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6 COMMERCIAL maltatoday | SUNDAY • 18 OCTOBER 2026 St Paul's Catacombs celebrated as Malta's first European Heritage Label site ST Paul's Catacombs in Rabat have become the first site in Mal- ta to receive the European Her- itage Label, with Heritage Malta marking the achievement with an open day featuring guided tours. The event was attended by Eu- ropean Commissioner for In- tergenerational Fairness, Youth, Culture and Sport Glenn Mi- callef, Minister for Arts, Culture and National Heritage Malcolm Paul Agius Galea, European Her- itage Label Bureau director Vin- cente Curie and Heritage Malta chairman Mario Cutajar. The site received the label earli- er this year, with Heritage Malta representatives later attending an official ceremony for the newly selected sites, which also marked the 15th anniversary of the Euro- pean Heritage Label. The European Commission in- itiative, part of the Creative Eu- rope framework, recognises sites across the European Union for their European significance and their contribution to European identity. St Paul's Catacombs were se- lected because of their historical and archaeological importance. The complex is the largest burial site from Malta's classical period and dates to Punic, Roman and Byzantine times. The site also contains Jewish, polytheist and Christian tombs within the same cemetery, pro- viding evidence of religious diver- sity and coexistence in Europe. One of the main attractions during the open day was a rec- reation of an ancient Roman fu- neral procession. Participants set off from the visitors' centre and made their way to the catacombs, where actors recreated a funeral meal traditionally shared by rela- tives beside the grave. Curator-led tours and an Ask the Curator session gave visitors the opportunity to learn more about the site's history and ar- chaeology. Activities for younger visitors included treasure hunts and a hands-on excavation. Heritage Malta plans to imple- ment the project submitted as part of the European Heritage Label application, with the aim of improving the site's visitor expe- rience and educational offer. The plans include changes to the visitors' centre, updated exhi- bition areas and a pavilion high- lighting aspects of the catacombs linked to the values of the Euro- pean Heritage Label. Heritage Malta also intends to introduce an excavation pit aimed at young people and au- dio guides in additional Europe- an languages to explain the site's wider European significance. The entrance to Catacomb 1 leads into Malta's largest catacomb (Photo: Heritage Malta) FinanceMalta to debut Malta's Fintech sector in Singapore FINANCEMALTA will be de- buting Malta's Fintech sector at the Singapore FinTech Festival from the 18th to 20th of Novem- ber and will use its participation at one of the world's leading fin- tech events to showcase Malta's growing role in digital finance, while engaging with internation- al businesses, investors, regula- tors and technology providers. Malta was among Europe's early movers in establishing a regulato- ry framework for blockchain and virtual financial assets. With the European regulatory landscape now increasingly harmonised, including through the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (Mi- CA), the focus is shifting from being first to creating the condi- tions for businesses to establish a genuine and lasting presence in Malta. Bernice Buttigieg, Chief Strate- gy Officer at FinanceMalta, said the island's next opportunity lies in building on its experience while broadening its fintech proposition. "Malta's early experience in dig- ital assets gave us valuable regu- latory and industry knowledge. The opportunity now is to build on that foundation and position Malta as a place where serious fintech businesses can establish, develop and grow." Rather than competing with larger financial centres on scale, Malta can leverage its compact ecosystem and the accessibility it offers to businesses. "Our size can be an advantage when it translates into proximi- ty and collaboration. Regulators, government, financial institu- tions, professional services firms and technology companies can work closely together. The am- bition is to turn that accessibility into speed, expertise and sub- stance," Buttigieg said. Ian Gauci, who leads the Digital Technology Enablers pillar at the Malta Financial Services Adviso- ry Council, stressed that Malta's early lead must now translate in- to long-term value. "Malta cannot differentiate it- self simply by having its own crypto regime. The differentia- tion now comes from how well we understand the sector, how regulation is applied and super- vised, and whether serious oper- ators can build from here." The fintech landscape has ex- panded beyond crypto and block- chain to encompass artificial intelligence, tokenisation, pay- ments, open finance, RegTech, cybersecurity and operational resilience. This creates new op- portunities for Malta to attract businesses operating across the broader digital-finance ecosys- tem. FinanceMalta's participation in Singapore will therefore be as much about listening and build- ing international connections as promoting Malta. The event, which will see a group of leading firms and financial institutions participating, is also being sup- ported by the MFSA. "Singapore has built a strong reputation by bringing regula- tion, technology, investment and talent together. We want to learn from that experience while demonstrating what Malta can offer businesses looking for a credible European base," con- cluded Bernice Buttigieg. Ian Gauci Bernice Buttigieg