News

MEDITERRANEAN FORUM MALTA, PAPPALARDO: "SICILY PROTAGONIST"

The Tourism Councilor of Sicily, Sandro Pappalardo, participated in the two days of the Mediterranean Tourism Forum of Malta, which started yesterday and it is now in its fifth edition. This year’s theme is focused on the Mediterranean and its beauties. Over one thousand operators in the tourism world, coming from 39 different countries, are participating. “It is an honor to represent Sicily – Councilor Pappalardo explains – in such a high level forum. Our Region, because of its unique features, has been one of the protagonists of the Mediterranean Tourism Forum as it encloses the best part of the Mediterranean culture. I took the opportunity to measure myself and make contacts with major companies in the tourism sector, tour operators and entrepreneurs who remained bewitched by the enormous amount of beauties that our island has”.” Sicily – adds – represents the quintessence of the Mediterranean because it contains breath-taking landscapes, excellent food and wine products and a unique historical and cultural heritage. These are the grounds on which my commitment as councillor is based: the Musumeci government in fact, relies a lot on tourism which is one of the key elements of the economic development of the Region. We are processing different marketing strategies to adequately promote Sicily in all markets and, in this sense, I have had an important confrontation with the Minister of Tourism of Malta, Konrad Mizzi. This exchange follows the one already established last January, aimed at creating an important synergy between Sicily and Malta with the creation of tourist packages to enhance the beauty of the Euro-Mediterranean also thanks to the strengthening of the already existing air connections. I’m sure we have started a virtuous path and the effort of the Government Musumeci is aimed at making Sicily a land of hospitality and excellence, thanks also to institutional synergies put in place since the beginning of my mandate. Our island has all the necessary requirements to become a model for the Mediterranean and to play a leading role”, Pappalardo concludes.

(ITALPRESS/MNA).


Source: medNews

TURKEY, UNEMPLOYMENT FALLS TO 10.3%

Turkey’s unemployment rate stood at 10.3 percent in the October-December period, down from 12.1 percent a year earlier and unchanged from a month earlier, data from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK). The non-agricultural unemployment rate stood at 12.2 percent on average during the October-December period, the data also showed, down from 12.3 percent a month earlier and 14.3 percent the previous year. The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 10.1 percent in November 2017, which included the October-December period, down from 11.8 percent in the same period of 2016 and from 10.3 percent in the previous month. TUIK data showed that that the number of unemployed people aged 15 years and over – 3.27 million last November – decreased by 440,000 year-on-year. The youth unemployment rate, including people aged 15-24, was 19.3 percent, with a 3.3 percentage point decrease compared to the same period of 2016. The unemployment rate for people aged 15-64 was 10.5 percent, with 1.8 percentage point decrease, according to TUIK data.

The number of employed people rose by nearly 1.5 million in the same period, moving the employment rate to 47.3 percent with a 1.5 percentage point annual increase, the statement noted. The number of employed people rose to 28.52 million people in the period of November 2017 compared with the same period of the previous year. According to the distribution of employment by sector; 18.6 percent was employed in agriculture, 19.2 percent was in industry, 7.6 percent was in construction and 54.6 percent was in service, TUIK data showed. The institute also noted that the labor force participation rate was 52.8 percent, with a 0.7 percentage points increase over the same period. The labor force participation rate for men was 72.1 percent, with a 0.2 percentage point increase from the same period of the previous year. The rate for women was 33.8 percent, with 1.1 percentage point rise. 

(ITALPRESS/MNA).


Source: medNews

TRAFFIC IN TEL AVIV BEN GURION AIRPORT KEEPS RISING

The scenario of the most active airlines in Israel has undergone a new change. According to data reported by the Israeli airport Authority and taken from the economic newspaper Globes, after El Al – national flag carrier – ranked first with 370,000 passengers equal to 28% of all passengers in transit (slightly down compared to January 2017) , the second place belongs to the Hungarian low-cost airline Wizz Air, which transported 74,500 passengers, 90% compared to January 2017, becoming the main foreign airline in Israel,.

In the third place, another low-cost airline, the British easyJet, with 73,000 passengers, 29% more than in January 2017.

Turkish Airlines saw the number of passengers increase by 37% in January 2018 with 69,000 passengers, thus earning the fourth place. Russian airline Aeroflot completes the Top 5.

Like Turkish Airlines, many of Aeroflot’s passengers are only in transit to various destinations around the world.

Passenger traffic at Ben Gurion airport continued to grow again in January, with 1.3 million passengers, 15% more than in January 2017, of which 1.16 million passengers through Terminal 3 and 133,000 passengers through the Terminal 1 (from where low-cost airlines fly).

The United States remained the main destination, followed by Turkey, with a 40% increase in the number of passengers. Once again, most of the Israeli passengers flying to Turkey were in transit on one of the three Turkish airlines operating flights from Israel: Turkish Airlines, Pegasus and AtlasGlobal.

The third main destination for passengers from Israel in January was Germany, followed by France and Italy. Other destinations with a large increase in passengers include Poland (due to the expanded activity of LOT Polish Airlines, among other things), Cyprus, Hungary and China (with direct flights to and from the main Asian airports increasingly frequent ), from which passenger traffic increased by 43%.

From the point of view of the airports of destination for passengers coming from Israel, first place is Istanbul Ataturk Airport, followed by Charles de Gaulle in Paris, Seheremetievo in Moscow and Kennedy in New York.

(ITALPRESS/MNA).


Source: medNews

ISRAEL, LESS TAXES FOR INTERNATIONAL VENTURE CAPITAL FUNDS

International venture capital funds with offices in Israel may in future pay lower income taxes. According to a decree issued yesterday by the Israeli Tax Authority, these funds can now pay an income tax based on capital gains, instead of a fixed rate of 10% -15%.
The new legislation should encourage foreign investors to consider investments in Israel, according to Oz Halabi, member of the New York branch of the Israeli law firm Pearl Cohen Zedek Latzer Baratz, interviewed on Wednesday by Calcalist. In recent days, the law firm has received requests from numerous funds to understand the implications of the new law, Halabi said.
According to current Israeli government tax guidelines, a 30% income tax on national funds applies today, but non-Israeli investors and venture capital funds are exempt from local taxes. However, when a foreign fund opens an Israeli office, local laws provide unclear indications that this fund should be taxed as a national fund on its capital gains generated in Israel, with a fixed rate of 10% -15%.
Non-Israeli funds with more than ten partners are more likely to obtain an exemption, even with local representation, since a large investor base means that income gains are more easily recognized as passive income. Funds with ten or less partners are usually taxed according to the fixed rate of the country of origin.

The lack of clarity around local taxation means that non-Israeli funds operating on Israeli territory that are taxed at the fixed rate can not file tax returns in their country of origin, if the agreement is not recognized within a bi-national tax agreement, Mr. Halabi explained.
According to the new legislation, these funds will now be taxed as national, but only their expenses related to the presence in the country will be subject to tax.
The new guidelines are ‘another positive step’ to alleviate the tax burden on foreign investors and will allow these investors to operate in Israel through local representation in a more fluid way, said Halabi.

(ITALPRESS/MNA)


Source: medNews

ITALY, MINNITI WELCOMED TUNISIAN COUNTERPART LOFTI BRAHEM

The Minister of Interior, Marco Minniti, welcomed  his Tunisian counterpart Lofti Brahem at the Viminale Palace.
The meeting was an occasion to further strengthen cooperation between Italy and Tunisia in several sectors, starting from the fight to terrorism, illegal immigration, border control measures to the cooperation between police of the two countries.
In particular, Minister Brahem confirmed the commitment on cooperation in the prevention of illegal migratory flows, in the returning procedures and in the exchange of information aimed at contrasting organized crime and terrorism.
On the Italian side, Minister Minniti reaffirmed the availability to reinforce assistance to Tunisian authorities with regards to new measures aimed at reinforcing bilateral cooperation.

(ITALPRESS/MNA)


Source: medNews

MEDITERRANEAN, HIGH UNEMPLOYMENT FOR WOMEN AND YOUTH

The 2017 edition of the Report on the Mediterranean economies of the Institute of Mediterranean Societies Studies (Issm) of the Cnr, presented in Naples, focused in particular on the labor market issues, one of the central issues in relations Euro-Mediterranean, also for the connections with the migratory thrusts coming from the south and east shore of the basin.

The structural changes that occurred between 2000 and 2015 in this area affect especially the most vulnerable social groups: ‘Youth unemployment is high not only on the southern shore, but also on the northern shore of the Mediterranean, with four countries reaching in 2015 levels over 45%: Bosnia-Herzegovina (66.9%), Libya (50%), Spain (49.4%) and Greece (49.2%) ‘, as explained by Salvatore Capasso and Yolanda Pena-Boquete explain in their chapter. ‘Women’s participation remains extremely low in the Arab countries of the Mediterranean. Besides representing an obvious social problem, youth and female unemployment poses a serious question of inefficient allocation of resources ‘. The participation of women in the labor market in North Africa is also the subject of the contribution of Ersilia Francesca and Renata Pepicelli, who explain how ‘despite the lowering of fertility rates and progress in terms of schooling’ the rate remains ‘significantly lower than other developing areas. The average rate of female unemployment in North Africa in 2015 was 20.4%, more than double that of the EU, which in 2015 was 9.5% (source ILO 2015). The uprisings of 2011 have seen a prominent role of young people and women, but the phase of ‘transition’ has largely ignored their expectations and aspirations ‘.

The problem will also tend to widen in perspective, according to Barbara Zagaglia, in Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia which, ‘under the assumption of a continuous increase in life expectancy, will see the population of working age increase between 2015 and 2030. Only to keep the already low employment rates constant, Algeria will have to add each year from 126 thousand to 231 thousand new jobs, Morocco from 121 thousand to 133 thousand, Tunisia from 281 thousand to 392 thousand. If these objectives are not met, the road to migration will be assured ‘. Migration movements are intertwined with the fact that between 2008 and 2015 in Italy, Spain, Portugal and Greece ‘at the end of the long and intense economic crisis, the employment rates of foreigners have significantly decreased from 8 to 17 percentage points. ‘, As noted by Corrado Bonifazi and Salvatore Strozza. ‘While the unemployment of foreigners has taken on considerable dimensions: over 16% in Italy, but more than 30% in Greece and Spain’.

Francesco Carchedi and Michele Colucci have also drawn a historical picture, underlining that ‘it is not just national states that plan migration policies’, but ‘we must also look at international organizations, non-governmental organizations, and criminal organizations’. The link between migration policies and development, particularly in North Africa and in the Sahel, is the subject of the chapter by Marco Zupi, according to which ‘the priority of the EU has focused on migration and its containment, to the detriment of sustainable and inclusive development ‘, whereas a’ multi-level governance system and territorial policies ‘ would be necessary. Giorgia Giovannetti, Mauro Lanati and Alessandra Venturini focus on the migration of the most skilled workers (the so-called brain drain), noting how it favors ‘the growth of exports of products with higher technological content’.

Roberto Aliboni’s chapter tackles the crucial points of the crisis under way in the Mediterranean during 2016, such as ‘the weakening at regional level of the ‘moderate’ Arab countries, the reflux of jihadism, the strengthening of Iran and its allies, the protagonism of Turkey and the increasingly hegemonic and pervasive role of Russia ‘. The chapter of Desirée Quagliarotti identifies the prospects of the green economy of the countries in the Euro-Mediterranean region, which ‘must start thinking in terms of a systemic and integrated approach that can focus on innovation, efficient use of resources and the dissemination of knowledge. These factors could all contribute to growth, social cohesion and increased employment ‘.

(ITALPRESS/MNA).


Source: medNews

HI-TECH MADE IN ITALY FOR THE RESTORATION OF MONUMENT OF MALTA

There is also ENEA in the all-Italian team that led the restoration of the Tritons’ Fountain on the island of Malta, thanks to a collaboration agreement with the Roman firm De Feo Restauri. The synergy between a highly specialized private company and a public research body has provided a hi-tech imprint for the restoration of the symbolic monument of the Maltese capital, initiating an effective technological transfer activity from the laboratory to the company. After twelve months of work, the piece of the sculptor Vincent Apap and architect Victor Anastasi has returned to ‘dominate’ the entrance of Valletta, declared European Capital of Culture 2018. The large travertine basin – with the center three Bronze tritons that support an additional tank, as well made of bronze – had been inaugurated in 1959 but over time, due to atmospheric agents it had lost its original splendor. ‘Our task – explains ENEA researcher Valeria Spizzichino – was first of all to identify the type of deterioration present on the surface of the fountain basin. We did this by using our laser eqipment on site, while we analyzed the samples taken in the laboratories of the ENEA Research Center in Casaccia and Frascati . This type of investigation – continues the researcher – allowed to identify the causes of degradation and to identify the most suitable restoration intervention ‘. 

The ENEA researchers then tested, together with the restorers, different methods of chemical cleaning of the surface using four types of techniques on as many areas of the tank. All the compresses, consisting mostly of laponite and cellulose pulp, remained in contact with the surface of the fountain for around twenty-four hours. ‘Subsequently we analysed the treated parts, finding a different effectiveness associated with each treatment – emphasizes Spizzichino – but in no case traces of calcite removal of the travertine have been identified, meaning that no damage occurred to the treated material. Our diagnostic technologies – the researcher concludes – have allowed us to precisely identify the most suitable restoration for the fountain’.

The company De Feo Restauri, winner of the public tender announced by the Maltese government for the restoration of the fountain together with the companies Coge Impianti and Fonderia Marinelli, involved ENEA as a scientific partner for diagnostic investigations. Already in 2014, the Roman firm had worked on the restoration of the walls of Valletta as part of a larger project of redevelopment of the city started by architect Renzo Piano.

In addition to the restoration activities, sophisticated installations were carried out for the fountain, which saw the construction of a technical room below the square, a connecting tunnel of about 40 meters and a new pumping station, together with the installation of new hydraulic, electrical and mechanical systems, water treatment and a new lighting system.

 


Source: medNews

SLOVENIA, AGREEMENT GOVERNMENT-SID BANK FOR FUND DEVELOPMENT

At the end of the year the Government has appointed the SID Bank, manager of the ESIF Fund, which will have an allocation of 253 million euro from the European cohesion funds. The aim of the new fund is to promote and finance sustainable growth and economic development, investment in innovation and current management with equity and debt financing mainly in four areas: research, development and innovation, small and medium-sized enterprises, energy efficiency and urban development. Within the fund of funds, the SID Bank will offer, through financial intermediaries, mainly commercial banks and public funds, new financial products to Slovenian companies and municipalities. The new instruments will contribute to the achievement of the objectives of the operational program for the implementation of the European Cohesion Policy for the period 2014-2020. The funds will be available to final recipients from the second half of the year, once the procedures and management mechanisms will be established.

(ITALPRESS/MNA).


Source: medNews

EGYPT, PARLIAMENT PASSES BANKRUPTCY LAW

Egyptian Parliament has passed the country’s first bankruptcy law that is to regulate companies’ financial and administrative restructuring and bankruptcy cases.

The new law aims to minimize the need for companies or individuals to resort to courts and simplifies post- bankruptcy procedures. It will also abolish imprisonment in cases of bankruptcy.

 Difficulty in exiting the Egyptian market had be a concern among investors, a reason which lowered the country’s ranking on the World Bank’s Doing Business Index.

(ITALPRESS/MNA).


Source: medNews

TOURISM, MINISTER MALTA "POSSIBLE SYNERGIES WITH SICILY"

“Malta and Sicily are two complementary regions that work together. In Malta we have many Sicilians who have shops, owners of fine restaurants and who trade, and many Sicilians come to Malta for a holiday or a rest period. At the same time the Maltese come to Sicily, they have houses, and with the Sicilian government we are discussing what needs to be done to put together closer relationships”. This was stated by the Minister of Tourism of the Republic of Malta, Konrad Mizzi, in Catania to participate in the presentation of the new flight of the airline Air Malta that will connect Catania to Vienna.

“The first thing we are doing is intensifying the flights that allow you to go from Malta to Catania, Palermo and Comiso – added the Maltese minister – and soon the airline ‘Air Malta’ will have other flights in Europe: Vienna, London and Germany A ‘relationship’ between the two regions in the logic of ‘two-stop holidays’: those who come to Malta for three days can continue their holiday in Sicily, which is why, together with the Sicilian regional councilor for Tourism Sandro Pappalardo, we want to work to create a synergy of cultural and sporting events”.

 


Source: medNews

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