ROME (ITALPRESS/MNA) – The agreement that allowed the export of wheat from Ukrainian ports through a secure corridor into the Black Sea was extended for another two months. This was announced by the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, according to reports broadcasted by the Turkish State TV.
“We confirm the announcement by the President of Turkey, the extension of the Black Sea Grain Initiative by two months. There is one possibility, not in words, but through facts, to contribute to ensure global food security and help more the countries in need,” said Maria Zacharova, a spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
“Our analysis on the Istanbul agreements of 22 July 2022 have not changed and the problems would need to be resolved at the technical level as soon as possible”, she added.

– photo Agenziafotogramma.it –

(ITALPRESS).

Source: medNews

VALLETTA (MALTA) (ITALPRESS/MNA) – The President of Malta George Vella called for the withdrawal of all foreign forces, mercenaries, fighters, and armed groups from Libya. He appealed that a Libyan led and owned process will allow the people of Libya to choose their leaders and renew the legitimacy of their institutions.

Maltàs President was addressing the opening session of the ‘Malta InterAction Council Meeting’, during which he focused his address on the Mediterranean region and the challenges posed as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

George Vella shared his views on the realities that are shaping the Mediterranean region, especially on the concerning situation in Libya, which he termed sobering.

President Vella urged all former leaders to exert pressure where it is most needed and not to shy away from condemning unilateral acts of provocation, which only lead to further bloodshed. Directly addressing the former President of Ukraine, Viktor Yushchenko, President Vella reiterated the full support and solidarity of the people of Malta and expressed an absolute and downright condemnation of Russiàs invasion.

President Vella said that for the region to prosper and for the people to reach their full potential, there needs to emerge a sound and attractive investment climate based on functioning and accountable institutions. In this context, he called for a stronger political will for change while acknowledging the risks posed by a deteriorating environment.

– photo Department of Information Malta –

(ITALPRESS).

Source: medNews

VALLETTA (MALTA) (ITALPRESS/MNA) – Malta is expected to register the EU’s second-highest economic growth rate, and lowest rate with inflation slashed by more than half according to the European Commission’s Spring Forecast.

The European Commission’s forecast is expecting an economic growth of 3.9% for Malta this year. Only Ireland is expected to have a higher economic growth at 5.5%.

The European Commission is forecasting a 4.1% growth rate for next year, while inflation is expected remain high at 5.4% in 2023 and decreasing to 2.8% in 2024. Increase in prices for imported goods; especially food, tourism services and housing maintenance services will keep high rate of inflation in 2023.

Economists from the European Commission believe that the measures taken by the Maltese government helped to keep energy prices unchanged in Malta, and are expected to remain in place also in 2023 and 2024. However, this led to a deficit of 5.8% in 2022, described by the European Commission as “among the highest in the EU”. It is expected to gradually decrease in 2023 and 2024. Maltese Finance Minister Clyde Caruana has repeatedly said Malta will need to wane off energy subsidies eventually. The government spent €400 million on energy subsidies last year.

The European Commission remarked that a strong 6.9 per cent GDP growth last year was in large part due to the recovering tourism sector, export of services and increase in domestic demand for goods and services. It added that the public debt is expected to remain below 60% of GDP.

On employment, the EC said that Malta maintains a high employment growth. The employment increased by an impressive 6% in 2022, both public and private. It said that Maltàs unemployment rate fell to 2.9% in 2022 and is expected to remain around this level by 2024. The report noted that “workers and skills shortages are expected to remain the main limiting factors for the Maltese economy over the forecast horizon,” the report said.

– photo Department of Information Malta –

(ITALPRESS).

Source: medNews

TRIPOLI (LIBYA) (ITALPRESS/MNA) – The Italian stand at the 49th Tripoli International Fair attracted great interest among various commercial operators and Libyan authorities, with Italian companies operating in the food, fashion, and cosmetic industries participating in strengthening the economic ties between the two countries.
Italy is the first commercial partner in Libya, particularly in the oil & gas, food, processing machinery and construction sectors.
The Italian-Libyan Centre for Business and Cooperation promoted the “Made in Italy” stand who was visited by the Prime Minister of the Tripoli-based Libyan Government Abd Alhamid Aldabaiba and the Minister of Economy Mohamed Al Hwej.
The Italian-Libyan Center for Business and Cooperation is a consultancy agency whose aim is to strengthen the economic and cultural relations between Italy and Libya, in collaboration with Italian-Libyan institutions.

– photo Centro Italo-Libico per l’Impresa e la Cooperazione –

(ITALPRESS).

Source: medNews

LA VALLETTA (MALTA) (ITALPRESS/MNA) – Various flights coming to Malta were diverted to Sicilian airports as bad weather conditions hit Malta’s international airport on Sunday evening, making it unsafe for planes to land. Flights leaving the island were also badly hit and delayed. The planes were diverted because of low visibility caused by the desert sand coming from the Sahara region and strong winds which could destabilise the aircraft. Malta International Airport confirmed that three flights were diverted to Catania and another to Palermo. The flights diverted to Catania were coming from Naples, Berlin and Paris while the flight diverted to Palermo was on its way to Malta from Paris. According to local reports, passengers on one of the flights reported heavy turbulence on the plane as it was reaching Malta, forcing the pilot to land in Catania. All four flights returned to Malta some four hours after the scheduled arrival time. Although an African cyclone is not expected to hit Malta on Monday evening, strong winds with gusts between Force 5 and 7 are expected to lash the Maltese islands. (ITALPRESS).

 

Photo Credits: www.agenziafotogramma.it

Source: medNews

LA VALLETTA (MALTA) (ITALPRESS/MNA) – The Maltese government revealed the use of a new software managed by Artificial Intelligence (AI) to immediately uncover tax evasion. Representatives of the International Monetary Fund were in Malta during the launch of the new system known as ‘Statistical Analysis System’. 85% of the government’s revenue comes from taxes. Last year, the tax department registered a 42 percent increase in tax agreements, that allow individuals and businesses with tax arrears to pay their dues over a period of time. Also, last year the tax department collected €240 million more in VAT.
Finance Minister Clyde Caruana confirmed that the new software is already in use in the UK, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Ireland, and Canada. It will be analyzing VAT returns by the end of this year and all other forms of taxes within the next three years.
The Maltese government is investing over 3 million euros over a period of three years in this AI software which will draw collect data from different registries and bank accounts to assess the individual’s cash deposits and illiquid assets in a move to help the tax authorities keep control on income and tax dues more efficiently. Finance Minister explained that the system will automatically alert authorities when a person or business’s declared income does not correspond with their accumulated wealth. The computer program runs daily analyses of the wealth that people and companies own and matches it with the income they declare.
(ITALPRESS).
-photo credit Doi-

Source: medNews

LA VALLETTA (MALTA) (ITALPRESS/MNA) – The Italian market continued to be the driving force of passengers who made use of Maltàs International Airport in April. This was confirmed by official statistics released by the company manning the airport.
708,388 passengers made their way through Maltàs International Airport, an increase of 8.4% when compared to the pre-pandemic period in 2019. The Italian market was followed by passengers coming from the United Kingdom, France, and Germany. The Spanish market improved drastically as a result of the resumption of flights from Seville and Valencia and an increase in flights from Barcelona. The new summer schedule launched by the airport and the Easter holidays contributed to this increase; with the Easter weekend registering the most passengers with a total of 98,449.
Ryanair is the airline that shares most of the market of Maltàs airport, carrying 45% of all passengers, followed by Air Malta at 26%, Lufthansa at 5%, Easy Jet at 5%, and Wizz Air at 5%.
The CEO of Maltàs International Airport Alan Borg was reported saying that the company that runs the airport is closely monitoring Air Maltàs situation as talks between the Maltese government and the European Commission over the future of the flag carrier are still ongoing. “Having a home carrier operating to primary airports to and from Malta is very important and we need to make sure we keep this home carrier,” Borg said.
(ITALPRESS).
– photo credit Malta Airport-

Source: medNews

THE HAGUE (ITALPRESS/MNA) – The International Criminal Court (ICC) told the United Nations Security Council that the court has issued four new secret arrest warrants for crimes allegedly committed in Libya since 2011.
This was announced by Karim Khan, the Prosecutor of the ICC during the presentation of his half-yearly report on Libya to the United Nations Security Council.
He added that his office in the last few weeks had applied for two more arrest warrants, but judges have not yet ruled on those applications.
The warrants are currently under seal so it is not clear who is targeted or what crimes specifically the ICC prosecutor is charging. The prosecutor has asked judges for the warrants to be unsealed and a decision is pending.
Khan called the warrants “an important step in the rights of victims and survivors” for accountability, but only a first step.
The Security Council unanimously referred Libya to The Hague, Netherlands-based ICC in February 2011 to launch an investigation into alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity. The referral followed Muammar Gaddafìs brutal crackdown on protesters that was then taking place. The uprising, later backed by NATO, led to Gaddafìs capture and death in October 2011.
Since then, major fighting erupted in Libya and ended in 2020, but there has been little progress towards a political solution, as armed factions still dominate the country.
-photo agenziafotogramma.it-
(ITALPRESS).

Source: medNews

ANKARA (TU’RKIYE) (ITALPRESS/MNA) – The Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced a 45% salary increase for the public sector workers ahead of the next key elections scheduled on 14 May. “We are increasing wages by 45 percent, including the welfare assistance. Therefore, we are raising the lowest salary of the public workers to 15,000 TL.” This was announced by Erdogan during the signing ceremony of the 2023 collective workers’ agreement.
“With this agreement and through this wage framework, the workers will receive about 700,000 for the period 2023-2024,” he said.
“The Turkish government will continue to work to increase the minimum wage for the civil servants and to increase the pensions,” he stated.
Erdogan added “in July we plan to intervene to minimize the effect of inflation and the welfare aid,” while emphasizing that citizens will not be allowed to “be crushed” by inflation.” The Turkish President said “we will continue to take these steps despite the burden of more than 100 billion dollars that the earthquake disaster has imposed on our economy. Now, thank God, Turkey has reached its strength and is able to bear all these burdens.” “We will also make new regulations that will raise the level of income for all our citizens to address the problems as a result of high inflation and cost of living,” he said, while made it clear “no one will feel the load because of the inflation.” In January, the Turkish government had increased for the first six months of 2023, the wages and the financial benefits by 30% for active and retired civil servants.
-photo agenziafotogramma.it-
(ITALPRESS).

Source: medNews