Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/567101
Events 47 maltatoday, Sunday, 6 September 2015 Staff members from the Mal- ta Communications authority, MCa, took the initiative to collect food items in aid of the food- bank, founded and managed by St andrew's Scots Church, aiming to assist vulnerable people within the community in short term cri- sis, through the provision of emer- gency food supplies. Recieving the collected food was Rev. Kim Hurst who was very ap- preciative for the initiative. She said that "a lot of needy families in Malta will benefit from the col- lected food". a spokesperson for the MCa Social Committee said, "the au- thority's staff has done something tangible for a charitable cause. this led to the presentation of a substantial amount of food which was collected during august". this goes hand in hand with the MCa's support to charitable ini- tiatives benefiting those in need within our society. Above: Some of the MCA staff during the presentation of the food collected. MCA staff collects food in aid of The FoodBank beneficiaries Banking sector maintains steady growth aCCoRding to figures quoted by the Malta Bankers' associa- tion (MBa), the banking sector in Malta has continued to main- tain a steady growth. the combined balance sheet total of the association's 27 mem- ber banks stood at € 51.2 billion as at the end of 2014 (2013: € 49.2 billion). in this regard, the MBa's Chairman, Mr Mark Watkinson, pointed out that total assets of the seven "core domestic banks", which have strong links with the domestic economy, amounted to € 19.1 billion (239% of gdP). "non-core domestic banks", which play a more restricted and limited role in the economy, had assets totalling € 2.1 billion (27% of gdP), whilst total assets of the "international banks", which have virtually no link with the domestic economy, amounted to € 30 billion (377% of gdP). "these numbers put the size of the Maltese banking sector vis- à-vis gdP in its proper perspec- tive", said Watkinson, "and dem- onstrate that total assets of the "core" and "non-core" domestic banks, at 266% of gdP, are well below the EU average of around 400% of gdP". the direct contribution of the banking sector to the local economy remains significant. the number of full time bank employees now exceeds 4,000, payroll last year amounted to € 147 million, taxation on profit on ordinary activities totalled € 88 million, and dividends paid to resident shareholders amounted to € 50 million. Watkinson also noted that in 2014, loans and advances to cus- tomers by the "core domestic banks" increased by 9% to € 9.6 billion, whilst aggregate lending by all the banks amounted to € 15 billion. Customers' deposits with the "core domestic banks" also in- creased by 14% to € 15.3 billion, reflecting public trust and con- fidence in the system, with total deposits of all the banks now ex- ceeding the € 22 billion mark. "the Maltese banking sector is very well capitalized, highly liq- uid and profitable, and it is grati- fying that in its global Competi- tiveness Report for 2014 – 2015, the World Economic forum placed Malta tenth out of the 144 countries surveyed in terms of the soundness of its banking institutions", concluded Watkin- son. RSM Malta congratulates excellence shown in prestigious awards competition Six businesses have been named national Champions for Malta in the European Busine ss awards sponsored by RSM, a prestigious competition supported by busi- nesses leaders, academics, media and political representatives from across Europe. the European Business awards, now in its ninth year, engaged with over 32,000 businesses from 33 Eu- ropean countries this year and over 700 companies from across Europe have been named today as national Champions. these companies have earned the right to go through to the second phase of the competi- tion. the national Champions for Mal- ta are: 2x Software – the Business • of the Year award with turn- over of €0-25m aquaBiotech group - the • Business of the Year award with turnover of €0-25m B2B gaming Services Ltd - • the RSM Entrepreneur of the Year award BRnd Wgn Co Ltd - the • ELitE award for growth Strategy of the Year Medserv plc - the ELitE • award for growth Strategy of the Year ozoSystem Ltd - the ELitE • award for growth Strategy of the Year the European Business awards' primary purpose is to support the development of a stronger and more successful business community throughout Europe. the European Business awards programme serves the European business community in three ways: it celebrates and endorses individu- als' and organisations' success; it provides and promotes examples of excellence for the business commu- nity to aspire to and it engages with the European business community to create debate on key issues. deo Scerri, Managing Partner of RSM Malta, the country member of RSM international said: "We are absolutely thrilled that 6 businesses have been chosen as the best busi- nesses in Europe and will represent Malta in the European Business awards. this showcases the amaz- ing talent and business success this country has and we wish them all the best for the next round." the next round requires the na- tional Champions to make a pres- entation video, telling their unique story and explaining their business success. the judges will view all of the national Champions' videos, and award the best of this group the coveted 'Ruban d'Honneur' status. Ruban d'Honneur recipients will then go on to be part of the grand final in 2016. Separately, the national Cham- pion videos will be made public on the European Business awards website www.businessawardseu- rope.com as part of a two stage pub- lic vote, which will decide the 'na- tional Public Champions' for each country. Last year over 170,000 votes were cast as companies from across Eu- rope were publicly supported by their clients, staff and peers, as well as the general public. Supported since their inception by lead sponsor and promoter RSM, the seventh largest audit, tax and advisory network worldwide with a major presence across Europe, the European Business awards was up to support the development of a stronger and more successful busi- ness community throughout Eu- rope. in the 2014/15 competition, all EU member markets were represented plus turkey, norway, Switzerland, Serbia, Croatia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. their combined revenue exceeded €1.5 trillion, and together they generated profits of over 60 billion Euros and employ over 2.5 million people. for further information about the European Business awards and RSM please go to www.busines- sawardseurope.com or www.rsmi. com ALS Malta Foundation and RIDT raise funds for research LaSt summer's viral phenom- enon – the aLS ice-bucket chal- lenge – magnified public aware- ness on what is medically known as amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis or motor neuron disease. People around the world threw a bucket of ice water over their heads, called a few friends to do the same and of- fered a charitable donation - all in a bid to raise awareness and funds for aLS. the University of Malta Research trust (Ridt) is now collaborat- ing with aLS Malta foundation, an initiative started by Bjorn for- mosa, a 28-year old entrepreneur who was recently diagnosed with aLS, to raise funds for research and awareness in motor neuron diseases. Ruben Cauchi from the Universi- ty's department of Physiology and Biochemistry, is already conduct- ing research on the subject and has been appointed board member of aLS MaLta foundation. amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or motor neuron disease (Mnd), a term more commonly used in Malta, is a specific disorder that involves the death of neurons. it causes stiff muscles, muscle twitching, and gradually wors- ening weakness due to muscle wasting. this results in difficulty speaking, swallowing, and eventu- ally breathing. "the objective of the Univer- sity of Malta Mnd research pro- gramme is to understand the mechanisms of motor neuron degeneration," said Cauchi. "it is only by doing so that we will be in a better position to identify thera- peutic targets for one of the most catastrophic of human diseases". "Since there is no cure for aLS disease, we can only fight this dis- ease by focusing on research," said formosa. "apart from offering support to patients and lobbying for im- proved services, aLS Malta foun- dation is asking the public to send their donations to www.alsmalta. org/donate. We welcome and ap- preciate any donation. i am hoping that there will be a breakthrough in the research so that other suf- ferers who come after me will find both better prognosis and treat- ment." "as aLS is a rare disease, the re- search team comes across many particular challenges and for this reason relies heavily on funding resources. Ridt is asking for the generosity of the public to support the aLS research in Malta. We urge the public to support this re- search programme with the hope of developing better treatment for this cruel disease," said Ridt CEo Wilfred Kenely. those who wish to donate mon- ey can log on to Ridt website: ridt.org.mt/als or through the aLS Malta foundation website: http:// alsmalta.org/donate. alternatively donations can be made in cash, by cheque to aLS Malta foundation, 569 St Joseph High Road, Hamrun, by bank transfer or PayPal.