Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1514336
€1.50 THURSDAY 11 JANUARY 2024 • ISSUE 238 WWW.BUSINESSTODAY.COM.MT RagusaXpress to commence trips to Ragusa in Spring, promises competitive prices Malta soon to feel impact of EU's new ETS directive, trucking lobby boss says PAUL COCKS THE new Maltese-owned fast ferry service RagusaXpress is expected to bring a new injection of tourism to both Malta and Ragusa when it com- mences operation in Spring this year. And, when speaking to Business Today, company officials prom- ised that ferry tickets would be offered at very competitive prices. Presently the only catamaran service to Sicily is the one to and from Pozzallo offered by Virtu Ferries and the launch of Ragusa Xpress is bound to have an impact on the pricing of ferry tickets. PAGE 3 STAR PERFORMER MSE FTSE 100 EUR EXCHANGE RATES Trading Date: 10 Jan 2024 Number of Trades: 66 Turnover: €904,645.46 MSE TRX Index: 8165.872 Change: -0.514% Name: 6.25% GPH 2030 MT0002731207 - Currency € Last Traded: 20 Dec 2023 Price 102.000 Change +3.000 US Dollar 1.0522 British Pound: 0.86477 Japanese Yen: 144.59 Australian Dollar: 1.5451 Swiss Franc: 0.98700 7,613.67 78.12 7,613.39 / 7,312.00 Value Net variation High / Low +0.86% PAUL COCKS THE EU's Emissions Trading System Direc- tive - an environmental tax on shipping - will unavoidably lead to further increases in the price of transport of all imports and exports by sea, the newly-appointed chairman of Mal- ta's Association of Tractor and Trailer Operators (ATTO) insists. In an opinion piece in this edition of Business Today, Joseph Bugeja acknowledges that the mar- itime sector, just like other sectors, is also a pollut- er which should be incentivised to start operating with more environmental responsibility. In fact, he welcomes the fact that several for- ward-looking ship owners and operators have al- ready taken various initiatives to operate vessels with more sustainable engines. But he warns that the challenges of this new EU tax have already started to be felt as the directive came into force on 1 January of this year. SEE JOSEPH BUGEJA'S OPINION PAGE 11 Unemployment rate in November 2023 stood at 2.5% Seasonally adjusted monthly unemployment rate The unemployment rate for November 2023 stood at 2.5 per cent, un- changed from the previ- ous month, but decreas- ing by 0.4 percentage points from the same month last year. During November 2023, the number of unemployed persons was 7,583, with the 25 to 74 age group being the major contrib- utor to the overall level of unemployment. Joseph Bugeja, Chairman of ATTO The Ragusa Xpress will carry 400 passengers and 20 vehicles