ISSUE 06 I MAR - MAY 2011
THIS ISSUE
INTERVIEW MBB’s President speaks about the organisation’s past achievements and plans for the future.
page 5
business agenda
NEWSPAPER POST
ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION It’s an easier way of resolving a commercial dispute – but why is it still underused?
page 19
THE Official Business publication of the Malta business Bureau
FUTURE OF NORTH AFRICA DEPENDS ON LIBYAN OUTCOME – Dr Joe Borg ENVIRONMENT Energy efficiency is key to business sustainability, but a lot more needs to be done to reach the EU’s 2020 targets.
page 11
Former EU Commissioner Joe Borg has stated that the situation across the North African region greatly depends on what happens in Libya, explaining that “the ousting of Gaddafi, if this were to come about, may give courage to others in the region to resort to popular protests and revolts in order to seek to achieve the same result.” Dr Borg, who is currently the Chairman of the Mediterranean Academy of Diplomatic Studies, believes that if Gaddafi does manage to retain power, it would be dif-
CASE STUDY Vassallo Group’s CEO discusses the secrets to the Group’s success. page 18
There is a strong business case for having a social conscience.
page 38
The political crisis that has hit a number of North African and Middle Eastern countries has had thousands of Maltese and European businesses on edge, speculating to what extent the unrest will impact on their business investments and on the economy as a whole. See page 7 for full interview.
REDUCING DEFICIT WITHOUT REDUCING EXPENDITURE In comments given to Business Agenda, Minister for Finance and the Economy, Tonio Fenech, has stated that reducing the deficit to bring it in line with the Maastricht criteria is essential and that work is continuing to ensure that this objective is achieved by 2011.
CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
ficult to foresee whether this would dampen the will of others to do as the Tunisians and the Egyptians did, or whether they would seek to succeed where the Libyans failed.
Minister Fenech stated that reducing the deficit was essential in order to satisfy the EU’s demands in this regard but also to retain Malta’s attractiveness as an investment
option and to safeguard jobs and competitiveness. Unfolding political and economic developments in the region are making governments objectives in this respect an increasingly challenging task, but despite this, Minister Fenech has categorically ruled out the option of reducing government spending in actual terms.
See page 9 for the full story.
“EUROPE’S RECOVERY IS UNEVEN” BUSINESSEUROPE President, Jurgen R Thumann, has declared that Europe’s economic recovery has been uneven and that the EU needs a renewed drive to safeguard its competitiveness whilst stressing that fiscal consolidation and economic reform is needed across the board. Mr Thumann also expressed the opinion that rebuilding solid foundations of economic growth throughout the continent is “the highest priority in order to deliver a lasting response to the financial and sovereign debt crisis.” He called for
the new governance framework to create much greater incentives to prevent macroeconomic and fiscal imbalances from ever arising again. He also stated rising commodity prices, the health of public finances and the financial sector continue to present challenges to Europe’s economic recovery and must be addressed without any further delay.
See page 14 for the full story.