BusinessToday Previous Editions

3 NEWS 24.11.2022 Inbound tourists from January to December 2021 reached nearly 944 thousand or 34.9 per cent of 2019 tourists, an increase of 47.5 per cent over the same period in 2020, mainly driven by holiday travellers. Total tourist expenditure for 2021 was estimated at €871 million, an increase of 91.3 per cent over 2020, while tourism expenditure per capita was estimated at €899, a 30.1 per cent increase over 2020. On average, tourists increased the length of their visit by 0.7 nights, with the majority, 55.5 per cent, staying for seven days or more. tourists BANK of Valletta p.l.c. (BOV) is the main sponsor of the 15th Annual Con- ference of FinanceMalta, which will be held on 1 December 2022 at the Inter- continental Arena Conference Centre with the theme "Learning from the past: Looking to the Future". e conference will discuss lessons and achievements of the financial ser- vices industry throughout 2022, and will shed a light on what lies ahead in 2023. Referring to the theme of the con- ference, BOV Chairman Dr Gordon Cordina said: "We have over the dec- ades made a success of our economy. We continue to prove our resilience in extraordinarily difficult times. Going forward, we will need to carefully carve the path of our growth by selecting the niche activities where we can add value based on what we do best, to provide for the society and economy that we will want to live in tomorrow" Established in 1974, BOV is Malta's leading financial services provider and is the largest bank of Maltese origin and ownership. BOV's services range from personal solutions to retail customers through its branch network, tailored financial advice through regional In- vestment Centres; business financing through Business Centres and high-end services to corporate companies and wealth management customers through its Premium Banking Centre. FinanceMalta Chairman George Vel- la commented: "FinanceMalta is proud and honoured to announce that our main sponsor for this year's Annual Conference is BOV. e importance of having such a major Maltese financial institution backing this conference can- not be understated. As we strive to pro- mote Malta as an international Finan- cial Centre, the backing of BOV and all our members is crucial. Our mandate is to promote the jurisdiction and con- tribute to the efforts of all stakeholders to enable the financial services sector to continue grow and prosper. e annual conference is the best showcase of this commitment." e FinanceMalta 15th Annual Con- ference attracted the interest of many local and international companies, which are supporting the event. ese include, among others, Platinum Spon- sors Lockton, Finance Incorporated Limited, the Malta Stock Exchange and Zenith Actuarial powered by Optalitix. is year's edition of the Finance Mal- ta Annual Conference will be the first fully in-person and face-to-face annu- al conference since the pandemic. e conference will feature executives from Malta and abroad, European Union pol- icymakers, Maltese Government rep- resentatives, officials of global stand- ard-setting organisations, renowned academics, researchers and more. High-calibre international speakers include the former President of the Fi- nancial Action Task Force (FATF) Dr Marcus Pleyer, the Executive Director of the European Banking Authority (EBA) François-Louis Michaud; Futur- ist and Professor of Practice, Imperial College Business School, Prof. David Shrier, as well as the Director for Finan- cial and Enterprise Affairs at the Organ- isation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Prof. Carmine Di Noia. Prime Minister Robert Abela and the President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola will be addressing the conference. More information on the FinanceMal- ta Annual Conference as well as infor- mation on registration, is available at https://www.fmannualconference.org/. FROM PAGE 1 The sale of purchase agreement cov- ers the temporary utile dominium for the remaining period for the por- tion of land forming part of the land known as 'ta' L-Istabar', in the limits of Qormi. Pavi Shopping Complex Limited has already paid a deposit of €700,000. In its statement on Tuesday, PG Group did not indicate what the land would be utilised for and BusinessTo- day has confirmed that the Planning Authority has tus far not received any development application. When contacted, CEO Charles Borg said that before the deal is finalised, he could not comment on what the company intends to do with the prop- erty. Nor could he divulge any details be- fore a public statement is issued to inform the market, since the Group is listed on the Malta Stock Echange. However, sources close to the deal said that plans for the land include the development of a shopping village that would encompass the existing supermarket and include a shopping mall and extended commercial space, similar to the PAMA Shopping Village in Mosta. The project could also include resi- dential units. Borg said that the Group will only be able to make its plans public once the sale goes through. "But the fact that we entered into a promise of sale agreement for such a large amount, and having already paid a 10 per cent deposit, makes it obvious that we have a clear plan in mind for the development of the land," he said. The agreement is subject to the rel- evant searches being concluded satis- factorily and is valid up to 30 January 2023. BOV is main sponsor of FinanceMalta's 15th Annual Conference PAVI snaps up adjacent 65,000sq.m of land with 'clear plan' for development The PAVI Shopping Complex in Qormi opened in 2006

• Cover