Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/315336
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 21 MAY 2014 20 Events Banif teams up with Everest 2014 to promote its corporate values HSBC Malta to hold fund raising triathlon in support of WaterAid Ghana Emirates to operate double daily services to the Seychelles FIMBank to organise international Compliance Conference DOUGLAS Barbaro Sant, Mat- thew Xerri, Gregory Attard and Raphael Fenech Adami are on a two-month expedition, climbing Mount Everest from the North East Ridge, backed by Banif Bank (Malta) plc, who joined other corporations in supporting the endeavour. The team is planning a possible summit bid on 21 May. "It was not difficult for Banif Bank to extend its support to Everest 2014," said Adrian Coppini, Chief Officer for Corporate Services. "As a Bank that has surprised the local market with its fast growth over a short period, Banif believes in pro- moting the values that helped put the organisation where it is today – ambition, hard work, resilience, team work, belief in oneself – all values sported by this team of brave buddies who are not daunted by the gargantuan challenge they are cur- rently undertaking." As Matthew Xerri blogged on the Everest14 Facebook page, "the process of evolution from an idea to reality is riddled with setbacks, hardship and adversity. Passion, ambition and determination blend together into a ritual of meticulous planning, training and preparation. Faith, luck or destiny do not come into the equation; nothing can be left to chance!" The characteristics of the endeav- our are aligned with the Bank's character and the collaboration with Everest 2014 will translate into a tangible project, as initiatives to pair up with Gregory Attard and his team mates are lined up for staff, in an effort to enhance soft skills. "We are proud of this team who are taking the Banif flag to the top – a gesture full of significance and meaning," continued Coppini. "We are following their progress closely and ultimately wish them a safe re- turn home." A fund raising triathlon involving some of Malta's leading athletes is to be held Sunday 25 May in support of a WaterAid Ghana project. HSBC Mal- ta is one of the first countries in the HSBC Group to contribute towards WaterAid projects through employee voluntary fundraising initiatives. HSBC Malta's CEO Mark Watkin- son said, "The triathlon is a great way of bringing people together for such a worthy cause. HSBC's five-year Wa- ter Programme strongly supports the WaterAid Ghana projects for reaching out to help make a difference to other people's lives. "Donating funds to such projects is wonderful, however dedicating time and energy shows an even stronger commitment. I encourage anyone wishing to join in, to take up this op- portunity for helping others in need." HSBC Bank Malta employees to- gether with HSBC UK Contact Cen- tre Malta colleagues will be teaming up with the athletes, including world renowned athlete Nicky Farrugia who is committed to completing the entire 130km triathlon. "While I am looking forward to com- pleting the entire 130km triathlon, everyone is invited to join in and set their own personal goals", said Nicky Farrugia. "Our ambition is to raise funds for a WaterAid project which is underway in one of the poorest com- munities in Ghana. "This support will help ensure that families in this community in Ghana will have access to safe water and will dramatically improve their lives by bringing better hygiene and sanita- tion, increased life expectancy, and more time and resources for educa- tion and development, especially for children." Best known as World Record holder for the Sicily to Malta 90km swim, Nicky Farrugia was also the first, and to date only, Maltese to swim The English Channel. Other records include swimming around Malta in 21 hours and 19 minutes, as well as other world records achieved during a 24-hour marathon swim in Brussels competing against the world's elite swimmers. Following the triathlon, a BMX bike show will be held at HSBC Malta Op- erations Centre in Qormi. Participant application forms and more information about the event are available on HSBC Malta's website www.hsbc.com.mt MALTA Enterprise today has launched two new programmes for export. These programmes will yield €485,000 of assistance to in- dustry to export locally manufac- tured products. The programmes cater for industries that are new to export as well as to those that wish to expand their current ex- port market. The Go Global Programme fo- cuses on companies whose export revenue is less than 20%. It in- cludes a free assessment of export readiness, an export management master class and financial assist- ance to conduct market research as well as support to undertake export promotion initiatives. The Global Growth Competition is a competition through which 12 Market Development Plans will be selected. The companies be- hind such plans will receive as- sistance to implement such plans over a three-year period at a co- funding rate of 50%. Subject to certain conditions, the maximum grant value can be of €80,000 over three years. These programmes are being supported by HSBC Bank Mal- ta through the Malta Trade for Growth Fund – an initiative that supports Maltese businesses to thrive and the local economy to prosper. Through this Fund, busi- nesses are eligible for a discount in pricing if they switch from a tra- ditional overdraft to a structured trade finance product such as Ex- port Loans or Invoice Finance. The programmes were launched during a Press Conference at Malta Enterprise. Chief Officer for Export Support and Clusters Joe Schembri gave a presentation during which he explained how the programmes work. Address- ing journalists attending for the launch, Malta Enterprise Chair- man Dr Mario Vella reiterated the Corporation's committal towards assisting local industry to grow and expand into new markets through export. Vella said that Malta Enterprise is sensitive to the challenges that local industry faces when it comes to export and a lot of thinking outside of the box is being done to incentivize and support these industries to thrive. He said, "The programmes launched today are the result of a process that has been initiated over a year ago to create more relevant, better structured incen- tives that stimulate local industry to grow and explore new mar- kets." HSBC Bank Malta Chief Execu- tive, Mark Watkinson said that supporting these initiatives of Malta Enterprise was a natural thing to do for a bank like HSBC, which prides itself in connecting customers to opportunities across the globe. Watkinson said that internation- al trade is a critical component of Malta's history, its economy, and most importantly the country's future. "We believe that Malta can build on its competitive trade ad- vantage and its strategic location that bridges Europe with Africa and the rest of the world. HSBC, as one of the world's largest inter- national banks can add real value to the Maltese economy. The Bank is already instrumental in helping hundreds of Maltese businesses, including SMEs, expand across borders." The Press Conference was also addressed by Michel Cordina, Head of Commercial Banking at HSBC. Cordina told journal- ists that the initiatives by Malta Enterprise fit in perfectly with HSBC's 'Malta Trade for Growth' proposition as well as the 50 mil- lion euro fund launched in De- cember. EMIRATES, a global connector of people and places, have announced it will step up its operations to the Seychelles by increasing services to twice daily later this year. The introduction of two more flights per week on the route into the Seychelles will increase the ex- isting 12 scheduled flights to four- teen bringing operations up to twice daily from 28 October this year. "Emirates' decision to commit two additional scheduled flights a week is a clear indication of customer de- mand, both for our award-winning product and the wealth of attractions that this popular destination has to offer," said Orhan Abbas, Emirates' Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations, Latin America, Central and Southern Africa. "Emirates' expanded schedule provides better connectivity and a wider choice for our customers connecting through Dubai. These additional seats every week are cen- tral to helping us meet the growing demand and support the Seychelles tourism industry," he continued. Emirates operates an Airbus A340-500 on the route, offering customers a choice of cabins with 12 luxurious private suites in First Class, 42 deeply reclining Business Class seats and plenty of room to relax in Economy Class, where there are 204 seats available. Passengers can enjoy the award- winning ice entertainment system, with hundreds of channels of on- demand entertainment to choose from, including movies from around the world, TV channels, audio channels, video games and news headlines. Emirates customers also have the opportunity to enjoy meals pre- pared by gourmet chefs and excep- tional service from the internation- al cabin crew recruited from over 130 nationalities, speaking over 55 languages. They receive a generous baggage allowance, with 30kg for those travelling in Economy Class, 40kg for Business Class and 50kg for First Class. Emirates operates daily scheduled flights from Malta to Dubai using a Boeing 777 aircraft. On Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Satur- days Emirates flies via Larnaka, Cy- prus, while on Sundays, Tuesdays, and Fridays, the airline operates direct flights from Dubai to Malta and return flights fly via Tripoli. Moreover from 1 August, Emirates will be operating twice-daily flights between Dubai and Malta – one service will fly daily via Larnaka and the second service will return to Dubai via Tripoli. FIMBANK has always played an active role in the training of its cor- respondent bankers and in line with this approach, it is currently finalis- ing the programme for this year's in- ternational conference, which will be held in Malta between 3 and 6 June. Over 25 delegates from financial institutions forming part of FIM- Bank's network of correspondent banks in Africa, Europe, Asia, the Middle East and the Americas are expected to attend the conference. The focus of this year's event will be compliance and financial crime, and will see local and international speak- ers delving into the na- ture of financial crime, including the various types of money launder- ing, terrorist financing and fraud risks. This conference aims to give delegates a broad overview of compli- ance and the types of financial crimes that are prevalent in the finance industry in general, with particular emphasis on Trade Based Money Laundering. A broad overview of the US For- eign Account Tax Com- pliance Act (FATCA) will be provided. Besides providing delegates with a good understanding of how money laundering works, the course aims to equip these with the knowledge and a better understanding of the skills required to combat money laundering, terror- ist financing and fraud. Commenting on the conference programme, Michael Davis, Chief Operating Officer at FIMBank, stated that "We have developed a programme targeted at providing conference delegates with a broad overview of how banks can pro- tect themselves against financial loss arising out of fraud and money laundering, as well as reputational damage due to regulatory action un- dertaken for failing to have proper systems in place." Referring to the choice of theme for the conference, he explained that "Money laundering damages the reputation of individual financial in- stitutions as well as the credibility of the financial sector as a whole, which itself has a critical role in economic growth. The conference focus will be on the controls that financial institu- tions should have in place in order to mitigate these risks." FIMBank President Margrith Lütschg-Emmenegger stated that "The Bank's success is solidly based on building and maintaining strong interpersonal relationships, and our training programmes and confer- ences help to consolidate the strong relationships we have with our cor- respondent banks." For further information about the 'Compliance and Financial Crime conference' please contact FIMBank on +356 21322100 or email fi@fim- bank.com. Anse Lazio Beach, situated on Praslin. Voted as one of the top 25 beaches in the world in the Choice Beaches Award 2013 by Trip Advisor. Photo courtesy Gerard Larose, STB Malta Enterprise launches new programmes for export