Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/584253
Events 48 maltatoday, Sunday, 11 OctOber 2015 Middlesea employees treat kids to a farm visit A group of Middlesea employees recently enjoyed a morning at the Girgenti Farm, where they accompanied a group of chil- dren from Piccola Casa di San Giuseppe and St Patrick's Sale- sian Boys. This activity was part of the Middlesea Insurance employee volunteering program, whereby employees are given the oppor- tunity to do voluntary work dur- ing working hours. During the event, the children had the opportunity to take part in a number of outdoor activities such as a scavenger hunt, whilst they also spent some time feed- ing animals. Both Piccola Casa di San Giuseppe and the St Patrick's Salesian Boys are organisations which provide a home environ- ment for children from difficult backgrounds. Commenting on this initiative Middlesea CEO Alfredo Munoz said, "We are proud to be able to provide the opportunity to our employees to volunteer dur- ing working hours. This is one of the ways in which we seek to help the community in which we operate. "We are aware that due to oth- er commitments after working hours, employees might find it difficult to allocate time to vol- untary work even though they may wish to do it. This is the perfect solution for them." Middlesea Insurance p.l.c. (C-5553) is authorised by the Malta Financial Services Author- ity to carry on both Long Term and General Business under the Insurance Business Act, 1998. Microsoft Malta announces €1 million investment for local startups MICrOSOFT Malta today an- nounced that it will be granting Maltese Start-ups €1 million worth of cloud services through the Mi- crosoft Innovation Centre. The investment being made avail- able to Maltese start-up companies through Microsoft's BizSpark pro- gramme was announced today by Ed Steidl, Microsoft Global Head for the MIC Programme during a visit to Malta's Microsoft Innova- tion Centre located at Skyparks. The visit was also attended by Hon Evarist Bartolo, Minister for Edu- cation. During his announcement, Steidl expressed his satisfaction at the achievements registered by Malta's MIC over the past two and a half years. "Malta's Microsoft Innovation Centre has been chosen by Mi- crosoft Corporation for this in- vestment due to the very positive results it has achieved throughout these first two and a half years of operations. The MIC has been an incubator for 80 start-ups which have been expertly mentored and supported by Microsoft's local team. More importantly, we are also aware that local start-ups are exploiting cloud technology more than similar start-ups in other countries. In fact over 10% of start-up cloud consumption across Microsoft's CEE Multicountry region, which is a region consist- ing of 24 countries within Central and Eastern Europe, is by Maltese start-ups," announced Steidl. Steidl also spoke in the light of a recent report published by the IDC claiming that by 2016, more than 65% of enterprise IT organizations will commit to hybrid cloud tech- nologies, driving the rate and pace of change in IT organizations. "Microsoft is a major pioneer in cloud technology and today's pledge to Maltese start-ups con- firms our commitment to ensure that Malta's businesses are aligned to the current global trend. Fur- thermore we once more reinforce the MIC's three main objectives which are those of bridging the gap between academics and the in- dustry in order to help provide the workforce with the needed exper- tise, encouraging the adoption of ICT amongst more students as well as to leverage entrepreneurship." In a brief speech, Minister Evarist Bartolo thanked Microsoft for its constant support. "We acknowl- edge the fact that today, Microsoft is one of Malta's most important partners and we are aware of the great job that the Microsoft Inno- vation Centre has been doing with students, young entrepreneurs, business start-ups and all those who want to enter the IT industry. Microsoft has a very useful role in securing that Malta's future work- force will be aligned with what the industry will be looking for in or- der to secure more employment. The Microsoft Innovation Cen- tre last year also donated a grant of €100,000 worth of cloud services for a whole year to students and academics at tertiary level namely University and MCAST. Microsoft announced that this grant is being repeated again this year. Microsoft BizSpark is a global program that helps software start- ups succeed by giving them access to free Microsoft software develop- ment tools, connecting them with key industry players and providing marketing visibility to help entre- preneurs starting a business. The program seeks to develop and support a global ecosystem of start-ups, provides value to these partners in the rapidly changing technology industry and seeks to foster innovation, opportunity and economic growth around the world. Today, BizSpark includes a global network of partners and advisors through which Microsoft provides valuable assistance to more than 45,000 start-ups world- wide. Nestlé Fitness unites 100 people in the fight against breast cancer NESTLé Malta Lim- ited is partnering with the local NGO Europa Donna Malta to unite people in the fight against breast cancer. As part of a month-long activity plan aimed at raising awareness on preven- tion and early detec- tion of breast cancer, Nestlé Malta Limited is launching a nation- wide bus shelter ad- vertising campaign bringing together 100 different people sym- bolizing the need to fight breast cancer as a united front. Supported by Nestlé Fitness, the campaign concept revolves around head and shoulder images of 100 men and women who volunteered to be photographed in black and white wearing white t-shirts with a superimposed pink bra - emphasizing the pink col- our associated with breast can- cer awareness and the bra clearly drawing the viewers attention and conveying the message to regularly check oneself. The campaign concept, cam- paign management and art di- rection were entrusted to Visu- alTrends – the communications agency responsible for communi- cating the Nestlé cereal product line amongst other Nestlé prod- ucts in Malta. Shot entirely on 35mm photo- graphic film, and printed indi- vidually as silver gelatine prints, the photography was entrusted to renowned photographer Zvezdan reljic, who has recently completed the 'Beltin' exhibition supported by Heritage Malta. Zvezdan is a photography and publishing in- dustry specialist with 30 years of hands-on experience in photogra- phy, pre-press, printing and graph- ic design. Nestlé Fitness is also running a parallel social media campaign on Facebook designed exclusively to provide educational information on the prevention and early detec- tion of breast cancer awareness. "A healthy lifestyle is important to reduce the risks of encountering breast cancer. Promoting a healthy lifestyle is in line with the Nestlé Fitness brand objectives and over the years, we have supported the collective efforts of NGOs and individuals who come together as a united front to raise awareness about breast cancer prevention and early detection. "We will continue supporting this cause because we believe there is a lot more work yet to be done and we will not rest before pre- vention and early detection reach higher success rates. "Our Nestlé Fitness advertising campaign is directed towards a greater awareness about the sub- ject while educational and inform- ative health tips are provided on a daily basis to our followers on so- cial media throughout the month of October," commented Melania Calleja Pellicano, Group Product Manager at Nestlé Malta Limited. The 100 images will be displayed on rotation on all bus shelters in Malta and Gozo throughout Octo- ber and the first half of November. Hili Properties plc bond issue oversubscribed HILI Properties plc, the property division of Hili Ventures Ltd, an- nounces that due to heavy over- subscription for the €37 million 4.5% Unsecured Bonds 2025, the subscription lists which opened this morning, Wednesday, 7 Oc- tober, closed soon afterwards. Interest on the bonds com- mences on 16 October and re- funds of unallocated monies will be made by 21 October. The bonds are expected to be admit- ted to The Malta Stock Exchange on 21 October. Trading is expect- ed to commence on 22 October. Hili Properties plc will an- nounce the basis of acceptance of applications and the allocation policy to be adopted by not later than 14 October, 2015. Hili Properties plc thanks the investment community for its confidence in the company and its support of the bond issue. Disclaimer The value of investment can rise as well as fall. Past perform- ance is not necessarily indicative of future performance. Investors should seek the advice of an in- dependent, authorised financial intermediary before deciding to invest in listed financial instru- ments. Education and Employ- ment Minister Evarist Bartolo (centre) A group of Middlesea employees recently a morning at Girgenti farm with a group of children from Piccola Casa di San Giuseppe and St Patrick's Salesian Boys