, namely the flow of light into the offices, as well as opening up the layout to promote a greater sense of teamwork and creativity.

Structural changes included opening up a number of existing offices to achieve more of an open-plan feel, as well as introducing

more storage space. “In this industry, it helps to have a good archive of publications over the years. Our large complement of publications that are issued several times a year necessitates ample storage space that needs to be kept organised and accessible, so we took this opportunity to extend the space we have available and really tailor and organise it to our needs,” Mr Bonello explains.

The previously large director’s office was

transformed into the editorial department, with the existing wall being taken down and replaced with glass. Meanwhile, a wall separating an existing office was also removed to open up space for the design studio. Throughout, previously installed opaque glass partitions were replaced with clear glass to promote a sense of openness and transparency, while a new ventilation system was installed to improve air circulation. A natural feel within the urban area was also added through the use of greenery within a variety of planters.

DECEMBER 2016 / JANUARY 2017

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The result is a lighter, more casual working environment which is equal parts playful and smart. Interesting elements such as artificial turf flooring, statement furniture by design-oriented brands like Kartell and Softline as well as graphic wallpaper injected a fun flair, while multi-purpose spaces such as the upstairs kitchen – which can be folded away to resemble ordinary cabinetry – and the downstairs meeting room – which can be used for both socialising and formal meetings – give the offices an added element of multi-functionality that is a must within contemporary working environments.

Meanwhile, furniture with simple lines helped to avoid a strictly corporate look and the use of home décor items and knick knacks gave the offices a welcoming and modern, homely feel.

Wallpaper is a dominant feature throughout, and different prints were used across different areas. In fact, a particularly fun use of wallpaper came about in the transformation of the reception desk: “It was a new, solid desk with a nice shape, but the natural wood finish wasn’t working with the new décor, so we decided to give it a makeover by cladding it in an interesting textured wallpaper.” A further fun touch was added on the walls,” Mr Bonello continues, “for which we turned some of our own products into wall art. The team chose a few of their favourite magazine covers and photo shoots over the years, and we had them made into wall art.”

As far as timelines go, the penthouse level took seven months to finish and furnish, but it was the existing level downstairs that posed the biggest challenge, as works had to be carried out while it was in use. “A 78

“The team chose a few of their favourite magazine covers and photo shoots over the years, and we had them made into wall art.”

lot of the work had to be done during the weekends and outside office hours, with employees having to work in semi-working site conditions. The team working downstairs had to take the time to unplug everything and cover their desks and belongings with plastic sheeting before going home every Friday, so that weekend construction works wouldn’t wreak too much havoc. Of course, dust always still got everywhere, so we had

to have everywhere cleaned early on Monday mornings.” Despite the difficulties however, works downstairs were contained to two months.

“It was certainly a challenge to get the works done and keep functioning normally at the same time – it was quite a nightmare for a while,” Mr Bonello laughs, before looking around the new offices and admitting, “but it was definitely worth it.” cc

DECEMBER 2016 / JANUARY 2017

STYLE

Office trends

REVIEW

04. Feature storage

Introducing areas within your workspace that can be changed and adapted to suit different requirements is set to be an essential design element in 2017. With today’s fastchanging technology and busy environment, office furniture and layouts designed with flexibility in mind will pave the way for an efficient space in the present and future.

02. Integrated technology Smart furniture and accessories featuring integrated technology are the obvious next step in office design. Wireless charging is set to be the next big thing, as well as office furniture with built-in power adapters and multimedia capabilities.

2017 will also see more solutions when it comes to connections with shared displays – an excellent office feature that promotes teamwork and collaboration.

03. Designing for well-being Employee wellness is on the forefront more than ever before when it comes to creating the ideal workspace, with wellness programmes and fitness facilities on the rise. The trend has also carried through to office design, with a focus on ergonomic options, sit-stand desks and workplace design that encourages employees to move around during their work day.

05. Colourful rooms More and more office spaces are opting to place colour on their walls, but with different colours evoking different emotions, the focus is on what colour to place where. Choose a shade of red if you want to get employees’ blood flowing, or green to help make them feel at home. Blue, meanwhile, is calming – perfect if the team has tight deadlines to reach – while yellow is sure to keep them alert and happy!

01.

Design Boom

Ikea

01. Flexible layouts

Most offices have one thing in common – the need for a decent amount of storage.

But as the latest trends in workplace design show, storage needn’t be boring to look at! Large, shared units are slowly taking the place of traditional, under-desk units and design-oriented storage options such as these wallmounted filing trays. Popular finishes include a variety of woods and metals.

06. Natural elements Greenery, sunlight and other natural elements are featuring heavily in modern office design, and having been proven to boost employee productivity, it’s easy to see why. Unnatural fluorescent light has a way of sucking the life out of a space, while natural light is not only pleasant, but also healthy (and far easier on the eyes). Plants also help to give life to a space, and can make a huge difference in a working environment. cc

02.

Pottery Barn

From flexible layouts to natural elements and a focus on wellbeing, the current crop of office design trends have employee comfort in mind. Sarah Micallef finds out more.

05.

04.

Office Landscapes

03.

Office Snapshots

How to Decorate DECEMBER 2016 / JANUARY 2017

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FOOD&WINE

Fabulous food

03. Mocktails

Want to know what’s going to be big in the food world come 2017?

Sarah Micallef has the scoop (literally!)

01.

01. Flavoured ketchup Regular ketchup seems to be going from family favourite condiment to yesterday’s news. Consumer analysts have found that ketchup sales have fallen by four per cent in the past year, making way for newer, more interesting alternatives. Flavoured ketchup including chilli with guava, masala and Bloody Mary ketchup is set to be all the rage in the coming year, and is likely to take plain old ketchup’s place at your table.

Food Gawker

02.

02. Sardines The smelly, protein-rich fish has suffered from a bad rep in the past, but seems to be rising in popularity. With certain brands putting a modern spin on sardine packaging, taking it from old-timey food to interesting snack du jour, sardines are on the road to trending. Interesting flavours and smoked varieties are also adding appeal, and with sardines’ health benefits – being high in omega-3 fatty acids and protein – it might not be such a bad thing.

NYT Cooking

03.

The Artful Desperado

06.

Mixing up interesting cocktails is getting a PG makeover thanks to the rise of modern mocktails. Fresh-pressed juices, flavoured teas, sipping vinegars and muddled herbs and spices are giving those who rather skip the alcohol an alternative that’s far more creative – not to mention visually stimulating – than a soft drink or juice.

04. Goat Tipped as the next hot protein to hit restaurants in the US and beyond, goat meat has much less fat than most other forms of meat (including chicken), and is high in protein to boot. But what does it taste like? Likened to lamb but with more of a ‘beefy’ texture, goat meat needs to be prepared well and paired thoughtfully to be enjoyed – lending itself well to spicy and bold accompaniments thanks to its strong flavour.

05. Faux meat A big trend among diners the world over is the desire to eat less meat without converting fully to vegetarianism. This has paved the way for an array of veggie or faux meats to step in, resulting in interesting dishes of meatless burgers, sausages, meatballs and ribs, all made using a variety of vegetable meat substitutes – and you really will have a hard time tasting the difference!

06. Freakshakes Meet the milkshake on steroids: also known as the freakshake. The philosophy when it comes to these bad boys is go big or go home, so all ingredients come in generous amounts and helpings. From ice-cream, whipped cream and chocolate sauce to plentiful toppings of cake (yes, cake!), cookies, doughnuts and sweets, this one is likely to classify as a cardinal sin against a healthy diet… but we’re still tempted! cc

04.

SBS Food

A Side of Sweet

05.

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Pink of Yum DECEMBER 2016 / JANUARY 2017

CC INTERVIEW

“Government and the Malta Chamber, through TradeMalta, need to encourage more businesses to export, in order to rebalance the economy towards a sustainable future” In 2015, TradeMalta was formed as a partnership between the Malta Chamber and Malta Enterprise, with the aim of assisting local enterprise in reaching foreign markets with their products and services.

Chairman David Curmi discusses how TradeMalta is working toward achieving its mission – that of helping businesses based in Malta grow bigger, better and faster in international markets – with Sarah Micallef.

DECEMBER 2016 / JANUARY 2017

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S

ince starting out in June 2015, TradeMalta has been working hard at its mission to support Malta-based companies to grow overseas. Chairman David Curmi outlines the ways in which the agency has been doing just that, affirming, “we are very active in supporting companies exhibiting at specialised international trade fairs. We understand that these are important for Maltese companies, and can reap long-term benefits.”

This is achieved through a Malta Enterprise incentive scheme which TradeMalta administers and which provides exhibitors with financial assistance to set up stands at overseas fairs.

“Non-traditional markets are generally more difficult to access,” Mr Curmi continues, explaining that a long-term partnership between Government and the Malta Chamber like TradeMalta can facilitate

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access to new markets, encourage more businesses to export goods and services, and attract foreign clients and buyers. “We have managed to introduce companies to potential clients and some have been successful in following their leads,” he continues, adding, “exhibiting in trade fairs also produces very good results and that is why we support and encourage companies to actively participate at such events.

“We also run training programmes in export preparedness that provide novice exporters with practical tools and help them in building capacity for the real world challenges that exporting can generate,” Mr Curmi continues, adding that this year, TradeMalta’s 10-week training course for early-stage exporters has been accredited as a unit within the University of Malta’s programme in the Liberal Arts and Sciences, with the course set to start in January 2017.

DECEMBER 2016 / JANUARY 2017

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Visit 3amalta.com for more information. ‡ � ˆˆ ‰ €  Š ‹  €Œ  Œ‹ Ž��‘ ’“ ƒ ” • –— �˜–˜ �˜–˜ ’ ” ™

CC INTERVIEW

Apart from this, TradeMalta runs an ongoing development programme to support exporters who have already experienced success in selling their products or services in international markets. “This programme gives more flexibility to participants as it allows them to follow a more defined course of action and still benefit from financial support,” the chairman maintains. The businesssupporting agency also organises focused country events on a regular basis to increase the awareness of doing business in certain target markets.

“Earlier this year, TradeMalta was awarded funds from the ERDF to the tune of €900,000 for the creation of a digital platform which will be used to help SMEs to build export capacity, provide e-learning opportunities, export-related publications, guides, market studies and other tools.

Work on the implementation of this digital platform has now started,” Mr Curmi continues.

Since its inception, Trade Malta has been responsible for organising a number of trade missions to different countries. Thus the question becomes, have any of these resulted in tangible commercial growths?

“Although we have only been operating since June 2015, many other successful trade missions were previously organised under the remit of Malta Enterprise,” says Mr Curmi, explaining that companies decide to join in these business missions for various reasons – from seeking a further understanding of market dynamics to identifying potential niches for investment.

“As one would expect in such situations, results cannot be achieved overnight.

International business is far from straightforward. It poses various challenges and requires meticulous planning. We are aware and following some of our mission delegates who are pursuing interesting business leads,” the chairman continues, adding that TradeMalta reaches out to its clients on a regular basis to understand which markets they are looking at for potential business, going on to organise trade missions based on that information.

As for the countries being targeted, I ask, is TradeMalta focusing primarily on the EU single market when it comes to helping local businesses grow internationally, or

“Earlier this year, TradeMalta was awarded funds from the ERDF to the tune of €900,000 for the creation of a digital platform which will be used to help SMEs to build export capacity, provide e-learning opportunities, export-related publications, guides, market studies and other tools.” does it go beyond the EU? While stating that the EU is and will remain Malta’s largest export market, Mr Curmi affirms that there are already several mechanisms and very good EU-funded programmes in place to assist Malta-based businesses to access the European market – going on to mention the Europe Enterprise Network (EEN) and the recently launched Government ERDF scheme as just two examples.

Hence, he says, TradeMalta has embarked on a strategy of looking beyond the traditional EU markets. “Global economic growth is being driven by emerging markets and developing economies; and the dynamics of the global economy have changed, with a new set of fast-growing markets challenging the position of the established advanced economies. The economic centre of gravity of the world is shifting east and south – there are an increasing number of new priority markets in the world which are becoming more important in terms of their growth potential and global influence,” Mr Curmi maintains, explaining that these markets have been identified to have strong prospects and

“Based on the outcomes achieved by TradeMalta so far, I can only encourage further public-private partnerships initiatives involving Government and the Malta Chamber.”

DECEMBER 2016 / JANUARY 2017

strategic importance for business.

“Despite being challenging regions, the failure to expand exports to these markets will be a missed opportunity,” he continues, pointing to the OECD’s report on capital flows, which shows that the key flows are occurring outside the traditional markets.

“Malta will need to align its external economy closer to the flow of capital to take advantage of global market opportunities.

As a country, we also need to foster links with non-traditional markets and this is very much part of the vision and strategy of TradeMalta,” he affirms.

As for the specific economic sectors TradeMalta considers ripe for internationalisation, Mr Curmi maintains that there are several sectors that the agency is actively promoting and supporting. “ICT, learning and education, advanced manufacturing, logistics, food and beverage manufacturing, and building and construction services are just a few. There are also other areas in which we are very active, such as aviation and more recently technology start-ups. Medical tourism is another sector which we will be supporting in the future,” the chairman explains, maintaining that TradeMalta does not support all sectors. “For instance, we do not support companies in the iGaming, financial services and tourism sectors because these sectors are typically supported by more specialised and dedicated agencies or authorities.”

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CC INTERVIEW

“Success in export is about having the right market information and the right fundamentals – access to finance, a skilled workforce and good infrastructure connection.”

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With TradeMalta having been in operation for just over a year, I ask Mr Curmi what he considers the benefits of having a joint approach between Government and the Malta Chamber as opposed to two separate approaches. In his view, this approach benefits from a “clearer and more focused medium to long-term strategy that will drive our external economy. The board of directors, which is made up of individuals

appointed by Government and by the Malta Chamber, share a common vision. I’m glad to say that we are making the best use of the extensive networks and resources of both the Government and the Malta Chamber for the benefit of TradeMalta’s clients.”

Indeed, driving export growth is key to reducing the country’s deficit and maintaining competitiveness, and is critical to putting our economy on a sustainable footing. “For the wider economy, trading with international markets generates jobs, growth and prosperity for the country. In order to rebalance the economy towards a sustainable future, Government and the Malta Chamber, through TradeMalta, need to encourage more businesses to export,” he maintains.

And with Trade Malta being the first attempt by the Malta Chamber to join forces with Government in order to tackle a specific role within one organisation, the positive outlook and reception have led to the recent launch of Education Malta, the second such project. According to Mr Curmi, this is because “both Government and the Malta Chamber have consolidated their efforts and are achieving results. Indeed, a lot has been achieved in a very short time, but let’s not forget that we are working on implementing a medium to long-term strategy. Based on the outcomes achieved

by TradeMalta so far, I can only encourage further public-private partnerships initiatives involving Government and the Malta Chamber.”

Moving forward, Mr Curmi asserts that in 2017 and beyond, the aim is to build on the good work that has been achieved so far and continue to fine-tune the service offering. “We are now transferring all paper-based applications online to reduce bureaucracy and make it easier for companies to avail of our services. We shall also continue organising country seminars and training courses, and are already planning a number of business missions to the Eastern world,” he divulges.

Over the next year, the chairman continues, TradeMalta will continue with the implementation of the ERDF project, which will provide further tools and opportunities to explore international business with a more holistic approach. “Success in export is about having the right market information and the right fundamentals – access to finance, a skilled workforce and good infrastructure connection. We need to encourage more new exporting companies and help more of our existing exporters to break into new markets. We need to get the message across that exporting should not be considered solely the domain of long-established companies or of the large players,” he concludes. cc

DECEMBER 2016 / JANUARY 2017

CC LIFESTYLE

What matters most From parties and socialising to intimate family celebrations, Jo Caruana asked three of Malta’s best-known entrepreneurs what they love most about the festive season.

Even though hospitality operations require 24/7 involvement, Island Hotels Group CEO Winston J Zahra has learnt to unwind at this time of year. He puts family and friends at the centre of his Christmas celebrations.

“Aside from the spiritual significance of Christmas, the festive season is a beautiful time of year that, for me, is all about family and close friends. Unfortunately, I feel that it has become much more commercial than it should be, however I prefer to focus on the positive aspects and enjoy those.

“For us, Christmas is very much based on our various family activities. Christmas Eve and Christmas Day are always spent with the family, with all of us taking turns with regards to who hosts events at home. In the run up to Christmas we also spend quite a lot of time with loved ones, relaxing, enjoying the simple things in life and typically eating too much.

“Of course in our industry everything gets busier around Christmas! Ours is a 24/7 operation that peaks when everyone else is on holiday. I stay in touch with work and visit the various properties, but am not as operational as I used to be in the earlier days of my career. Thus, today I do manage a nice amount of time away from work with the family.

“As for my tips on unwinding away from work, well that very much depends on an individual’s circumstances. It all depends on your line of work and the extent to which that work continues throughout the Christmas period. I personally find that the best way to unwind is to be with your nearest and dearest. The activity, as such, is less relevant.”

“I personally find that the best way to unwind is to be with family and close friends.”

Winston J Zahra’s Favourites Holiday destination – I have loved travelling to various places around the world. My favourite to-date was South Africa.

Cuisine – The simplicity of Italian food always wins it for me.

Restaurant – Locally, Ali Baba. It is consistently excellent.

Book – No one book in particular comes to mind, although I tend to enjoy good biographies where there are life lessons to be learnt.

Film – Rocky remains an all-time favourite.

Christmas present ever received – My youngest daughter Alix was born on 18 December 1997. You can’t top that to make a great Christmas!

Festive drink – On a cold day, home-made mulled wine.

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CC LIFESTYLE

Entrepreneur Helga Ellul may be renowned for her business success but she is equally dedicated to her family… and to Christmas! She has combined festive traditions from her German childhood with local ones.

“Christmas is always a very special time for me. It brings back all my childhood memories of festive days spent back in Germany; they were always ‘white Christmases’ with lots of snow!

“Way back with my parents, Christmas Eve was the most important day of the year, so, to this day, we celebrate Christmas Eve in my family. We have family and friends over in the afternoon for drinks and presents are given out on that evening. Then we have a small family meal before heading off to Midnight Mass. That routine is a tradition that I grew up with, and it’s one I have shared with my family in Malta. After that, Christmas Day simply revolves around a family lunch.

“The Christmas tree is another important part of the festive season for me, and I always have a real tree sent over from Germany. I remember that, as a child, my brother and I would make all the decorations ourselves with our parents, and the tree was my father’s pride and joy! It was only

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actually decorated on Christmas Eve in the morning and, to this day, I only decorate our tree a couple of days before Christmas. I still have a few of my father’s hand-made ornaments, but have changed the theme from red and gold to gold and silver over the years. I still decorate it myself and really enjoy it – with Christmas carols playing in the background!

“The other major change is that I

now have grandchildren, so Christmas is becoming even more important and extra special. In Germany, every little girl has her dollhouse and every boy his train set, and that’s something we’ve carried on in our house! I still have my own children’s Christmas toys, which will be given to their children now. Their enjoyment is a reminder that the festive season is all about family, while celebrating the birth of our Saviour.”

“The Christmas tree is another important part of the festive season for me, and I always have a real tree sent over from Germany.”

Helga Ellul’s Favourites Holiday destination – I have not yet been to South Africa, but I hope I manage to go there in 2017.

Cuisine – Italian food and fish, as well as sushi.

Restaurant – Sale e Pepe.

Book – The book I am reading at the moment is very good; it’s German and called Radikal Anders. It’s about the DNA of successful family companies.

Christmas present ever received – A hand-made Christmas card from my little granddaughter. Sentimental I know, but it was very special!

Festive drink – Prosecco and white wine.

DECEMBER 2016 / JANUARY 2017

CC INTERVIEW

Photo by Inigo Taylor

CC LIFESTYLE

As director of Classic Group, Paul Fenech is kept extremely busy all year round. That’s why Christmas has become such a special time for him and his family, as well as the friends they surround themselves with at this time of year.

“Christmas is a time of joy and peace to all mankind, yet there is still so much suffering in the world. My thoughts are with those people, especially children, in war-torn countries like Syria who are not so lucky.

I hope that the New Year brings about a peaceful resolution for them and all those who are living in fear each day. Watching the news makes me appreciate how lucky I am to be living in a country as safe as Malta.

“I spend Christmas at home surrounded by family and friends. We are looking forward to spending Christmas together even more this year because amongst us we will have a missionary priest from India who my mother-in-law sponsored; he is visiting her from Rome. Christmas is usually hosted by my wife and I at our home, where we have a traditional lunch with the family. With all the children, grandchildren and extended family it means it’s the busiest day of the year… for my dear wife! But it is also one of the most enjoyable, as she loves to provide for the family. We also make it a point to teach the grandchildren the traditional Christmas values and why we celebrate Christmas in the first place.

DECEMBER 2016 / JANUARY 2017

Paul Fenech’s Favourites Holiday – Tuscany, because I enjoy the food, countryside and culture.

Cuisine – Italian, and my favourite dish is tortellini Bolognese in a wild boar (cinghiale) ragù.

Restaurant – Fumia. It has a great choice of fish, a friendly atmosphere and nice surroundings. Plus, the owner Francesco always treats us very well.

Book – Steve Jobs’ Biography. It’s inspiring and shows that life sometimes requires effort. After reading it I appreciate him for being such an instrumental person in today’s world. He was a genius and he implemented great change.

Film – Schindler’s List. Firstly, it highlights what Europe went through in the 40s and teaches us that life is fragile. Secondly, it shows the heroism of a person and the difference that one person can make in the world.

Festive drink – 12-Year-Old Singleton of Dufftown. I enjoy drinking it morning and evening over the festive season. It’s become part of my tradition.

“At this time of year I do take some time off to travel. When the weather is nice I also enjoy spending the day in the countryside, and go for a walk with the grandchildren. I try to get into the festive spirit as much as I can. I enjoy attending parties and meeting friends that I only manage to see during the Christmas period. It’s the perfect time to socialise with friends and the people who are most important to me.” cc

“Christmas is usually hosted by my wife and I at our home, where we have a traditional lunch with the family.”

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Tech trends

From virtual reality and gaming to smart homes, Marie-Claire Grima looks at the latest gadgets on the market for business, leisure or both.

01. Google Daydream Daydream is the new virtual reality (VR) headset from Google, designed to turn your phone into a tool for augmented reality. It has a comfortable ergonomic hardware design and a versatile and convenient controller.

Unfortunately, the headset is still only compatible with Google’s own Pixel phone, and the number of apps it can conceivably make use of are still limited. Still, its creation speaks volumes about the potential for transformative and accessible VR which should be with us sooner than we think.

02. Snapchat Spectacles Software wunderkinds Snap, of Snapchat fame, have come up with camera-equipped sunglasses called Spectacles, which record 10-second video clips with a 115-degreeangle lens, mimicking how the human eye sees through a circular field of view, which can then be shared through the Snapchat app. Snapchat has been secretly working on these glasses for years, dating back to its acquisition of Vergence Labs in 2014.

03. Lifeprint Lifeprint is a mobile instant photo printer that comes close to turning your photos into GIFs. Using the Lifeprint Photo app, you can select a video clip, trim it down to 15 seconds or fewer, and then select a frame from the video for your printed picture.

Then, using the player in the app, point your phone’s camera at your print and it will near-instantly start playing the clip – or hyperphoto, as the company calls it – on top of the photo as if it were a miniature TV.

GADGETS

04. Nintendo Switch Officially unveiled in October, Nintendo’s upcoming hybrid video game console is currently scheduled for release worldwide in March 2017, but the hype is already reaching critical levels. A home gaming system first and foremost, it will provide gamers the option to play at home or on the go and enable developers to create new types of games. It is also being regarded as the Japanese company’s latest serious attempt to bridge home consoles with portable devices.

05. Netatmo Healthy Home Coach Netatmo Healthy Home Coach is a cylinder that sits in your home and monitors the conditions around it such as air quality, humidity, temperature, and noise. It can also offer advice based on what it senses, tailored to your particular family complement – for instance, if you have a baby, you may find yourself being scolded for keeping your home too cold for the well-being of the child.

Handy, unless you’re particularly sensitive to parenting critique from an inanimate object.

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06. Mymanu Clik Wireless Earbuds Ever wished there was a gadget that would make foreign languages immediately understandable? Mymanu have come pretty close with the Clik Wireless Earbuds, which translate voices in real-time with advanced audio quality. Clik can interpret 37 different languages, and as long as you and your conversation partner are both wearing the buds, you should be nattering away without the help of a middleman in no time. cc

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CC make the headlines

HSBC Malta and TradeMalta partner to take Maltese businesses across borders HSBC Malta and TradeMalta have signed a partner support agreement heralding a new era in internationalisation of Maltese businesses amidst an increasingly competitive global economy.

The strategic partnership enables TradeMalta and its members to harness the worldwide reach of HSBC, whilst allowing the bank to help Malta-based businesses succeed in the international arena.

The agreement was signed by HSBC Malta Commercial Banking head Michel Cordina and TradeMalta chairman David Curmi, in the presence of Minister for the Economy, Investment and Small Business Dr Chris Cardona.

TradeMalta was established in 2015 as

a public-private partnership between the Government of Malta and the Malta Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry with the aim of assisting local enterprise in reaching foreign markets with their products and services.

Michel Cordina said, “for 150 years HSBC has been where growth is, connecting customers to opportunities. HSBC Malta is committed to support businesses and helping them discover the strongest avenues for business growth. While HSBC Malta’s popular Malta Trade for Growth Fund (MTFG) addresses any financing hurdles businesses may face, the cooperation between the bank and TradeMalta tackles all export-related challenges in their broadest sense.”

Meanwhile, David Curmi maintained, “financial institutions are pivotal to any exporter. Apart from providing trade finance they also offer a wide range of internationalisation services to businesses who decide to venture outside of our shores.

We are very pleased that HSBC approached TradeMalta right after its inception and sought ways on how to actively collaborate with our agency and the companies that interact with us. Today we are formalising a three-year agreement with one of Malta’s leading banks and through this arrangement the bank will be supporting TradeMalta on various initiatives.”

HSBC Malta Commercial Banking head Michel Cordina (left) with TradeMalta Chairman David Curmi at the signing of the partner support agreement as Minister Cardona (centre) looks on

As one of the world’s largest financial institutions, HSBC is well established in key geographies and operates across a large number of the world’s most important trade corridors. Its global network serves customers worldwide from more than 6,000 offices in over 70 countries and territories in Europe, Asia, North and Latin America, the Middle East and North Africa. cc

Generosity: Amplified Chivas Regal, the world’s first luxury Scotch whisky, has partnered with premium audio producers LSTN Sound Co. to craft a range of unique whisky and music accessories to celebrate their shared passion for craftsmanship, style and generosity. The initiative, Generosity: Amplified, features a range of activities aimed to raise funds for Starkey Hearing Foundation, including an innovative limited edition Chivas 12 Year Old gift tin, a line of handcrafted headphones and a customdesigned luxury record console.

DECEMBER 2016 / JANUARY 2017

The creative partnership between Chivas and LSTN Sound Co. has seen the creation of a limited-edition gift tin to house premium Scotch whisky, Chivas 12 Year Old. Inspired by sound and featuring images of deconstructed headphones, the gift tin has been designed to create disruptive on-shelf presence with a new square-to-round shape.

The Generosity: Amplified limited edition gift tin has been available in Malta from November 2016. A limited run of headphones are now available to buy from www. lstnsound.co. To find out more about the partnership between Chivas Regal and LSTN Sound Co., visit www.chivas.com/LSTN. cc Chivas Regal is marketed and distributed

by Farsons Beverage Imports Co. Ltd. Trade Enquiry: 2381 4400.

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CC make the headlines

Accounting for out-of-office employees The working culture is changing as more people want to work remotely to balance their home and professional lives. There are growing pressures on employers to provide their employees with working outof-office options, however, employee accountability remains a major issue with many employers and a reason as to why few companies allow it.

The traditional office routine remains a favoured model. Many leading CEOs believe that staff need to be working side-by-side to be productive, arguing that efficiency and quality often suffer when employees work away from the office.

But whilst working remotely is not for everyone, advances in technology are making remote working a feasible reality.

In the early 1990s, AIS Technology introduced biometric hand recognition devices instead of the traditional card punch clocks.

For the first time, Maltese companies had the

The penalty clause Many seek advice on what can take place when there is a breach of contract or whether they can wriggle out of a contract.

Lawyers, on scanning the contract, will try to identify whether there exists a penalty clause or not. The advice very much depends on the existence of a penalty clause. A penalty clause is intended to secure the fulfilment of an agreement. In fact, Article 1118 of the Civil Code reads: “A penalty clause is a clause whereby a person, for the purpose of securing the fulfilment of an agreement, binds himself to something in case of nonfulfilment.�

Therefore, the drafting of a penalty clause is of utmost importance since it regulates the consequences of non-fulfilment of an obligation found in a written agreement.

The penalty is intended to represent the compensation for the damage incurred as a result of non-performance of an agreement.

The injured party has a choice in either enforcing the amount mentioned in the penalty clause or else discarding this clause

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ability to ascertain that their employees were physically present at the place of work and not a card with their name on it. These devices changed the landscape of time and attendance record-keeping and over the years, AIS expanded the range of biometric technology, with fingerprint and face recognition readers also being popular products.

For the past 25 years, AIS has been at the forefront of innovative technology. On its anniversary, the company introduced an innovative solution for out-of-office time keeping.

TimeTec Cloud allows employees to literally punch in/out of work from anywhere in the world. Using a range of diverse technologies

such as smartphones, computer logins or geo location identification, TimeTec Cloud provides employers a system by which remote workers are accountable, not only when they are working from home but also whilst servicing customers.

Happy people work better and employers need to recognise that more people are ready to work remotely and at odd hours if it means a more balanced work and home life.

AIS Technology has the know-how to deliver this. cc AIS Technology, BLB903, Bulebel Industrial Estate, Zejtun. T: 2180 3350; E: sales@ais.com.mt; www.ais.com.mt

and instituting an action for damages. Article 1120(3) of the Civil Code does not allow that a party resort to both enforcing the penalty clause and suing for damages. However, an exception to this is when the penalty is in consideration of a delay in performance.

Many ask whether it would be wise to insert an exaggerated sum as a penalty with a view of securing the performance of an obligation. This tests two schools of thought, in that the agreement is an agreement between the parties and therefore reflects the intentions of the signatories, meaning that the penalty stipulated is enforceable. The other school of thought is that the intention of the penalty clause is to compensate the injured party for nonperformance and not to make an undue profit.

Penalty clauses should be clear and specific on which obligations a penalty may be enforced if not fulfilled. As with any other vague clause in an agreement, a vague penalty clause may land parties in hot water and unnecessary dispute. cc Dr Malcolm Mifsud is a litigation lawyer and Partner at Mifsud & Mifsud Advocates.

E: mmifsud@mifsudadvocates.com.mt

DECEMBER 2016 / JANUARY 2017

CC make the headlines

When is the right time to pursue postgraduate studies?

The key question one must ask before deciding to further their education is: what are my career prospects in the next five years?

Am I aiming to further my career or advance my technical and managerial skills?

Since the beginning of this century, more people have been undertaking postgraduate studies in a bid to improve their skills and knowledge in their chosen career paths, to gain a competitive edge in the job market. If one’s aim is that of becoming a top manager in the industry but still lacks the confidence or knowhow, studying for a Master in Business Administration (MBA) is the best option. In the world of business, an MBA is acknowledged as the hallmark for excellence for practising senior managers. An MBA helps people enhance their management skills and development of critical thinking and leadership aptitude.

On the other hand, if one has a first

degree and is looking for the opportunity to broaden their knowledge and satisfy their intellectual curiosity, a Masters degree could also be the answer. Masters degrees allow professionals to specialise in their chosen field, showing future employers their commitment and dedication while providing them with in-depth practical knowledge designed to put them at a level above the rest.

Increasingly, graduates in their 20s and 30s are choosing to take Masters degrees to increase their prospects of career choices.

Global College Malta’s postgraduate students recently graduated from the College’s accredited Executive MBA as well as other courses accredited by the University of

Chester. The University of Chester MSc in Management with specialisation options is a good choice for those aspiring to find middle management roles. On the other hand, both the Executive MBA and the MBA accredited by the British University of Chester are aimed at those aspiring for a top management role within their company. The job market has become much more competitive, and people need that driving force to differentiate themselves from the competition. Pursuing postgraduate studies can provide the cuttingedge role that they seek. cc For more information about postgraduate degrees contact Global College Malta on T: 2180 1252 or E: enquiries@gcmalta.com

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DaVinci Health: ‘Here to Help’ DaVinci Health is one of the leading private healthcare service providers in Malta. Our service started in November 2000 as a radiology facility, but over the years has expanded to incorporate most medical and surgical specialities, to achieve our present status as a comprehensive private hospital. Through our multi-disciplinary healthcare team, we provide a one-stop-shop for clients and companies requiring healthcare services in an efficient and friendly atmosphere.

Our goal at DaVinci Health is to improve our clients’ health primarily through prevention or at least through early detection of disease. Prevention of disease is ideal, and can be achieved for many conditions through proper health education and screening. Meanwhile, early detection allows

for early treatment, which would achieve the best results with least suffering.

To reach this goal, DaVinci Health offers several portals. Our Immediate Care Facility (ICF) allows clients to walk in without the need of a prior appointment to obtain immediate advice and guidance on their health issues. This timely service reduces diagnostic lag time and assists in early detection of disease. We also provide numerous Healthcare screening packages

including general well-woman and well-man screening, screening for the most common cancers and lab test screening packages.

Many of our health screening services serve not only to detect disease, but also to allay fears and educate on ways to minimise disease risks.

Early disease detection will reduce suffering and could save your life. As our motto at DaVinci states, we are ‘Here to Help’. cc

Fine watchmaking

by JaegerLeCoultre since 1833 Since its founding in 1833, JaegerLeCoultre has been delighting connoisseurs of fine watchmaking. Heirs to the inventive spirit of the manufacture founder, Antoine LeCoultre, unite their expertise in creating collections that are as surprising as they are sophisticated: Reverso, Master, Rendez-Vous, Duomètre, Geophysic® and Atmos.

The Grande Maison is perpetually inspired by its rich history. The Hybris Mechanica® and Hybris Artistica® collections testify to the creative passion driving the men and women who exercise

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their skills beneath its roof.

In 2016, Jaeger-LeCoultre has revealed the unexpected and showcases a new vision of the Reverso, which is celebrating its 85th birthday.

The unique history of each Jaeger-LeCoultre timepiece begins in the workshops of the

Vallée de Joux, Switzerland, and springs to life on the wrist of those who wear it and make it their own. cc The Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso is available from Diamonds International at Portomaso, Valletta and Pjazza Tigné. For more information, call 2203 5201.

DECEMBER 2016 / JANUARY 2017

CC make the headlines

Spotlight on family businesses in Malta “Family firms are crucially important for Europe. They make a significant contribution to Europe’s GNP and employment, and tend to be great innovators, with a longer-term vision. They also tend to be firmly rooted in their regional and national culture, displaying the sort of European values that we all share.”JOSE MANUEL BARROSO, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION. The family business is particular because of the extent to which business and ownership are intertwined with family. In Malta, as in the rest of Europe, most of these businesses are SMEs. However they can come in various shapes and sizes, from small to large, listed or unlisted.

Bank of Valletta and PwC teamed up to organise the Family Business Forum four years ago, and annually ever since. The main goal is to create a space where players and key stakeholders meet to better understand the reality and prospects of family businesses. The Forum also serves to launch the results of the latest Family Business Survey conducted by PwC among local family businesses.

Malta hub with focus on Med, English-speaking countries German owner-managed Timberland Finance Group, a leading mid-size European financial service provider and asset manager, has established a base in Malta from where it has exciting plans to build a sales hub focusing on the Mediterranean and English-speaking countries.

The local operation, Timberland Securities Investment Plc, set up in 2013, is headed by Colin Micallef and operates from the Aragon House Business Centre in St Julian’s. “We at Timberland Finance Malta are in the process of setting up special ‘country desks’ for the UK and Ireland, Spain, France and Italy, among others,” Mr Micallef said.

Timberland Finance already has a strong presence in Germany, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Austria and certain east European countries. It is now targeting highnet-worth retail and professional investors through financial intermediaries and DECEMBER 2016 / JANUARY 2017

One of the greatest challenges family businesses in Malta face, as their peers in the rest of Europe, is the transferring of ownership and/or management of the business to the next generation. In fact, the latest Family Business Survey conducted by PwC reveals that 80 per cent of family businesses in Malta do not survive beyond the second generation.

An increasing number of family businesses recognise the importance of establishing new ventures beyond our shores, with third generation businesses acknowledging that internationalisation is almost inevitable, particularly for established businesses. It is estimated that the amount of foreign sales as a proportion of overall sales will increase to 30 per cent over the coming five years.

There is no blueprint for venturing into a new market. Different markets vary as

institutional investors, such as pension funds, from its Malta base.

It is committed to working with selected local financial intermediaries as it brings bond and fund products to the market. Only last July it launched a €15 million Series 8-02/2016 bond maturing on 31st December, 2026, with a coupon of 5.1 per cent that was practically fully taken up.

Timberland Finance worked for over three years to structure its products and obtained regulatory approval for Timberland Finance’s securitisation issuances to both retail investors and for public offerings. As a result of this authorisation process, it is at

much as individual companies. The survey concludes that the biggest hurdle is taking the first plunge. The experience gained will give the management the necessary insight and confidence to seek further expansion.

Bank of Valletta remains committed to support family businesses in their journey to grow and evolve fully cognisant that family businesses are key to the economic prosperity and success of our country. cc

Bank of Valletta p.l.c. is a public limited company licensed to carry out the business of banking and investment services in terms of the Banking Act (Cap. 371 of the Laws of Malta) and the Investment Services Act (Cap. 370 of the Laws of Malta). Registered Office: 58, Triq San Zakkarija, Il-Belt Valletta VLT 1130-Malta Registration Number: C 2833

the forefront in the securitisation business.

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Thomas Kraemer (left) and Colin Micallef (right)

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It’s a colourful world Martina Said meets Clemens Hasengschwandtner at his home, hostel and personal art gallery in Birgu to find out about the artist’s work, his distinct style and what brought him to Malta.

Photos by Matt at www.thisishush.com

F

rom vibrant landscapes to intricate story paintings, the animated world of Clemens Hasengschwandtner is distinctly captivating. Bursts of solid colours are accentuated by his signature black lines, separating every piece of the puzzle, yet simultaneously bringing it all together. The end result is a mesmerising painting that draws you in and keeps you fixed, as you attempt to decipher the many minute details that lend to the overarching theme of each work.

The Austrian artist first visited Malta in 1997, and while he worked in tourism at the time, he found himself extending his stay here more so than in the other countries he visited, ultimately leading him to settle down on the island and explore his artistic passion in further depth. “I came to Malta out of love – I just liked the island and I still do. I never regretted my decision and it’s a very beautiful place to live life,” says Clemens.

“Back when I moved, the island was very different. I had been renting a place when I came across this beautiful house in Birgu, and although my friends thought I was crazy, I loved it and decided to buy it. I had to pay it off somehow, so I turned it into a wine bar but continued painting in the meantime, and DECEMBER 2016 / JANUARY 2017

used my art to decorate the wine bar.”

Last year, Clemens transformed the wine bar, located in a narrow street in the heart of Birgu, into a hostel with the same name, Il-Forn. The charming space is a showcase of his work, and every corner of the house that could serve as a canvas for the artist was put to good use, including the doors, tables,

cupboards and even some of the floor tiles, turning the hostel into a fun, colourful and energetic space.

His particular style emerged after years of experimentation, having dabbled with oil paints, water colours and various techniques before specialising with acrylic in a style he likens to that used in comics.

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“Stylistically, my paintings are simple, but I put a lot of thought into the subject and detail into each painting.”

“Naturally, an artist’s skills change over time, and the style I use now of clear colours and black lines developed over the years.

Stylistically, my paintings are simple, but I put a lot of thought into the subject and detail into each painting,” says Clemens.

The subjects he paints range from landscapes and local scenes to portraits and individual objects or interests, but Clemens is always on the lookout for new and exciting sources of inspiration. “I enjoy painting landscapes and typical Maltese scenes, especially ones which capture Maltese life, as well as anything that is relevant to my interests, such as Greek mythology. However, I constantly seek new challenges, and story paintings are an aspect of my work that challenge me in that sense.”

He talks me through the process of a personalised story painting, which has come to be somewhat of a trademark of the artist’s capabilities. “If it’s a commission, I start by 110

asking the client to give me details about their life, such as places they’ve travelled, their first pet, interests and passions. Some give me a few details, others a never-ending list,” he says. “The portraits are placed in the foreground, then I do my research and come up with my own ideas for the background based on the life details and events that they want me to include.”

The foundation begins with a meticulous drawing. “It resembles a detailed colouring book for adults – it even tends to get confusing for me when I’m looking at four square metres of little lines in the case of large works.” Clemens uses wooden boards and canvas primarily for his paintings, which are always primed with white paint so as to retain the right tone and intensity of all the colours.

He then proceeds to fill in the spaces with colour in a purposeful manner, where a particular colour is aimed to highlight a

specific aspect of the painting. “Attention is specifically given to where lighter colours should go. For instance, for the paintings with a brown, bronze and yellow palette, I apply the yellow first and make the parts that I want to stand out in the lightest colour.

The faces generally contain the most yellow, but I highlight different parts of each face, such as the cheeks, nose and forehead so that multiple faces in one painting do not all look the same. The darker colours are then applied to the sides of the face. Otherwise, colours for the rest of the painting, such as the background, are applied more liberally.”

Clemens has also come up with his own version of world and country maps as story paintings in their own right. “The first map I painted was for a friend of mine who’s a travel agent. That map triggered a series of ideas for different maps, including one I painted for myself, a map of Austria,” says Clemens.

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“The black lines make all the difference. Without them, it’s just a big blob of colour.”

These paintings involve a significant amount of research, as symbols are strategically placed to represent buildings, traditions, local cuisine and places of interest in the correct location, just as you’d find them on an actual map. The result is an elaborate painting which initially appears to be confusing, but quickly becomes fascinating once the viewer singles out a section and moves from one intricate subject to another.

“When filling in a map, I’m careful about the placement of colours, so that colours correspond with what is actually being painted, such as green for trees and forests, and blue to represent the sea and to outline the continents. That way, when people look at the painting, they recognise what they see as otherwise it could get a bit complicated for the eye to decipher. It’s like a colour labyrinth.” The final step is the application of black lines, which Clemens says is the part that brings the entire painting together.

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“The black lines make all the difference.

Without them, it’s just a big blob of colour.”

Just as the first map came about, which prompted Clemens to produce a number of different maps thereafter, the artist says he is drawn to a subject for a variety of reasons. “Another friend of mine came to me for a painting of his boat, and from that commission I got an idea for another painting and then for another, and it goes on and on. But there are times I have to restrain myself,” he says with a smile. “The same thing happened to me with horseback polo paintings — I went a bit nuts and now I have four different polo paintings hanging around the house.

“I cannot single out specific sources of inspiration,” he continues, “and I never get bored of trying new techniques. Take that painting,” he says, pointing towards a large board with a fluid, kaleidoscopic effect of colour. “That was inspired by the Maltese luzzu. I spent three to four months applying layer after layer of different coloured paints, then I sanded it down and got that interesting effect. That’s one of the best things about art – you can always create something new.”

Clemens also experiments with sculpting, 114

“On a beautiful day, I love to sit on the roof and simply chip the afternoon away.” using mainly one material – for now, at least.

“I’m interested in any art form really, as long as it’s something I can do with my hands. On a beautiful day, I love to sit on the roof and simply chip the afternoon away,” he says.

“So far, I’ve only used Maltese stone. You can achieve a fine, smooth effect, and it’s also representative of the Maltese islands, even

though there’s so much of it everywhere that we barely notice it anymore.”

As for career highlights, Clemens candidly asserts that he hopes they are still to come.

“I’ve had a lot of highs and a lot of lows, but art is not a business, and the not-so-good periods are balanced out by amazing ones.

You just have to keep moving forward.” cc

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