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12 9.11.2023 NEWS HOW Bank of Valletta delivers services to its customers - helping them sustain their businesses for the future, while sustaining the bank's, is vital, BOV chairman Dr Gordon Cordina said during the 3rd Conference on Ethics in Business organised by the Gozo Busi- ness Chamber. In line with the conference's theme, 'Putting Corporate Social Responsi- bility into Practice', Cordina insisted that while all those who run a busi- ness have a duty to all their stake- holders to make a profit, they must also think of long-term survival by making a fair profit. A company must have solid values and a profit is made while remaining true to their values and respecting their employees, their customers, their shareholders, the environment and the community in which they operate. "An organisation is responsible for any product or service that it puts out on the market, and all the reper- cussions of producing that product or delivering that service," he said. "Focus must be on a good return on capital but always keeping Envi- ronments, Social and Governance (ESG) considerations at the fore- front." Cordina said BOV genuinely cares what happens to its employees, cus- tomers and society. "We believe in constantly sharing information with our employees to make them share the values of the organization and feeling a sense of belonging into an organization that is doing good," he said. "We accept the fact that we might need to grow at a lower rate while investing more in technology and building socially responsible busi- ness models for the satisfaction of our employees and customers." Facing challenges to sinancial sector's road to sustainability – BOV chairman Gordon Cordina addressing attendees during the 3rd Conference on Ethics in Business organised by the Gozo Business Chamber AT the end of September 2023, the stock of licensed motor vehicles stood at 436,007. Out of this total, 73.9 per cent were passenger cars, 14.2 per cent were commercial and agricultural motor ve- hicles and 11.3 per cent were motorcy- cles/E-bikes/PA-bikes, E-kick scooters, quadricycles and All-Terrain Vehicles (ATVs). Buses and minibuses amounted to less than one per cent. During the quarter under review, the stock of li- censed motor vehicles increased at a net average rate of 43 motor vehicles per day. Newly licensed motor vehicles Newly licensed motor vehicles put on the road during the period under re- view amounted to 6,386. e majority of newly licensed motor vehicles, 3,575 or 56.0 per cent of the total, were passenger cars, followed by motorcycles/PA-bikes/E-bikes with 1,173 or 18.4 per cent. Newly licensed 'new' motor vehicles amounted to 3,842 or 60.2 per cent of the total, whereas newly licensed 'used' motor vehicles totalled 2,544 or 39.8 per cent. An average of 69 motor vehicles per day were newly licensed during the quarter under review. Motor vehicles under restriction During the third quarter of 2023, 5,856 motor vehicles were taken off the road due to restrictions. Out of these, 40.5 per cent were ga- raged, 34.3 per cent were resold, and 22.8 per cent were scrapped. Motor vehicles that had their restric- tion ending during the quarter under review totalled 3,621. e majority were recorded as being resold (51.9 per cent) or garaged (47.3 per cent). Motor energy type As at the end of September 2023, 253,739 motor vehicles or 58.2 per cent of the total had petrol-powered engines. Diesel-powered motor vehicles reached 156,658 or 35.9 per cent of the total. Electric and plug-in hybrid motor vehicles accounted for 3.7 per cent of the entire stock, with a total of 15,960 motor vehicles. When compared to the previous quar- ter, increases of 20.6 per cent, 13.4 per cent and 10.8 per cent were registered in plug-in hybrid (diesel-electric), elec- tric and combined (diesel-LPG) motor vehicles respectively. Stock of licensed motor vehicles by period Q3 stock of licensed motor vehicles up by 3,968 over previous three months

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