The Chamber of Commerce has appointed Dr. John Fletcher and his team from Bournemouth University, to carry out a major study to examine the economic linkages that exist between Gibraltar and the Spanish hinterland, with particular emphasis on the Campo area. The idea of doing such a study has been mooted for many years now. The Chamber has once again taken the initiative by promoting the project.

Dr. Fletcher is well known in Gibraltar and, more importantly, knows Gibraltar very well, having served as a consultant since 1978 to all Gibraltar governments, including the Hassan, Bossano and Caruana administrations. The consultancy service has been almost exclusively involved in the construction of Input-Output models of the Gibraltar economy. We are very lucky indeed to have Dr. Fletcher on board for this study as he is one of the leading exponents worldwide on Input-Output methodology, having carried out studies all over the world over the last thirty years. We are therefore assured of a thorough, professional and accurate piece of work.

What is Input -Output Economics?
Very simply, it is one of those rare beasts, an economic model that really works! It basically measures linkages within an economy and the links between that economy and the rest of the world. Let’s say a tourist spends £100 in Gibraltar at a restaurant. This £100 will go to pay staff, purchase of foodstuffs, wines and spirits, the restaurateur’s and the like. In turn, staff will spend this money, the foodstuffs supplier will pay for his imports, as will the wines and spirits merchant. Thus, the initial £100 does more than one ‘round’ in the economy. This is what economists call the multiplier effect. Once all the data is taken, and multipliers worked out, the model can be used to determine what the economic impact will be of any change in tourist expenditure or in finance centre activity or, indeed, of any changes in any of the export earning elements of the economy.

Purpose of the Study
Gibraltar Inc. is often portrayed in the media as being some sort of pariah on the Spanish economy, somehow being conceived as sucking money out of our neighbours. We are all familiar with the frequent allegations to this effect made by Spanish politicians, whenever they are on this particular ‘high horse’.
The facts are that the opposite is the reality and that Gibraltar makes a very positive contribution to the Spanish economy. This contribution includes employment, purchase of raw materials, asset investment (real estate purchases), services (logistics, transport, and tourist coaches etc.), Gibraltar residents’ leisure and retail expenditure in Spain and the like. This is a significant level of economic activity that would simply not exist without Gibraltar.
The study will serve to de-bunk the myth about Gibraltar’s economy being a pariah and will quantify the very positive impact the Rock’s economic activity has on the hinterland. It will also show how the economies of Gibraltar and the Campo are intrinsically linked and interdependent, in that any economic changes on one side of the border will have an impact on the other. Apart from presenting Gibraltar in a realistic and positive light, which is good PR, the study should also help towards a more integrated approach to developments on both sides of the border, which is to everyone’s benefit. In the current climate, this is no bad thing.

December 11th 2008 saw the successful launch of Young Enterprise in Gibraltar at the Government Finance Office. The four Young Enterprise companies trading at the College, the Link Teachers, Business Advisors, representatives from the Government and business community attended the reception which was officially opened by Minister Clive Beltran.
Each of the four companies had an exhibition stand displaying their products and services.  Pure selling Top of the Rock Achievement Certificates, Class selling handmade jewelry, Goods r Us selling scarves and offering a tuck shop service at the College selling goods from their own kiosk and Plan It the recycling company. Franco Cassar, Director of Barclays Wealth said he could feel the ‘buzz’ from the Students when he walked in the room. The Students spent the evening discussing their businesses and promoting their products and services to the visitors at their stands. Stephen Reyes, Partner at Deloitte and an Advisor for Pure said the Young Enterprise Company Programme was “Great entrepreneurial training”.
The active involvement of Volunteers from the business community is vital to the success of the programme.  Not only do the Advisors give their support to the Students, but also valuable time. They are able to offer the Students the benefit of their experiences, enabling the Students to make sound business decisions. Danny Gabay, MD of Redwood International Transport and Advisor to Plan IT said he was impressed with the way the Students had taken the Young Enterprise Company Programme on board and as an Advisor it was rewarding when the Students listened to the advice they gave.
There has been an overwhelming reaction from the business community and each of the four companies has a number of enthusiastic Advisors. Alfredo Vasquez from Vasquez Consulting, an Advisor for Goods R Us, said the Young Enterprise programme was a very positive learning experience for the young adults involved and the big success was that so many businesses have pitched in to make it what it is.
Denis Lafferty, Group MD at Seccone and Speed and Advisor to Class said “Some weeks ago the Students were unaware of what the business world was all about. After 4 or 5 board meetings they were running and being responsible for a business, generating profit. Mr Lafferty said the Young Enterprise Company Programme was all about looking, listening and learning”.
The four companies are now competing against one another to win a place at the regional finals in the UK in June 2009. The successful company from Gibraltar will then compete against other successful companies from the Yorkshire and Humber area. Mike Egar, Chief Executive of Young Enterprise Yorkshire Humber & Gibraltar said at the launch event “there was already a sense of competition not only between the Students but between the Advisors”.
In August 2007 Barclays Wealth provided the generous initial funding that allowed Young Enterprise to be introduced to the Schools and College in Gibraltar. Mr James Gaggero has kindly made a contribution to Young Enterprise from the Gaggero Foundation ensuring the continued success of the programmes in Gibraltar.

Members of the Gibraltar Insurance Institute met at the O’Callaghan Eliott Hotel for the second in a series of business briefings organised by the GII.
The keynote speaker was Mike Oliver, new Head of Insurance Supervision at the FSC who was appointed to his post at the end of August 2008.
“The enthusiasm that the Gibraltar insurance industry has shown to the establishment of the Gibraltar Insurance Institute is remarkable. It is also pleasing that the large membership covers all aspects of our industry; insurers, intermediaries, managers and regulators.”
“In many respects the interests of all four parties to our industry are firmly aligned. We all expect the market to operate in a sound and prudent manner with customers being treated fairly. By supporting its members in developing their technical and managerial skills the Gibraltar insurance industry can only go from strength to strength.” Commented Mike Oliver.
Andy Baker President of the GII went on to say: “These lunches are a key opportunity for our members to meet their colleagues from across the industry, and at the same time receive updates and information on industry issues and trends. To attract nearly half the membership for a lunch at such a busy time of the insurance year, shows how important these events are becoming”
For more information on becoming a member of the GII, or details of it’s training programmes or social events, please contact Andy Baker 200 44295 or email; abaker@argus.gi
The Gibraltar Insurance Institute was set up in September 2008 to promote higher standard of competence and integrity in the practice of insurance in the Gibraltar market through the training, monitoring and facilitation of continual professional development for its members. The GII has 117 members to date and has launched a programme of training, social and business events for 2009 and onwards.

At the end of last year the Chamber held a Dinner at The Gala Casino to celebrate the 125th anniversary of the founding of the Gibraltar Chamber of Commerce. Turn out was impressive to hear the Governor speak. The Top table included a number of past Presidents including Sol Seruya, Ian Prescott, Joe Holliday, Tony Welsh and Jimmy Rissso.

The Jewish calendar is primarily lunar based: the Passover and other religious festivals are governed by lunar phases. There are, however, a small number of solar cycles within the Jewish calendar which ensure that the lunar cycles are properly balanced to enable the accurate calculation of a solar year. Among these balancing cycles there is one, which relates to the tilt of the earth realigning every 28 years, so that at the end of the cycle sunrise occurs on a Wednesday in early April at the same precise latitude. The end of this 28-year cycle, which is celebrated with a prayer known in Hebrew as “Birkat Hahama” (The Blessing of the sun).
Jewish history, as related in the Bible, stretches back nearly 6000 years. In this time there have been more than two hundred of these solar cycles but there have only been two occasions when the 28-year cycle coincides with the eve of Passover. Both of these occasions have had a special significance because they occurred in the year of the two great deliverances of the Jewish people and the events are recorded in the Bible. The first of these is better known as the Exodus.
The story of Exodus, as related in the Bible, is an account of the escape from Egypt of the Jewish people. Exodus is also the story of Moses, a man of God, who came to lead the Jewish people to freedom.
The Bible recounts how the children of the Jews were slaughtered by Pharaoh’s soldiers to defeat a prophecy which foretold the birth of a great leader. The infant Moses escaped the Pharaoh’s assassins. He floated down the Nile in a reed cot. The cot was found by the daughter of the Pharaoh who took pity on the boy and raised him as her own. In time Moses became the leader of the Jewish people. He sought in vain to obtain the Pharaoh’s consent to the release of the Jewish people from slavery and captivity. Exodus relates how the Pharaoh was eventually humbled when confronted by a succession of plagues all of which were prophesied by Moses and were intended as a punishment from God.
The plagues started with all the fresh water turning to blood. This was followed by an invasion of frogs. One by one the plagues unfolded as Moses had warned until the tenth plague, which was the death of all Egyptian first-born males. Not until the night of the fulfilment of the prophecy did the Pharaoh, in fear of his own life, finally succumb and grant the Jews their freedom.
The Jews left Egypt only to be pursued a short while later by the Pharaoh’s army. The Bible tells of the Jews reaching the shores of the Red Sea, cornered and defenceless with the Pharoah’s mighty army close on their heels. Moses appealed to God and the sea parted allowing the Jews to walk across to safety. The Egyptian army, which followed in their wake, was destroyed as the seas closed over them.
The second deliverance, which also occurred in a year when the solar cycle ended on the eve of Passover, was Purim. This took place about almost 800 hundred years after the Exodus, approximately 500 BC.
Purim is the story of Esther, a beautiful Jewish woman who was taken to Ahasuerus, King of Persia, to form part of a parade of maidens from which he would choose his queen. Esther was the one chosen. Her Jewish identity however was kept secret. Esther became established in the Persian court but all around her was intrigue and a growing sense of menace which threatened the King’s Jewish subjects. Ahasuerus had allowed his principal adviser Haman free rein with the running of the kingdom. Haman planned to exterminate the Jewish people, but on the eve of their destruction Queen Esther managed to turn the tables on Haman by appealing directly to King Ahasuerus. Her action exposed her to great risk and her bravery is celebrated in Purim.
The current 28-year solar cycle of Birkat Hahama will end on the 8th April 2009, which also coincides with the eve of Passover. This therefore presages what may be a momentous year for the Jewish people. We will have to wait and see, but eventful or otherwise Gibraltar will proudly celebrate both the astonishing wealth of history incorporated in the Jewish tradition and the enduring and harmonious coexistence between Jews, Christians, Muslims and Hindus alike.