Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1003259
maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 11 JULY 2018 11 ANALYSIS www.creditinfo.com.mt info@creditinfo.com.mt Tel: 2131 2344 Your Local Partner for Credit Risk Management Solutions Supporting you all the way CONFIDENCE among in- vestors in Germany plunged sharply in July, the ZEW eco- nomic institute said today, reaching its lowest level since August 2012 over signs that a trade war was far from abat- ing. "Above all, fears of an escala- tion in the international trade war with the US" drove the institute's barometer based on a survey of financial play- ers down 8.6 points to reach -24.7, ZEW president Achim Wambach said. President Donald Trump has hit steel and aluminium imports to the US with tariffs and threatened to do the same to European cars, after the Eu- ropean Union retaliated with border taxes of its own on American goods. Major German firms have also suffered from the White House's trade war with Bei- jing, the second front in Trump's battle to slash US deficits, as their cars built in America face new tariffs when entering China. Investors' views of the cur- rent situation in both Germa- ny and the eurozone worsened in July. This suggested that recent "good news on industrial pro- duction, industrial orders and the labour market are more than cancelled out by the ex- pected negative effects on exports" from the trade war, Wambach said. Investors surveyed by ZEW also saw a bleaker future out- look for the 19-nation euro zone, with that index falling 6.1 points to reach -18.7. ZEW polled 201 financial an- alysts and investors to compile its monthly index. German investor mood slumps on trade war fears Investors' views of the current situation in both Germany and the eurozone worsened in July Snapchat shares jump amid reports of Amazon tie-up Air Malta appoints new CEO SNAPCHAT shares have jumped 0.89 per cent amid reports that it is working on a project with Amazon — code- named internally as "Eagle" — whereby Amazon users would be able to identify products, barcodes and songs once they take a photo with Snapchat's camera. 15-year-old app researcher Ishan Agarwal has been credit- ed for tipping off TechCrunch about this scoop. The feature would allow users to snap a picture of an object, and then the app would pull up sellers of a product and re- views, according to the Verge. You would then be able to copy the Amazon link, share, and send the info to friends. If not, it will simply alert: "Bum- mer, we didn't catch that!" "Surfacing within Snapchat a context card of details about ownable objects might be the first step to getting users to buy them… and advertisers to pay Snap to promote them. It's easy to imagine context cards being accessible for products tagged in Snap Ads as well as scanned through visual search," TechCrunch story adds. MASSIMO COSTA AIR Malta has appointed Clif- ford Chetcuti, a former airline pilot who worked in aviation for over three decades, as its new Chief Executive Officer. The airline said in a statement that Chetcuti's post would be- come effective on 1 September, when he will be replacing Joseph Galea, who has been acting CEO since 2016. Clifford Chetcuti started his career in aviation as a cadet pilot with Air Malta in 1987. He com- pleted his training at Air Ser- vice Training in Perth, Scotland where he was the recipient of the Principals Award as Pilot of the Year 1988. He then joined Emirates in 1994 and was promoted to cap- tain in 1999, where his career path saw him progress through various managerial roles within the company. Chetcuti was a captain on the Emirates inau- gural A380 flight from Dubai to New York in August 2008. He left Emirates in 2016 to join Qatar Airways initially as a con- sultant on organisational and operational aspects of the Flight Training Department. Subse- quently he was appointed Vice President Flight Training and Head of the Approved Training Organisation managing more than 4,000 pilots as the Nomi- nated Person for Flight Training. He was the Director of the De- ployed Response Group respon- sible for the overall management of the Incident Management Centre for Qatar Airways and Member of the Qatar Airways Group Safety and Security Com- mittee. Chetcuti will be using his ex- pertise to focus on the improve- ment of efficiencies in Air Mal- ta's organisational structure and its brand imagine, the national carrier said, highlighting that this would "ensure it was prepared to become the airline of the Medi- terranean". "Chetcuti has vast experience in the aviation industry particu- larly in-flight operations, training and aviation practices. During his experience abroad, he was instrumental to develop suc- cessfully operational areas with Emirates and Qatar Airways," it highlighted. "Clifford's strength is his in- fluencing leadership style that empowers his team to deliver results. His broad experience in management of change focuses on establishing sound processes which deliver pragmatic and ef- ficient organisational outcomes," it said. The former pilot flew the Boe- ing 737, Airbus A300, A310, A320, A330, A340, A350 and A380 and has more than 15,000 hours of flying experience, gain- ing a vast understanding of the Airbus systems and philosophies. Regarding Galea's future un- dertakings, Air Malta said his CEO contract ends in August and that "he had informed the airline that he has decided to branch into tourism consultancy taking advantage of his 30 years expe- rience in international tourism marketing."