The tourism authorities have done well over the years to keep up efforts to increase tourism flows from the US to Malta and to introduce direct flights from that country. That now Delta airlines will be proposing such flights is an encouraging development.
One cannot assume that the initiative will succeed. There were times when Air Malta had an office in New York, and at other times, direct flights were commenced but given up in a short while. From each and every experience, one hopes, more knowledge was accrued about how to do things better. Even if this latest approach stalls it cannot but be considered as another step forward till direct flights to America become part of the Maltese scenario, an occurrence that would bring significant economic and social benefits.
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BANK PRIVATISATION
Some people have observed that if Mid-Med Bank was sold 25 years ago for a derisory price to HSBC and today the same bank is being sold at a lower price to a Greek bank, which is much smaller than HSBC, then the price set 25 years ago was not so negligible after all. Such remarks are astonishing.
The sale of Mid-Med was a privatisation exercise conducted by a government which wanted to access "liquid" funds as soon as possible and believed that the HSBC name would automatically translate into a bonanza of investment contacts at a later stage. The sale being made by HSBC results from a strategic decision by a global bank whose interests in Malta account for a totally minimal part of its assets but still tie it down to vexatious international obligations that it would like to get rid of as soon as possible.
Due to the minute size of this country, when our banking sector comes face to face with "global" banking markets extremely strange market conditions apply to it. The privatisation of Mid-Med was a colossal mistake and not just because of the double bargain-basement sale of the bank that it has led to.
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EUROVISION
The PN spokesperson on culture was correct to claim that Malta should not take part in the next Eurovision song contest if Israel participates, even though her party did not seem to be backing her so much. A number of European governments have declared they will be doing this because Israel's attacks on Gaza have stepped over all the limits which define how those who are at war cannot turn war into genocide.
Other governments (including Malta's if I understood correctly) disagree with this position. They argue that culture and dialogue should not be included in sanctions placed against a state, for they are the tools by which peoples could be guided towards peace and understanding. It's an argument that hardly makes sense, like that other argument also brought forward, according to which if Israel is banned from the Eurovision contest, it will be its citizens who are being punished, not its government. As if all sanctions that could be placed on a country do not ultimately affect its citizens. It's also curious how these same arguments are not used in the case of Russia, which has been banned from Eurovision after its attack on the Ukraine.