Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/306555
37 maltatoday, Sunday, 4 May 2014 Events AOPA Malta president reelected PKF to host Oil and Gas conference in London Malta BNI honours achievement at second annual awards ceremony International speakers announced for FinanceMalta's annual conference During the AGM held recently, at the association's premises at Luqa Airport, Pierre Travers Tauss was re-elected President of AOPA Malta, the Aircraft Owners and Pilots As- sociation. The other elected mem- bers of the committee are: Chris Ebejer, who held the Secretary's post on the outgoing committee, now moving into the role of Vice-presi- dent, Claude Attard Bezzina, who was elected Secretary, Marco Lucia was confirmed as Technical Officer and Mark Demarco confirmed as Treasurer. Karl Grech, an AOPA veteran hav- ing served on many previous AOPA committees as PRO and President, was appointed PRO. Andrew Brin- cat, already serving as a committee member on the last committee, re- tained his position. Travers Tauss gave an account of the outgoing committee's work and achievements and thanked the members for their support and confidence. After the election, he reiterated his commitment to con- tinue the hard work performed by the committee during the previous two-year term and overcome the challenges that still lay ahead. AOPA Malta is an affiliated mem- ber of International AOPA USA and AOPA Europe. AOPA Malta repre- sents the majority of aircraft owners of micro-lights, single-engine and twin-engine aircraft and over 60 pi- lots with licenses ranging from stu- dent pilots, private pilots and also professional commercial and airline pilots. The goal of AOPA is to promote General Aviation both as a career and a sport. In fact, General Aviation includes all types of flying with the exception of military and commer- cial air transportation. General Aviation involves approxi- mately 350,000 aircraft and 700,000 pilots globally, compared to roughly 60,000 aircraft and 400,000 pilots employed in commercial air trans- portation (including cargo and char- ter). The challenges facing general avia- tion worldwide, brought about by regulation and restriction of airspace as well as other issues, have been pos- ing serious challenges in Europe in particular in the wake of new legisla- tion imposed by the European Avia- tion Safety Agency (EASA) over the past decade, as part of the European Union's strategy for aviation safety. In a bid to achieve its stated objec- tives to harmonise aviation regulation across all member states, much of the new legislation has imposed prohibi- tive certification and validation costs to standards that were structured on Commercial Air Transport (airline) operators. This posed severe threats to gener- al aviation and International AOPA have been relentlessly lobbying to ed- ucate legislators and eurocrats to the importance of creating regulation which was not only fit for purpose but also reflected real safety issues. In the past few years, AOPA Mal- ta has had to manage its fair share of issues affecting general avia- tion in Malta as a result of EASA regulation, as well as a number of anomalies arising from the local in- terpretation of European laws and regulations. AOPA maintains close commu- nication with government, TM Aviation Directorate, Malta Air Traffic Services, MIA, OMAS and a number of other stakeholders in the aviation industry to ensure that the rights of general aviation pilots and aircraft owners are safeguard- ed and safety standards are moni- tored and improved through timely dissemination of knowledge and information sharing. PKF, together with UK's specialist firm in the sector, Oil Barrel Ltd, will be hosting a conference on Oil and Gas and maritime opportuni- ties in London on 7 May 2014. The central theme of the confer- ence will focus on whether Malta can become a potential oil and gas hub and in the medium term reap dividends from production sharing agreements if and when oil or gas is found in commercial quantities. The conference follows the success of the recent Economist Roundtable conference also held in London. The event targets professionals, senior government representatives, oil and gas corporate leaders, fin- anciers and global energy experts from around the globe to share their knowledge and experience on oil ex- ploration possibilities. For this event, PKF invited inter- ested parties particularly local com- panies providing logistical support, Enemalta officials in the oil pro- curement division and experts from the Continental Shelf Directorate to participate and address the confer- ence. Speaking about the oil and gas ex- ploration, George Mangion, manag- ing partner of PKF Ltd said, "Over the last decade we have seen an evolution in the oil and gas industry. For a variety of reasons, exploration during the past decade in Malta has neither been intense nor extensive, until now. "Drilling of a wildcat well is taking place by MOG in area 4 in the south and a new 2d seismic survey is be- ing commissioned in area 3 in the north of Malta. Licensees in Area 3 (Blocks 1, 2, and 3) are Capricorn Malta 60% (a subsidiary of Cairn Energy plc) and Melita Exploration Company Ltd 40% (a subsidiary of Mediterranean Oil & Gas)." According to Tony Hayward Chief Executive Officer of Genel, a large oil drilling company, the company hopes to have the first results of oil drilling off Malta's coast by mid-July 2014. The OilBarrel conference will encourage a new dawn of invest- ment, which could lead to a future prospect of Malta joining the grow- ing list of oil producing countries. For further information regard- ing participation please contact Ms Kinga Warda at kwarda@pkfmalta. com Malta is now taking steps to brand itself more effectively to the world. We have an enterprise culture, we invest in education, and we like to compete in the world. As Govern- ment, we welcome organizations, such as Malta BNI, which trains and develops its members as professional business people. With its philosophy of 'Givers Gain' and its structured, positive and professional approach, BNI has great optimism about the business potential in Malta. This was stated by the Minister for the Economy, Investment and Small Business Dr Chris Cardona at the second Annual Awards Dinner organised by Malta BNI to celebrate its three years in Malta. Forming part of the largest busi- ness networking organisation in the world, Malta BNI today is made up of five chapters each comprising members who build long term re- lationships and are sincerely com- mitted to helping one another find more business through BNI's 'Giv- ers' Gain' philosophy and business referrals. As BNI Founder Ivan Misner ex- plains, BNI is about creating an awareness of the process of net- working. Not just any kind of net- working, but 'relationship network- ing'– an approach to doing business based on building long-term, suc- cessful relationships with people through the networking process. Malta BNI National Director Dav- id Bullock said, "As a disciplined, diverse, and determined organisa- tion spreading in this country, BNI is becoming a valuable first port of call for visiting businessmen and businesswomen to Malta. They are introduced to others who are also hands-on business people and who understand what is required to build a profitable business and to survive in these challenging times." These annual awards recognise and celebrate the achievements of several Malta BNI members. BNI offers its members the opportunity to share ideas, contacts and, most importantly, business referrals. BNI chapters, of which now there are five in Malta, comprise members who are sincerely committed to helping one another find more busi- ness through networking and word of mouth referrals. Figures just released show that, in Malta, notwithstanding Malta BNI is still in the initial stages, its mem- bers have passed business referrals generating well over €2.5 million worth of new business for members. Across the globe, BNI members have passed 7.1 million business re- ferrals generating over $3.3 billion worth of business for members. Cu- mulatively, since 1985, BNI has gen- erated over $27.7 billion in business for BNI members. The five chapters - all named af- ter Grand Masters - meet in Sliema & Birżebbuġa (Tuesdays), Attard (Wednesdays), Floriana (Thurs- days) and St Julians (Fridays). Cur- rent membership stands at over 120 members from a wide range of busi- nesses of all sizes. More information about Malta BNI can be obtained from jankarl. farrugia@regus.com, by calling 2546 6601, or carmel.bonello@bpc.com. mt on tel 2124 3211. FinanceMalta will be holding its prestigious Annual Conference on 15 May¸ an event that traditionally attracts the crème de la crème of the local finance industry as well as a host of prominent international guests. This year's chosen theme will be 'Growth through Change and Adaptability.' The FinanceMalta Annual Con- ference, which will be preceded by a networking cocktail reception on the evening of 14 May, brings a line- up of international finance experts as key speakers; people like Philip Molyneux, Professor of Banking & Finance and Dean of the College of Business, Law, Education and So- cial Science at Bangor University of Wales, Prof. Molyneux, will be focusing on the challenges and op- portunities which are available for financial service SMEs within the contest of the present economic scenarios. Other A-list speakers and distin- guished guests include Malta's Min- ister for the Economy, Investment & Small Business, Dr. Chris Cardona; Ghent Law School Academic, Eddy Wymeersch; Financial Ombudsman Adviser, David Thomas; CEO of PSA Insurance Edouard de Lama- zelle; and former Prime Minister as well as current EP elections candi- date, Dr. Alfred Sant. The key topics to be discussed include consumer protection, anti-money laundering in IT, structured finance in capital markets, and the upcoming Euro- pean Parliament elections. Speaking about this upcoming event, the Chairman for Finance- Malta, Kenneth Farrugia, who will also be chairing the conference, thanked all the people involved in the preparations leading to this major event, including the Finance- Malta team, the sponsors and all affiliate and corporate members for their encouraging support. "The FinanceMalta Annual Con- ference keeps proving to be the largest specialised event of its kind in Malta, offering an unparalleled opportunity for local and interna- tional professionals to get to know each other, exchange ideas and to share in the growing opportunities offered by the sector in Malta and beyond", he continued. The main sponsor for this year's FinanceMalta Annual Conference is global trust and corporate serv- ice provider Equiom. This firm has just opened offices in Malta and has recently been shortlisted in the prestigious Citywealth Magic Circle Awards as 'Trust Company of the Year'. Speaking about the forthcoming conference, Director of Equiom (Malta) Limited, Annie Sanchez- Talavera said that Equiom was extremely proud to be sponsor- ing FinanceMalta's 7th Annual Conference next month. "Since our interests align perfectly with FinanceMalta's work to promote Malta's financial services, our com- pany is delighted to be supporting this event which will certainly help strengthen Malta's growing reputa- tion as an International Financial Centre," she said. Also pouring their support into this prestigious event are a distinct list of renowned sponsors, namely EY Malta (a member firm of Ernst & Young Global Ltd.), IFINA (Inter- national Financial Administration Group Ltd.), Apex Fund Services, Castille Resources, Deutsche Bo- erse, Thomson Reuters, Ecovis GRC Ltd., and HSBC Malta. FinanceMalta's 7th Annual Con- ference will take place on Thursday, 15 May, at the Portomaso Suite, Hilton Malta in St. Julian's. For the full schedule of panel sessions and workshops and for conference reg- istration kindly visit www.finance- malta.org The award winners with Minister Chris Cardona, Mrs Lesya Cardona and Malta BNI Director David Bullock (second from right) Professor Philip Molyneux will be one of the key speakers at FinanceMalta's 7th Annual Conference