Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/634260
45 Events maltatoday, Sunday, 31 January 2016 New Clinical Centre at Hilltop Gardens opens to residents and public On the 25 January, The Hilltop Gardens Retirement Village in naxxar, launched yet another extraordinary facility – a first- class Clinical Centre which of- fers a 24-hour GP service and brings together more than 40 specialists, physicians and allied healthcare professionals under one roof. During a celebration attended by a number of surgical, medi- cal and health care professionals covering a wide spectrum of spe- cialties, Angelo Xuereb, Chair- man of AX Holdings, gave guests a tour of the first-rate Clinical Centre, which includes 13 fully equipped suites, and is open not only to Hilltop's residents but also to the general public. "Consultants at The Hilltop Gardens Clinical Centre will be covering a number of medical and surgical specialties includ- ing general surgery, orthopedics, cardiology, urology, dental, EnT, psychiatry, respiratory, derma- tology and geriatrics amongst others. In addition, a team of allied healthcare professionals will be providing services such as podiatry, physiotherapy, oc- cupational and speech therapy, as well as other services to help clients live better, longer and more independently " explained Jacqueline Camilleri, CEO – Hilltop Gardens. "The Hilltop Gardens Clini- cal Centre brings together top- notch design and the best medi- cal and surgical knowledge, for the benefit of our care home residents, the domiciliary needs of our residents living in inde- pendent apartments, as well as the medical and surgical needs of the general public," added Xuereb. The Hilltop Gardens Retire- ment Village is the first luxury retirement village in Malta. Late last year, the €43 million Village welcomed its first clients in deluxe luxury apartments and penthouses, as well as a state of the art residential care home. Spread over 17,000sqm, the Village in naxxar includes amenities akin to five star hospi- tality, from a wellness SPA with an indoor heated pool, to a fit- ness centre, a library, a superbly designed "f loating" chapel, as well as a lounge, a restaurant, a hairdressing salon, numerous activity areas, and a hydrother- apy pool ideal for rehabilitation and low impact activity. For more information about The Hilltop Gardens Clinical Centre call 2235 2700 or visit w w w.h i l ltopret i rement l iv i ng. com. Central Bank issues economic update for January ECOnOMIC activity in Malta continued to expand robustly in the third quarter of 2015, with real gross domestic product (GDP) increasing by 5.4% on a year earlier. Growth was driven by domestic demand. Indicators for tourism point to further ex- pansion in the fourth quarter of 2015. Buoyant economic activity is being ref lected in the labour market, with employment ex- panding and the unemployment rate remaining at historically low levels. Price pressures were moder- ate. The annual rate of inf lation, based on the Harmo- nised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP), stood at 1.2% in Decem- ber. Maltese residents' deposits continued to expand at a rapid annual rate in november, while the annual rate of growth of credit to residents remained sta- ble at 4.8%. As regards fiscal develop- ments, the general government deficit narrowed substantially in the third quarter of 2015, while the deficit on the Consolidated Fund also decreased during the first eleven months of the year. On the external side, the cur- rent account of the balance of payments remained in surplus in the third quarter of 2015. Economic activity in Malta continued to grow strongly dur- ing the third quarter of 2015, with real GDP rising at an an- nual rate of 5.4%, following a re- vised growth rate of 5.8% in the previous quarter. During the quarter under re- view, growth was driven by do- mestic demand, which rose by 9.1% on a year earlier. In turn, the main driver was a rise in gross fixed capital formation, which grew sharply when com- pared with the second quarter of 2014. Private consumption also had a posi- tive impact. In con- trast, government consumption fell. Overall, domestic demand contributed 7.5 percentage points to real GDP growth. Gross fixed capital formation rose sharply for the second con- secutive quarter. In the third quarter it increased by 39.7% on a year earlier. This mostly re- f lected higher spending on ma- chinery and transport equip- ment. Spending on dwellings also increased. In contrast, non- residential investment declined, while the other components of investment, which include investment in software, were broadly stable. Private consumption also went up, expanding at an annual rate of 5.1% in the third quarter, re- f lecting continued growth in compensation of employees. It added 2.6 percentage points to GDP growth. In contrast, following several quarters of strong growth, gov- ernment consumption declined by 5.4% on the third quarter of 2014, lowering GDP growth by 0.9 percentage points. Although government wages and interme- diate consumption increased, receipts from sales of govern- ment services, which are netted against such expenditure Premier Capital granted McDonald's Developmental Licence for Romania MALTA: Premier Capital plc, the Maltese-owned Developmental Li- cencee for McDonald's in Malta, Es- tonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Greece, was today granted the Developmen- tal Licence for McDonald's in Ro- mania. McDonald's in Romania adds 67 restaurants in 21 cities with a team of 4,000 people to Premier Capital's portfolio. McDonald's was established in Ro- mania in 1995 and its restaurants serve more than 65 million cus- tomers every year – 180,000 custom- ers visit its restau- rants and 19 McCafes every day. There are 32 restaurants in the capital Bucharest alone. In 2015, Mc- Donalds was named best employer in Romania by AOn Hewitt for the second year running. With the addition of Romania to its footprint, Premier Capital be- comes the Developmental Licencee for six markets with 131 restaurants serving around 100 million custom- ers a year. Premier Capital's total staff complement now reaches 6,800 people. "Premier Capital is delighted to welcome the management teams and crew of McDonald's in Romania to its ever-growing family," Premier Capital Chairman Melo Hili said. "These are exciting times for us and we are all set to grow the business in Romania. Premier Capital brings 20 years of international operational and investment experience to this venture and we look forward to directing our efforts to the development of Romanian busi- ness and its peo- ple." Premier Capi- tal Managing Director Victor Tedesco added: "With its popula- tion of 20 million, Ro- mania presents enormous potential for growth. A sixth market allows us to identify more synergies and opportunities for collaboration across our footprint. Our priority is to expand our pres- ence in all markets and a number of restaurants will be opened this year. We will continue to invest in mod- ernising the in-store experience for customers and ensuring that our staff receive consistent training and opportunities for personal develop- ment." Mizzi organisation acquires 50% of local IT consultancy firm MIzzI Organisation has acquired 50% of local IT consultancy firm InFusion Solutions Ltd, making this the first venture into the IT and digital work for the Mizzi Organisation. InFusion Solutions is an IT consultancy and solution pro- vider, with years of experience in business analysis and technical architecture. Their services in- clude bespoke solution develop- ment as well as web application development and web system integration. InFusion have also developed a number of products including FlexiTe – an advanced real-time business intelligence tool that uses complex algo- ritims and taxonomies to ana- lyse user patterns and behaviour and build real life personas of online visitors; KYC Portal – a Know Your Client (KYC) tool that collates all KYC application processes, and Cabinet –a pow- erful file and document manage- ment system. InFusion has representation in the UK and Ireland opened of- fices in Spain last year. Mizzi Organisation director Ian Mizzi hailed the acquisition as a milestone in the organisa- tion's history. "It is our first venture into the IT sector, although I hasten to add that as a user the Mizzi Or- ganistion was a pioneer in the IT applications here in Malta," he said. "We have chosen to part- ner up with InFusion Solutions because it was felt that this com- pany has the right ingredients to provide a perfect strategic fit into our current portfolio. "While Mizzi Organisation will be involved in the strategic direction of InFusion, I must make it clear that the operations will remain clearly in the hands of the current management. We are sure that InFusion's clients will appreciate the added finan- cial security that this deal has brought to the table." InFusion Solutions director Kristoff zammit Ciantar said that " joining such a reputable and successful group of compa- nies will give us further tools to grow and thrive in such a com- petitive industry." "We look forward to reaching new heights and successes," he said. From left – Nicky Camilleri, Mizzi Organisation Group CFO, Ian Mizzi, Mizzi Organisation Board Member, Kristoff Zammit Ciantar, Infusion Solutions Director, Ivan Bonello, Infusion Solutions Director