1 November 2008 – Tourist arrivals in September dropped by 2.7 percent when compared to the same month last year, but the total number of nights spent on the islands rose by 2.6 percent, the National Statistics Office said.

1 November 2008 – Malta’s unemployment rate in September was nearly two percentage points below the eurozone average, according to new statistics published by Eurostat. Continuing its downward trend, the jobless figure fell to 5.6 percent among all those willing to work, down slightly from 5.7 percent in August and almost one percentage point below the previous September’s 6.4 percent.

1 November 2008 – Government debt stood at €3,518.1 million at the end of September, an increase of €270.6 million compared to the same period last year, according to the National Statistics Office.

1 November 2008 – Fish sales increased by 13.2 percent between July and September when compared to the same period last year, mostly due to larger catches of blue fin tuna, swordfish and lampuki. The National Statistics Office said fresh fish landings amounted to 304,186 kilograms. This was due to higher landings of swordfish (+43.7 percent), blue fin tuna (+57.1 percent) and lampuki (+3.3 percent).

1 November 2008 – The number of people in full-time jobs rose by 3,426 in the year leading up to last June, while unemployment fell by 476, latest statistics show.

2 November 2008 – Donations from Maltese missionary societies to poor countries increased by around €30,000 this year, statistics obtained by the Pontifical Mission Society show. To date, €1,104,584 has been donated to 13 missionary nations whereas €1,075,403 was raised in 2007.

3 November 2008 – The average temperature in October was 21.1°C, which was 0.4°C cooler than the recorded average during the past 30 years, the Meteorological Office at the Malta International Airport said.

3 November 2008 – The budget for 2009 was presented by the Hon. Dr. Tonio Fenech, Minister of Finance, the Economy and Investment.

4 November 2008 – Justice and Home Affairs Minister Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici discussed coordinated action by the four EU Mediterranean countries during talks in Athens with Greek Minister for the Interior Prokopis Pavlopoulos.

5 November 2008 – Communications Minister Austin Gatt signed the Blue Med Declaration on the creation of a Mediterranean Functional Airspace Block (FAB), which is expected to optimise air-traffic routes and thus leading to lower emissions and cost savings for airlines. The Blue Med Declaration was signed in Rome, between Cyprus, Greece, Italy and Malta, with Albania, Egypt and Tunisia signing as participating states, while Jordan signed as an observer.

6 November 2008 – The supply of fresh fruit and vegetables rose by 9.9 percent in the third quarter of this year, while the wholesale value declined by 11 percent to €4.92 million, the National Statistics Office said.

7 November 2008 – Malta signed a double taxation agreement with Montenegro. The agreement was signed by Foreign Affairs Minister Tonio Borg and his Montenegran counterpart, Mila Rocen, in Marseilles during a meeting of Foreign Ministers.

7 November 2008 – A good crop of potatoes resulted in a nearly 10 percent rise in the volume of fruit and vegetables grown locally between July and September compared to the same period last year. The potato yield grew 73 percent, pushing up the fruit and vegetable total to 14.53 million kilogrammes.

8 November 2008 – The visible trade gap grew by €74.5 million to €159.6 million in September compared to the same month last year. The National Statistics Office said that the value of imports rose by €64 million and exports fell by €10.5 million in value.

11 November 2008 – President Edward Fenech Adami left for a two-day state visit to Portugal accompanied by Mrs Fenech Adami.

12 November 2008 – Around 30,445 Maltese are estimated to have gone abroad by air and sea in September, up from 29,331 in the same month last year. The National Statistics Office said that 26,308 travelled to EU destinations, mostly Italy and the UK. Most were aged between 25 and 44.

12 November 2008 – Multilingualism Commissioner Leonard Orban arrived in Malta for a three day-visit to discuss further collaboration on the development of Maltese as one of the 23 official languages.

13 November 2008 – A memorandum of understanding to foster further business co-operation and facilitate the exchange of information has been signed between Malta Enterprise and the Commercial Association of Porto. The memorandum was signed during President Edward Fenech Adami’s official visit to Portugal, where he was accompanied by a Maltese business delegation.

14 November 2008 – State visit to Malta by their excellencies Ms Quentin Bryce AC Governor General of the Commonwealth of Australia and Mr Michael Bryce AM AE.

14 November 2008 – The Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices jumped to 112.05 points in October from 110.98 in September, the National Statistics Office said.

14 November 2008 – Maltese tourism can weather the storm gathering as a result of the international financial crisis if stakeholders and the government work together, Parliamentary Secretary for Tourism Mario de Marco said. He was speaking at the 2008 World Travel Market held this week in London.

15 November 2008 – Inflation on the island hit 5.8 percent last month, the highest in the eurozone.

15 November 2008 – Ambassadors Walter Balzan and Sean O’Huiginn signed a convention between Malta and Ireland for the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income.

16 November 2008 – President Edward Fenech Adami left for Cyprus at the invitation of the Cypriot Archbishop Chrysostomos II and the Comunita’ di Sant’Egidio. He attended an international meeting for peace entitled ‘The Civilisation of Peace: Faiths and Churches in Dialogue’, organised jointly by the Church of Cyprus and the Comunita’ di Sant’Egidio in Nicosia.

18 November 2008 – Passenger movements at Malta International Airport dropped by 6.1 percent last month when compared to the same month in 2007, with a total of 279,946 passengers handled, down by 18,319 Malta International Airport said.

18 November 2008 – Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi met trade unions to discuss the new water and electricity tariffs. He also held a separate meeting on the same subject with the Chamber for Small and Medium Enterprises.

19 November 2008 – Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi launched a code of ethics for board directors in the public sector, a corporate governance framework for public sector entities and a national anti-fraud and corruption strategy. Speaking in Parliament, Dr Gonzi said the three documents were in line with the commitment on good governance made by the government at the opening of the legislature.

20 November 2008 – Malta managed to more than halve its level of state aid since joining the EU, although it is still considered to be above average. Malta’s level of state aid in the various sectors last year fell to just 0.6 percent of Gross Domestic Product, less than half the 2004 levels of 1.4 percent, according to the 2007 State Aid Scoreboard just published in Brussels.

21 November 2008 – The Parliamentary Secretary for Tourism, Mario de Marco, in a frank speech to hoteliers outlined the problems facing tourism and the actions which need to be taken for the industry to at least maintain this year’s arrivals figures for next year. He told the annual meeting of the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association that tourism to Malta this year performed better than the European average and better than most if not all direct competitors.

21 November 2008 – Tourists spent €854.7 million in the first nine months of the year, a slight increase over last year’s €854.4 million, the Parliamentary Secretary for Tourism, Mario de Marco said in Parliament.

22 November 2008 – Cruise passenger traffic in October increased by 14,535 passengers over the same month last year, the National Statistics Office said.

23 November 2008 – Fourteen Gozitan local councils signed the Aalborg Charter committing themselves to working together to become sustainable localities in line with this European framework. The councils also agreed to promote their individual traditions and values.

24 November 2008 – A series of University graduation ceremonies with the graduation of students from post-graduate courses started. The ceremonies continue until December 9, with the ceremonies for postgraduates being held in Valletta and those for undergraduates at tal-Qroqq.

24 November 2008 – The number of people registering for work reached 6,351 last month, a decrease of 308 persons when compared to the same month last year but an increase of 255 over September.

25 November 2008 – Visits to museums and historical sites in Malta and Gozo increased by six percent last year to total 2,055,357, the National Statistics Office said.

25 November 2008 – Social Policy Minister John Dalli attended a meeting with the Malta Council for Economic and Social Development, where he updated the social partners on the outcome of the public consultation process.

26 November 2008 – Occupancy in hotels and other tourist establishments declined by 4.4 percent in September when compared to the corresponding month last year, the National Statistic Office said.

26 November 2008 – Between January and October, the police initiated criminal proceedings against 241 persons over offences relating to domestic violence.

26 November 2008 – Climate change created economic opportunities with 43 new companies dealing in renewable energy registered in the past three months, Resources Minister George Pullicino said.

26 November 2008 – Democracy, which guaranteed the free market, has to be accompanied by a sense of fairness and justice in the commercial sector, Justice Minister Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici told Parliament while introducing a Bill to amend the Malta Standards Authority Act.

26 November 2008 – Answering parliamentary questions, Home Affairs Minister Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici said the police were due €47.79 for extra duties carried out in 2005, €5,739.06 for work carried out in 2006 and €15,153.57 for work done in 2007.

27 November 2008 – Tourism dropped by 9.3 percent last month compared to the same month last year, the National Statistics Office said.

27 November 2008 – Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi inaugurated the world’s first purpose-built ePassport production facility at Bulebel. The 2,600-square-metre plant, built by De La Rue adjacent to its banknote printing facility, will print and assemble machine-readable and biometric passports.

27 November 2008 – Malta needs to diversify its touristic product, focusing more on traditional aspects of typically Maltese culture, the Parliamentary Secretary for Tourism, Mario de Marco said while speaking during a visit to the Limestone Heritage attraction in Siggiewi.

27 November 2008 – Accommodation establishments saw a drop of 4.4 percent in the occupancy rate in September when compared to the same period last year, according to the National Statistics Office.

28 November 2008 – The government’s shortfall between recurrent revenue and total expenditure of for the first 10 months of the year amounted to €243.2 million the National Statistics Office said.

28 November 2008 – The sales of manufacturing enterprises in the third quarter stood at €557.8 million, a decrease of €44.1 million (7.3 percent) when compared to the same period in 2007, a sample survey by the National Statistics Office found.

29 November 2008 – Over a quarter of complaints received by the Ombudsman this year were related to the army. According to the Ombudsman’s Annual Report, 164 of 660 cases concerned the Armed Forces of Malta, 44 to the Malta Environment and Planning Authority and 36 to the Malta Transport Authority.

Permalink: Synopsis of the DOI news for November 2008