MALTA //There are grave concerns in Malta surrounding its strong economic ties with Libya, but the Mediterranean island nation could bene¿t as companies look to move their operations to a nearby haven, the country's ¿nance minister said yesterday.
Malta played a crucial role in evacuations from Libya as workers and visitors fled the country.
The UAE has significant interests in Malta, with Dubai Holding developing a business park there through Tecom, which developed Internet City and Media City in Dubai. Tecom has a 60 per cent stake in the Maltese telecommunications company Go. Mubadala Development, a strategic investment company owned by the Abu Dhabi Government, also has interests through SR Technics, which has an aircraft maintenance facility at Malta International Airport.
"Clearly the Libyan situation is of concern for us on a number of fronts," said Tonio Fenech, Malta's minister of finance, economy and investment. "Yes, there are Maltese investments there, and therefore we are concerned in terms of the economic [impact] that that could have on the investments themselves.
"The instability itself doesn't help. Many people think that we are right at the doorstep of Libya and therefore would say is Malta safe? The reality is we are some 200 kilometres away. There is a problem of perception, which also therefore tends to slow decisions.
"But it has also created opportunities, because in the evacuation a lot of international companies passed through Malta and they set up their evacuation operations in Malta."
He said he had held discussions with companies that were considering setting up of¿ces in Malta.
"One of them is a Brazilian company," said Mr Fenech. "They were contracted to build the airport in Libya and they have a signi¿cant operation here and we are in discussions with them. I always say your perception of Malta changes radically when you come."
Malta has millions of euros of investment in Libya in construction, hospitality and retail.
rbundhun@thenational.ae
Timeline
2012-2015
The company offers payments/bribes to win key contracts in the Middle East
May 2017
The UK SFO officially opens investigation into Petrofac’s use of agents, corruption, and potential bribery to secure contracts
September 2021
Petrofac pleads guilty to seven counts of failing to prevent bribery under the UK Bribery Act
October 2021
Court fines Petrofac £77 million for bribery. Former executive receives a two-year suspended sentence
December 2024
Petrofac enters into comprehensive restructuring to strengthen the financial position of the group
May 2025
The High Court of England and Wales approves the company’s restructuring plan
July 2025
The Court of Appeal issues a judgment challenging parts of the restructuring plan
August 2025
Petrofac issues a business update to execute the restructuring and confirms it will appeal the Court of Appeal decision
October 2025
Petrofac loses a major TenneT offshore wind contract worth €13 billion. Holding company files for administration in the UK. Petrofac delisted from the London Stock Exchange
November 2025
180 Petrofac employees laid off in the UAE
Hotel Silence
Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir
Pushkin Press
Women%E2%80%99s%20Asia%20Cup
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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The story in numbers
18
This is how many recognised sects Lebanon is home to, along with about four million citizens
450,000
More than this many Palestinian refugees are registered with UNRWA in Lebanon, with about 45 per cent of them living in the country’s 12 refugee camps
1.5 million
There are just under 1 million Syrian refugees registered with the UN, although the government puts the figure upwards of 1.5m
73
The percentage of stateless people in Lebanon, who are not of Palestinian origin, born to a Lebanese mother, according to a 2012-2013 study by human rights organisation Frontiers Ruwad Association
18,000
The number of marriages recorded between Lebanese women and foreigners between the years 1995 and 2008, according to a 2009 study backed by the UN Development Programme
77,400
The number of people believed to be affected by the current nationality law, according to the 2009 UN study
4,926
This is how many Lebanese-Palestinian households there were in Lebanon in 2016, according to a census by the Lebanese-Palestinian dialogue committee
HIV on the rise in the region
A 2019 United Nations special analysis on Aids reveals 37 per cent of new HIV infections in the Mena region are from people injecting drugs.
New HIV infections have also risen by 29 per cent in western Europe and Asia, and by 7 per cent in Latin America, but declined elsewhere.
Egypt has shown the highest increase in recorded cases of HIV since 2010, up by 196 per cent.
Access to HIV testing, treatment and care in the region is well below the global average.
Few statistics have been published on the number of cases in the UAE, although a UNAIDS report said 1.5 per cent of the prison population has the virus.
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Robo-advisers use an online sign-up process to gauge an investor’s risk tolerance by feeding information such as their age, income, saving goals and investment history into an algorithm, which then assigns them an investment portfolio, ranging from more conservative to higher risk ones.
These portfolios are made up of exchange traded funds (ETFs) with exposure to indices such as US and global equities, fixed-income products like bonds, though exposure to real estate, commodity ETFs or gold is also possible.
Investing in ETFs allows robo-advisers to offer fees far lower than traditional investments, such as actively managed mutual funds bought through a bank or broker. Investors can buy ETFs directly via a brokerage, but with robo-advisers they benefit from investment portfolios matched to their risk tolerance as well as being user friendly.
Many robo-advisers charge what are called wrap fees, meaning there are no additional fees such as subscription or withdrawal fees, success fees or fees for rebalancing.
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The Vile
Starring: Bdoor Mohammad, Jasem Alkharraz, Iman Tarik, Sarah Taibah
Director: Majid Al Ansari
Rating: 4/5
