Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/884700
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 8 OCTOBER 2017 Events 44 Prime Minister and FinanceMalta address Milan's Chamber of Commerce PRIME Minister Joseph Muscat, accompanied by the chairman of FinanceMalta, Kenneth Farrugia and the CEO of Malta Enterprise, Mario Galea recently ad- dressed officials from the Chamber of Commerce of Milan, Monza and Brianza. The meeting was also at- tended by a business delega- tion based in the Lombardy region which was given an overview of the business op- portunities and Malta's at- tractiveness as an investment destination. Muscat explained that Malta was experiencing one of the best economic perfor- mances within the European Union and which was three times higher than the Euro- pean average. He said that last year Malta had registered a surplus in public finances and a record of people in employ- ment. He also spoke about Malta's financial services sec- tor, which he said was flour- ishing due to the highly stable political economic environ- ment. The Italian business del- egation was also addressed by Kenneth Farrugia who spoke about the financial services industry and the value propo- sition in the asset manage- ment, insurance and private wealth sectors. Farrugia high- lighted the critical success factors that were driving the growth of the industry. Galea spoke about a number of economic sectors covering the manufacturing, life sci- ences, ICT and aviation sec- tors as well as developments in the new emerging sectors to include education, mari- time services and logistics. MAPFRE MSV Life and MAPFRE Middlesea support Phoenix SC Beachvolley Academy MAPFRE MSV Life and MAP- FRE Middlesea have supported the Youth Beachvolley Academy set up by Swieqi Phoenix Volley- ball for the third year running in line with their respective CSR programmes to promote healthy living habits. Commenting on the work of the Youth Beachvolley Academy, Phoenix Sports Club President Orlando Bonnici stated that this complements the successful work being done by the club in indoor volleyball. Swieqi Phoenix Vol- leyball once again dominated the youth and junior categories this past season, being crowned Na- tional volleyball champions in the Under-14, Under-16, and Un- der-18 categories, for the second year running. "The philosophy of Phoenix Sports Club places a strong em- phasis on the development of young athletes in all the sports disciplines which we cater for. Our volleyball coaching staff has developed a programme aimed at developing the skills needed for beachvolley, while improving the general physical condition- ing of our young athletes," he said. "Thanks to the support of MAPFRE Middlesea and MAP- FRE MSV Life, we have been in a position to cater for this activity for the third year runnning." David Curmi, CEO of MAPFRE MSV Life said that beach vol- ley had developed into a high- profile, glamorous sport and en- joyed great visibility on beaches around the world, including Malta. "MAPFRE MSV Life is proud of its role in helping encourage youths to undertake physical ac- tivity and to practice this sport," he said. Promoting maritime sustainability through fashion OVER 50 delegates flew in from 12 countries for the Blue Fashion for Blue Growth event held on Tuesday at Caviar and Bull at the Corinthia San Gorg. Morten Stemre, representative from the Nordic Atlantic Coop- eration, explained the concept behind 'Blue Fashion for Blue Growth' which has as its main objectives to make fashion and the maritime industry more sus- tainable and to also create new income generators for the mari- time industry. He said that while, at first-glance, wearing fish and sealskin products may not be so appealing to an animal lover, it's important to note that these crea- tures are never killed for their skin, and these skins are currently used as cheap fodder or discarded entirely. Jose Herrera, Minister for the Environment, Sustainable De- velopment & Climate Change, commended the initiative which is aiming to promote sustainable growth in the ocean economy through fashion. "The dovetailing of the fashion industry with the ocean safe- guarding efforts, goes to show how the various industries could innovate their practices in such a way which would be more sus- tainable," he said. "Such efforts should be further recognised, cel- ebrated and promoted, in order to ensure that they reach a wider audience." A number of designers and busi- ness owners presented their own case studies. First up was Marianne Mørck, who is one of the co-founders (to- gether with her daughter) of the Norwegian label Mørck which ad- vocates for natural and traditional materials and wishes to promote local businesses as well as ethical and sustainable production. This was followed by Dominique Benzaken from Seychelles who gave an interesting presenta- tion on the Kreolor Enterprise. The brand has been established for 27 years and has over 40 em- ployees and 6 stores. The product includes jewelry using gold and local natural products such as co- conut and coco de mer shells, lo- cal palm seeds cultivated pearls, oyster shells and swordfish bill which is a by-product, aiming to help reduce fish waste. Maltese designer Sam Selby pre- sented her own collection of jew- ellery made from sea sediment, following which, the three final- ists from the international Blue Fashion Challenge (which was held at the end of August in Nor- way) presented their collections. The 'Blue Fashion Challenge''s aim was to encourage designers from Nordic countries to contrib- ute to a more sustainable textile industry, by promoting the use of materials that are bio-based and abundant in marine environ- ments. Winner Sissal Kristiansen from the Faroe Islands presented her collection. The 'Shisha brand' cre- ates items that are beautiful and also have a focus on sustainability and the environment. "Whether it is knitwear, accessories, bags or home accessories, every prod- uct has its roots in a culture – the Faroese, the Japanese, the Green- landic or whatever culture and/ or people have inspired me – but the aesthetic guideline will always have the final say," she said. Korbrun Yr Gunnarsdottir founder of Korbrun from Iceland and Louise Lynge, founder of Nu- uk Couture from Greenland also presented their 'Blue Fashion Col- lections'. The presentations were followed by a lovely reception courtesy of Caviar and Bull. Prime Minister Joseph Muscat together with Kenneth Farrugia (first left) and Mario Galea (first right) . Minister Jose Herrera addressing the Maltese and foreign delegates