The Government says it notes, “with disappointment”, the European Parliament’s objection, today, to the entry into force of the European Commission’s decision to remove certain jurisdictions, including Gibraltar, from the EU’s list of ‘high-risk’ third-countries with strategic deficiencies as regards anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing (“AML/CFT”).
Gibraltar’s potential as a leading MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, Exhibitions) destination in Europe was highlighted this week during a ‘Meet and Talk Forum’ at Mackintosh Hall for a group of employees from local transport operators, hotels, Gibraltar Tourist Board and the Finance Centre.
MICE is an emerging type of specialised excellent-quality services tourism which requires meticulous professional planning and coordination by the suppliers and buyers of such services. It is aimed at professional associations, trade organisations and other special interest groups.
Successful MICE locations are considered “higher category destinations” within the global tourist industry.
The GSD is calling on the Chief Minister to take practical measures to curtail the tobacco smuggling activity from our beaches, which has been steadily increasing in recent months.
'We have been raising this issue since 2012 and it appears to be getting worse not better' said an Opposition spokesman.
The Leader of the GSD, Daniel Feetham, has today condemned the scenes at Algeciras yesterday, which prevented the Chief Minister, Fabian Picardo, from delivering a speech to students at the University of Cadiz.
Commenting on the matter Mr. Feetham said, ‘any one that loves democracy and upholds freedom of speech would have been appalled by the way that the Chief Minister had to cancel his address to students yesterday. In politics it is normal to have differences of opinion, either domestically or between different countries, but it is always imperative that as democrats we defend the right of political opponents and those with different views to be able to express those views’.