Cruise lines international association
Minster for Tourism, the Hon Vijay Daryanani MP, participated in a panel discussion called “Promoting new regional cruise itineraries”. The discussion took place at the CLIA conference in Malaga, Spain.
The Minister was joined by Jesus Peña (Malaga Port Authority) Jamil Ouazzani (Director, Tangier City Port) Grant Holmes (Global head Cruising, Inchape) and Elisabetta De Nardo (Vice President Port Development, MSC Cruises).
The discussion focused on increasing cruise calls in the region of the Western Mediterranean. Minster Daryanani took the opportunity to showcase Gibraltar as a popular cruise destination and highlighted our plans for the future as things evolve after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Minister Daryanani commented, “Things have changed dramatically in the cruising industry after the pandemic. It is more competitive than ever before and we need to keep up with these changing times.
These events are even more important now.
Malaga and Tangiers are our direct competitors, but it is also crucial to explore if we can work with them [in order to] attract more traffic to the region. At the same time, I promoted our port as one of the best in the Mediterranean. The number of cruise calls for next year is on the rise, this kind of promotion helps. It is not easy but we will keep on working to improve, as there is a lot to be done”.
NETWORKING AT GIBRALTAR HOUSE
The Minister for Culture, The Hon Prof John Cortes, hosted a networking meeting at Gibraltar House in London bringing together creatives and other professionals working in the arts and cultural industries in London.
The event, organised by Gibraltar Cultural Services with the support of Gibraltar House, generated interesting conversation and discussion with possible collaborations being explored and ideas exchanged. The morning even resulted in an impromptu poetry performance by Jonathan Teuma who felt inspired by the occasion – and inspired all present.
The main purpose of the event was to keep contact with and between Gibraltarians working in the Arts outside Gibraltar, encouraging their networking and exchanging of ideas and possibly developing collaborative projects.
Minister John Cortes commented, “It was wonderful to see all these artists, based outside Gibraltar, together with some of the visiting artists from Gibraltar, all together, talking about their work and how they can promote knowledge of Gibraltar and its identity through the arts. It was inspirational and emotional at the same time. I am convinced that many positive things will come from this initiative”.
UNODC Conference
The Director of the Gibraltar Financial Intelligence Unit (GFIU), Edgar Lopez, was invited by the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime’s Regional Office in the Middle East and North Africa (UNODC ROMENA) to its Regional Conference that took place in Sharm El Shiekh, Egypt.
The Conference titled, “The Way Forward for Countering Illicit Financial Proceeds from Trafficking in Persons and Smuggling of Migrants (TIP/SOM) – Priorities and Challenges” was hosted in partnership with the Egyptian Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Combating Unit and supported by the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
The Conference was attended by more than 70 representatives from relevant law enforcement agencies, Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs), public prosecution, judiciary, and financial sectors from Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia, in addition to experts and guest speakers from regional and international organisations.The event culminated with recommendations that support the relevant actions by the participating Member States in the future.
Mr Lopez said that the event was a fantastic opportunity to share Gibraltar’s experience in this field. He said, “Despite our size we are able to specialise in a broad range of transnational crimes and come up with innovative ways in which to raise awareness on these types of crimes through ProjectNexus”. He added,“I am very grateful to the UNODC ROMENA for their invitation.
