Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1410761
5 NEWS 16.9.2021 MIA hosting sustainable finance conference in Malta THE Malta Institute of Accountants is hosting a high-profile conference on the impact of sustainable accounting on financial reporting, on Wednesday Sep- tember 22. e one-day event examines the an- ticipated transformations affecting the sector in the wake of the Corporate Sus- tainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) review by the European Commission. e theme of the conference – A New Mindset: Reduce. Reuse. Report – reflects a growing awareness among professionals about their responsibili- ty towards sustainability in the private and public sectors. e accountancy profession has been moving fast in re- cent years to set common standards on non-financial disclosures, particularly on issues surrounding Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) con- cerns. e CSRD was introduced to guide listed and large companies on how to share information about the impact of business on people and the environ- ment. Now, the EC is proposing ex- tending these requirements to other non-listed and smaller organisations. "e MIA Biennial Conference is a platform for the accountancy profes- sion to set the agenda on pressing mat- ters," said the President of the Institute of Accountants, Fabio Axisa. "Businesses have a responsibility to consider the broader implications of their activities and accountants are leading that change in mindset. is is the right time to discuss sustainable reporting in finance and the Institute is delighted to present such an outstand- ing programme." e MIA event brings together the major stakeholders driving the shift towards sustainable accounting both locally and in the region. Participating bodies include Accountancy Europe; the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants; CORE Europe Direct Centre; the Institute of Chartered Ac- countants in England and Wales; the International Federation of Account- ants; the Chamber of SMEs; the Mal- ta Chamber of Commerce; and Big 4 International and Local Sustainability Champions. Representatives from the European Commission and the European Finan- cial Reporting Advisory Group will also shed light on the theme from a public interest perspective while a distin- guished line-up of speakers and experts from Malta and abroad will address the event. e main themes for discussion will be presented by Antoine Fenech, Deloitte Senior Manager of Assurance; Arnaud van Dijk, Director, KPMG in the Cay- man Islands; Chris Meilak, EY Malta Executive Director, Strategy & Transac- tions; Damian Regan, Assurance Lead- er for Sustainability at Deloitte's Middle East; Ivan Grixti, Senior lecturer at the University of Malta; Massimo Betta- nin, Partner EY Malta, Michael Xuer- eb, MFSA Chief Officer Strategy, Policy and Innovation; Olivier Boutellis-Taft, Accountancy Europe Chief Executive Officer; Ulrich Hartmann, Compliance, Risk & Regulation in Financial Services, PwC Germany. Registrations for the MIA Biennial Conference are now open. e full list of guest speakers and a detailed event schedule are available on https://www. miamalta.org/e-MIA-Biennial-2021. UNDER the management of Hili Com- pany's Mariner Adriatic, Durres Con- tainer Terminal ("DCT") in Albania is the first container terminal in the world to go live with the Navis N4Saas terminal operating system ("TOS"), Navis's cloud- based solution. Launched in December 2020, Navis N4Saas allows terminals the full feature set of a TOS while being delivered as a service at a predictable subscription price which helps terminals to control costs. By moving to the cloud, terminals have the opportunity to continuously inno- vate operations, allow IT personnel to focus on strategic initiatives and free up hardware spend for IT infrastructure while minimizing production loss due to unplanned downtime. Implementation of cloud-based Navis N4Saas allows the terminal to streamline day-to-day operations utilising Navis's cloud and lays the groundwork for the continuous development and improve- ment of the terminal operation. In just three months, Mariner Adriatic were able to convert the terminal's op- erations making DCT the first terminal operating Navis N4Saas in the cloud. rough the cloud the terminal was able to roll out capabilities incremen- tally, starting with gate, moving to the yard and then to vessel operations, fol- lowed by Equipment Control and EDI Exchange functionality as well as BI re- porting and integrations with external systems. "e implementation of Navis N4Saas is a significant advancement for the Container Terminal of Port of Durres and one that we firmly believe will lead to improved efficiency across our op- erations, a more seamless exchange of information with key stakeholders and a broadened portfolio of services that we can offer our customers", said Aklet Malo, CFO of Durres Port Authority. "Beyond that, the additional layer of security afforded to us through cloud operations, along with increased visibil- ity, transparency, and trackability of our operational processes, will be key to ex- pediting law enforcement activities with the port. Navis's partnership and estab- lished expertise in these areas gives us an added competitive advantage and will only serve to strengthen our position in the region." Dmitry Kiselyev, Information Technol- ogy Director of Hili Company said, "N4 Saas implementation in Durres shows that cloud-based TOS deployment is re- liable and secure enough to manage the mission critical processes of a modern container terminal with rates of perfor- mance and responsiveness equal to those provided by on-site hosted systems". Meanwhile, Hili Company CEO Ed- ward Hili expressed his delight stating, "We are very pleased with the rapid and successful deployment of N4 Saas at DCT, which is a core element of our strategy to enhance operations at the ter- minal. Technology is a critical element at all our group's operations and we are de- lighted to once again be at the forefront in this space." Hili Company's Mariner Adriatic first globally to deploy Navis N4Saas