News

ALBANIA, IMF CERTIFICATES POSITIVE ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE

According to the Report on Albania published by the IMF in the context of the consultations under Article IV, the Albanian economy continues to improve by taking advantage of the increase in domestic demand, foreign direct investment and the recovery of the main EU trading partners. Attention is however suggested to the Albanian authorities regarding the management of the public debt. The positive economic trend, with growth of around 4% of GDP, and the clear political mandate of the government, after the last general elections, offer a good opportunity to continue on the path of reforms, strengthening the competitiveness of the economy and the financial system respecting fiscal discipline. The Fund is particularly interested in reducing the rate of public debt (extending the terms and diversifying investors) and in the direction of measures to guarantee fiscal equilibrium (curbing tax reduction, preferential policies and exemption for some sectors) and reduce risks. In terms of investments and with reference to the government’s “one billion euro” program to attract funding for public works through the private public partnership formula, the Fund stresses the need for an appropriate framework for public private partnership projects, in accordance with international best practices. The Fund also expresses its concern about the progress of the reforms in the energy sector which “after an impressive start, have then found delays”. With reference to the banking system, the IMF reiterates the need for “continuous vigilance”, appreciating “progress in restructuring bad debts”.

(ITALPRESS/MNA).


Source: medNews

SICILY AND TUNISIA, MEETING ABOUT LEISHMANIASIS

Sicily is the historically oldest region for cases of leishmaniasis. The first manifestations of the disease on the island date back to the early 1900s.

In recent years, leishmaniasis has spread throughout the country and even in areas where it was previously non-existent, now there are several cases of the disease.

In the period 2013-2014 there has been a peak of human visceral leishmaniasis that has affected the hilly and pedestrian areas of the provinces of Reggio Emilia, Modena and especially Bologna, probably due to an increase in the density of the carrier caused in turn by particular climatic aspects environmental.

In Sicily leishmaniasis is constantly present over time. In the province of Palermo and Agrigento, this year there have been two cases of visceral leishmaniasis (the most dangerous, which can invade organs in particular the spleen and may even be fatal) and several cases of cutaneous leishmaniasis that produces an ulcer to epidermal level.

These are some of the data that emerged during the training event “The Leishmaniasis basin: new Insights into the Epidemiology of a Neglected Disease” which ended at the Istituto Zooprofilattico of Sicily.

Leishmaniasis is a complex disease, transmissible to humans by the bite of infected insects, the phlebotomist, which grows in damp and shady places, occupied by organic debris (undergrowth foliage, dens of small mammals, manure, heaps of stones and cracks of dry walls). They are the females that sting the host because they need to feed themselves with blood for the maturation of the eggs: they act more often at twilight, pricking the smooth areas of the skin, and they feed on the blood coming out of the wound.

Cutaneous leishmaniasis affect all age groups, especially males, adolescents and young adults, while visceral ones affect children, who are often in contact with tank dogs, but also non-immune or immunosuppressed adults.

Most infections are inapparent and often resolve spontaneously. Only a small part of cases evolve towards the full-blown form. Factors that favor evolution are genetic and also affect age, malnutrition, immunosuppression.

Leishmaniasis arrives in Sicily from the hottest countries, particularly from Tunisia. In the North African state, the leishmania mayor is very widespread, producing lepers and having as its animal the rodent. Since Sicily is a cross-border region, concerns emerge that the mayor may enter Sicily. At the moment, in Sicily, no case has been registered.

(ITALPRESS/MNA).


Source: medNews

ENI BEGINS PRODUCING FROM ZOHR

Eni has produced its first gas from the supergiant Zohr field in a record time for this type of field of less than two and a half years. The discovery, which is located in the Shorouk Block, offshore Egypt approximately 190 km north of Port Said, has a potential in excess of 30 Tcf of gas in place (about 5.5 billion barrels of oil equivalent).

Zohr, discovered in August 2015, obtained the investment authorization after just six months in February 2016. It is the largest gas discovery ever made in Egypt and in the Mediterranean Sea, and will be able to satisfy a part of Egypt’s natural gas demand for decades to come.

Zohr is one of Eni’s seven record-breaking projects, which have involved rapid development and production, and is testament to the success of Eni’s Dual Exploration Model, adopted by 2013. The approach is based on a simple principle: while the reserves of hydrocarbons grow through the exploration successes, Eni can benefit from early monetization thanks to the sale of minority stakes, all while maintaining operatorship of the asset. By parallelizing exploration, appraisal and development phases, the time-tomarket is quicker, equity development cost are lowered, and Eni achieves an accelerated 2 cash flow. This winning combination allowed Eni to generate $9bn from its exploration activities between 2014 and 2017.

Eni’s CEO, Claudio Descalzi, commented: «Today is a historic day for us. It further confirms the capability of Eni’s women and men to turn challenging opportunities into unprecedented achievements. The start-up of Zohr is the direct result of our unique knowhow, our ability to innovate in technology and of our tenacity in pursuing even the most challenging goals, of which we are very proud. This project has been possible exploiting to the maximum level the competences, the skills as well as the human and infrastructural capabilities that this Country offers in terms of local content. It will completely transform Egypt’s energy landscape, allowing it to become self-sufficient and to turn from an importer of natural gas into a future exporter. I would like to thank the Egyptian Authorities and all our Partners in this incredible project for their all-important contributions and the whole Egyptian petroleum sector which provided full support to achieve Zohr project in a record time».

Eni holds a 60% stake in Shorouk Block, Rosneft 30% and BP 10%. The company is coOperator of the project through Petrobel, jointly held by Eni and the state corporation Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC), on behalf of Petroshorouk, jointly held by Eni and the state company Egyptian Natural Gas holding Company (EGAS).


Source: medNews

TUNISIA, 21 MILLION EUROS EIB LOAN TO ONE TECH HOLDING

The European Investment Bank (EIB) has granted to the Tunisian group One Tech Holding (wiring, mechatronics, IT, electronics) a financing agreement worth 21 million euros with the aim of supporting the extension and the modernization of the production capacity of the Tunisian holding in the cable / mechatronics sectors.

One Tech Holding also intends to invest in research, development and innovation in these sectors with a project that will contribute to the creation of over 720 permanent jobs in Tunisia.

(ITALPRESS/MNA).


Source: medNews

ISRAEL, PASSENGER TRAFFIC AT BEN GURION AIRPORT ON THE RISE

Continuing the trend of the first months, November 2017 ended with an increase in passenger traffic: 1.45 million passengers traveled through the Tel Aviv Ben Gurion airport, 18% more than in November 2016.

Passenger traffic thus totaled 18.8 million transits in the period January-November, 16% more than the corresponding period last year. Traffic was boosted by Ryanair, which began its full operation in Israel in October this year, and transported 5,500 passengers from the Ben Gurion airport. The number of airplanes that used the Ben Gurion airport in November was 10,117, 17% more than in November 2016. Figures are announced by the Israeli Authority of ports and airports, taken from the Globes business newspaper . November is considered a weak month for passenger traffic, but the number of passengers traveling abroad has continued to grow, due to the relatively low November prices and the popularity of business travel during this period, before the Christian holidays.

A map of cities visited by Israelis includes New York, Paris, Rome, London, Amsterdam and Bucharest. Many passengers have passed through Istanbul and Moscow airports to reach other destinations.

The airlines with the most frequent number of trips are the following: El Al Israel Airlines Ltd. (TASE: ELAL) with 400,000 passengers, a variation of 3.5% compared to last year. Turkish Airlines, in second place, with 88,000 passengers, 8% more than last year. The British airline easyJet with 76,000 passengers, 27% more than the corresponding month last year, followed by the Hungarian carrier Wizz Air, whose passenger activities in Israel reached 71,000 in November, double compared to last year. The Russian airline Aeroflot, which is getting stronger in the connecting flight business, flew 62,600 passengers in November.

Other airlines that gained ground in November include LOT Polish Airlines, Lufthansa, Israir Airlines and Tourism Ltd., Transavia.

In the first 11 months of 2017, the five main airlines for passenger traffic were El Al, Turkish Airlines, Aeroflot, EasyJet and Israir.

Destination countries include Turkey, mainly as an intermediate stop to other destinations, the United States, Germany, Italy, Russia, France, the United Kingdom and Poland.

(ITALPRESS/MNA).


Source: medNews

MEDITERRANEAN, ALFANO "ERASMUS UNITE PEOPLE"

“It is necessary to build a partnership based on strategic investment on young people, working on two sources promoting entrepreneurial activities and cultural exchanges. We will sign an agreement for a great Mediterranean Erasmus that Italy will support with scholarships and greater mobility”. This was stated by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Angelino Alfano, speaking at the third edition of the Forum Rome MED 2017-Mediterranean. “This is the right way to build a Mediterranean identity, to bring our peoples and our countries closer to investing in culture. The Mediterranean – he adds – can become a meeting point between different cultures or can degenerate into a situation of confrontation, terror and desperation, it is up to us to do everything possible so that the first condition can be fulfilled “.

“The Mediterranean must be a line that unites and the mobility of young talents is fundamental to foster mutual knowledge and a constructive exchange between the north and the southern shores of the Mediterranean. For this reason we have thought of an Erasmus of the Mediterranean, with scholarships and mobility programs for university students and young researchers. An investment in culture to open new channels of dialogue and create a common Mediterranean identity, which favors the conditions for security and peace in the region”, says Alfano, on the signing of the Joint Declaration on the “Mediterranean Erasmus initiative”.

The Declaration was signed by Minister Alfano, by the Vice-President of the Presidential Council of Libya, Ahmed Maitig, by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Democratic and Popular Algerian Republic, Abdelkader Messahel, by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Arab Republic of Egypt, Sameh Shoukry, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Tunisian Republic, Khemaies Jhinaoui and the Ambassador of the Republic of Lebanon, Mira Daher Violides.

The aim of the project is to reiterate the centrality of the Mediterranean for Italian foreign policy and the importance of meetings and exchanges between students and young researchers, as a fundamental tool for strengthening mutual knowledge and understanding among the Mediterranean countries.

The idea of an Erasmus of the Mediterranean constitutes a concrete continuation of the path started with the program of the Farnesina, “Italy, Culture, Mediterranean”, launched in the margins of the OSCE Conference of Palermo on 24 and 25 October.

With the Declaration, Italy commits itself two fronts: 1) to increase the number of scholarships for students of the aforementioned countries; 2) encourage, within the EU, the strengthening of the Erasmus + Program, so that mobility programs to and from these countries on the southern shores of the Mediterranean are recognized as a priority and greater financial resources are allocated.

The Declaration also establishes the shared commitment to promote and further support inter-university cooperation and encourage the creation of programs aimed at obtaining qualifications that are recognizable in their respective legal systems.


Source: medNews

MOROCCO, SOCIO-ECONOMIC CONDITIONS IMPROVED

A study was presented in Rabat on the socio-economic development of the Moroccan population, carried out by the Haut-Commissariat au Plan (HCP), in collaboration with the World Bank. This report highlights the improvement of living conditions in Morocco, especially for the poorest, as witnessed by the continuous reduction of poverty and economic vulnerability. A positive situation benefiting both the urban and rural population. Nevertheless, the disparities between the city and the countryside remain considerable: in the first, the incidence of poverty in the period 2001-2014 has dropped from 7.6% to 1.6%. In the same period of time, from 25.1% to 9.5% in the countryside.

Despite the positive trend in income data, the perceived poverty index should be emphasized: between 2007 and 2014 the subjective poverty rate found among Moroccan citizens increased by 3.4%, reaching 45.1% and it is conditioned by the feeling of the most disadvantaged social classes, particularly widespread among young people and women. The study defines Morocco as a medium-low income country; in 2014, the wealthy class accounted for 10.1% of the population, the average class for 58.7%, the categories at risk for poverty 26.4% and the poor for only 4.8%. It should also be noted that the structure of the labor market is dominated by low-level jobs, the result of the lack of high-tech economic activities. Finally, the labor market in Morocco does not appear to be sufficiently inclusive and able to create a number of appropriate opportunities with respect to population pressure.


Source: medNews

TEN PEOPLE ARRESTED FOR THE MURDER OF CARUANA

Ten people were arrested today for the murder of Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galicia, who was killed on October 16 in the explosion of her car. This was announced by Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, who during a press conference explained that the arrests were taken during an operation that took place in Marsa, Zebbug, Bugibba and other areas of the island. Some of those arrested had already appeared in court in relation to other cases and are well known to the police, while the other suspects have no criminal record.

The Maltese Prime Minister thanked for the work done by the Maltese investigators. The joint operation was conducted by the police, armed forces, secret services, as well as by the FBI, Europol and Finnish officials.

The investigators have 48 hours to interrogate the people arrested and indict them.

(ITALPRESS/MNA).


Source: medNews

ALBANIA, 297 MLN THE MOBILE TELEPHONE BUSINESS

Mobile telephony accounts for around € 297 million a year. In 2016, Vodafone Albania Sh.a, a part of the Newbury-based multinational Vodafone Group Plc, was the first operator with 50.8% market share on active users, followed by Telekom Albania (part of the Deutsche Telekom group) with 30.7%, ALBtelecom with 13.1% (Turkish majority shareholding) and the Albanian company Plus Communication with 5.4%. The Competition Authority recently approved the request for Plus Communication for the transfer of frequencies to the two largest operators, Vodafone Albania and Telecom Albania, and announced that for reasons of financial difficulty, Plus Communication can not continue its investments which would allow their customers qualitative services on competitive terms. The magazine Monitor writes. In order to ensure the continuity of contract performance, the Competition Authority will cooperate with the Electronic Postal and Postal Communications Authority (AKEP) to monitor all steps to be taken to protect Plus Communication customers and their passage to other mobile networks.

 


Source: medNews

TURKEY, TOWARDS ENLARGED AGREEMENT WITH EFTA

Turkey aims to sign an expanded agreement with the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) in January 2018, Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekçi has said, after participating in the EFTA ministerial meeting in Geneva on Nov. 24. Turkey has had a free trade agreement with EFTA since 1991 and is now in the process of expanding the agreement.

The EFTA consists of four European states: Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland. The joint statement underlined “the already close economic ties between the EFTA States and Turkey, and the significant potential to advance economic cooperation and exchange by further enhancing the framework conditions for trade and investment between them.” The World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland will take place between Jan. 23-26, 2018. Despite not being a member of EU, Turkey has had a Customs Union agreement with the bloc since 1995. Source: Hurriyet Daily News.


Source: medNews

1 … 136 137 138 139 140 … 171