29 June - 5 July 2000

From the Jet Age to the Net Age - e-commerce and the aviation industry

Philip Micallef of SITA France said Malta must start acting fast. "Time is of the essence. Malta has an advantage as size and natural resources no longer play an important role, it is time that is crucial. We have to stop discussing and arguing and start acting fast."

Mr Micallef said the law had to be applied intelligently and one also had to be flexible. The public sector also had to move forward. Electronic commerce was so important that there should be political neutrality on this issue and an agreement reached between all parties.

Speaking on the airline industry he said online travel sales would rise from two per cent to 50 per cent of the total. Travel will be the biggest selling item over the network within the next five years, registering enormous growth as an online business.

Commerce on the Go!

Michael Balzan of Go Mobile said what his company wanted was a win-win-win scenario for all involved. For consumers, the facility to conduct secure transactions any time, any where, for service providers and for the country, it would lead to growth, employment and unprecedented wealth.

The new data protection legislation - an outline

Paul Caruana of CIMI gave a presentation on the Data Protection Bill. He said non-profit organisations will be able to keep data of their members or of people closely associated with it. People will have the right to know all about the data one might have about them but there are safeguards for companies on this. As a rule it is prohibited to transfer data to third countries. However, when Malta joins the EU, all EU member states will not be a third country since the single market is in place.

Health and the Internet: Data Protection issues

Dr Myra Kay Tilney, general secretary of the Medical Association of Malta said 25 per cent of Internet sites were health related, and technology was allowing these sites to take an ever greater role in the diagnosis and care of patients.

She mentioned the recent developments of on-line consultation, on-line diagnosis and on-line prescriptions and said there were still a number of questions that needed to be answered.

The concerns about e-health focused mainly on the breach of the patient/physician trust and this occurs when there is no real and valid consent from the patient with information pertaining to secondary uses.

What's more sensitive data 'may be processed for research and statistic purposes, provided the processing is in the public interest'. However, even here, the approval of the competent authority is required, she said.

Dr Tilney said regulation and ethical codes of practice were going to be required in this area.

Where the deal is done - the location of transactions

Alan Griffiths, a lawyer from England spoke of the tax implications of electronic commerce and said questions had to be asked as to where VAT was applicable where corporation taxes were charged. The problem was not only for a business but also for a consumer who might be using a laptop computer and a mobile phone.

He said transactions and companies could be switched in seconds from one regime to another. This will produce intense corporate tax competition.

"VAT is in real trouble. VAT or indirect taxes will die. The world will be forced into corporate tax competition with the most benign regime for jobs, growth and standard of living winning," he said.