Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1498955
2 NEWS 11.5.2023 ON an official visit to Ethiopia For- eign Minister Ian Borg was invited by Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali for several meetings and visits to infrastructural projects. After the Ethiopian prime minister's visit to Malta a few weeks ago, Mal- ta accepted the official invitation so that the discussions could continue in Addis Ababa, particularly regarding commercial relations. Borg was given a tour of several pro- jects, including the Science Museum and the Entoto Park. During this visit, the exploratory discussions regarding Malta's poten- tial collaboration with Ethiopian Air- lines continued. Borg and the Maltese delegation had a meeting with the airline's CEO Mesfin Tasew. is air- line has more than 170 aircrafts and is considered one of the five largest airlines in the world. Borg also launched a Maltese pro- ject called Connected Classrooms. Through a development assistance initiative, direct cooperation is being created between the Kidane Mehret school in Addis Ababa, a school that was built by the Maltese more than 100 years ago and has since been managed by the Maltese, and the Ma- ter Boni Consili St Joseph School in Paola. This programme is serving to cre- ate more opportunities of educational and cultural exchanges between the two countries and through digital technology Maltese teachers are as- sisting in the teaching of the English language. "Projects like these show the work that the Maltese government is doing in order to assist and help in the devel- opment of other countries," Borg said. Malta-Ethiopia commercial relations explored in meeting between Foreign Minister and Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Aliy Trade deficit narrows in March PROVISIONAL figures for regis- tered trade in goods in Malta record- ed a deficit of €188.3 million dur- ing March, compared to a deficit of €237.1 million in the corresponding month of 2022. Data published by the Nation- al Statistics Office on Wednesday shows that imports amounted to €537.5 million, while exports to- talled €349.2 million. This repre- sents declines in both imports and exports of €50.3 million and €1.5 million, respectively, over the same month of the previous year. The main decrease in value of imports was primarily due to Ma- chinery and Transport Equipment (€79.1 million), partly offset by in- creases in Food (€20.2 million), and Mineral Fuels, Lubricants and Re- lated Materials (€13.8 million). On the exports side, the main de- creases were registered in Mineral Fuels, Lubricants and Related Ma- terials (€24.4 million), and Chemi- cals (€15.2 million), partly offset by increases in Food (€20.7 million), and Miscellaneous manufactured articles (€15.1 million). Total Trade in Goods: Janu- ary-March During the first three months of the year, the total trade in goods deficit widened by €106.8 million when compared to the correspond- ing period of 2022, reaching €722.4 million. Imports increased by €89.1 million, while exports declined by €17.7 million, amounting to €1,794.6 million and €1,072.2 mil- lion, respectively. Higher imports were mainly re- corded in Food (€37.8 million), Miscellaneous manufactured arti- cles (€17.1 million) and Chemicals (€17.0 million). On the exports side, the main de- creases were registered in Chemi- cals (€43.8 million), and Mineral fuels, lubricants and related mate- rials (€36.8 million), partly offset by an increase in Machinery and Transport Equipment (€50.9 mil- lion). THE number of final deeds of sale and promise of sale agreements relating to residential property amounted to 918 and 1,061, respectively, in April. Figures released by the National Sta- tistics Office show that the final deeds of sale de-creased by 18.2% when com- pared to the corresponding month last year, and promise of sale agreements increased by 4.4%. In April 2023, the value of the final deeds of sale totalled €260.6 million, representing an increase of 9.4% when compared to the corresponding value recorded in April 2022. In the month under review, there were 848 final deeds of sale involving individual buyers (households), repre- senting 92.4% of the total, with com- panies accounting for virtually all the rest. e value of the deeds involving indi- vidual buyers (households) amounted to €216.0 million, equivalent to 82.9% of the total value. Final deeds of sale by district and by locality e highest numbers of final deeds of sale were recorded in the Northern Harbour District and the Northern District, registering a total of 260 and 193 deeds, respectively. At 82 and 111 deeds, the lowest numbers were recorded in the West- ern District and Gozo and Comino, respectively. Residential property deeds of sale down in April