Simon Alden This is Me

Education

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1. 1. The Committee

   www.germanmaltesecircle.org/th - [Cached]

   Published on: 7/4/2008   Last Visited: 7/4/2008

   Vice President: Mr Simon Alden

2. 2. August 2007 Newsletter

   www.germanmaltesecircle.org/ne - [Cached]

   Published on: 8/1/2007   Last Visited: 7/4/2008

   Simon Alden General Manager of Bavarian Technology Systems, MaltaVice-President of the German-Maltese Circle
   ...
   Simon Alden was elected Vice-President of the German-Maltese Circle at the beginning of this year becoming the youngest member of the present Committee.The company in which he is serving as General Manager, BTS, is a corporate member of the German-Maltese Circle, and so it is about time to give our members a chance to get to know him a little better.
   
   Simon was born in Sliema in 1963 where he grew up together with his three brothers.He was a student at St. Aloysius College and studied Business Management at the University of Malta.Later he attended the KS Graduate Business School at St. Gallen in Switzerland, where he obtained a post-graduate Diploma in Marketing as well as from the Chartered Institute of Marketing in the UK.Currently, while being in charge of the factory in Malta he is endeavoring to complete his MBA studies in Switzerland.
   
   The first money - Lm 5 - he proudly earned at the young age of 17, still a school boy, when one of his elder brothers asked him whether he would stand in for the dishwasher who was sick, for one night at a restaurant.Smilingly, he narrated that this experience made him definitely decide that his future career did not lie in this direction, so the classical "American Dream" would not work with him.During his studies at the University of Malta at a time when the "student-worker" scheme was still in operation, students worked for six months and studied for the other six months every year.His work phases were spent working for his sponsor - the Accounts Section of the Treasury Department, "which", so Simon says, "was a very valuable experience in many ways."
   
   But as Simon was attracted much more to the private sector, Simon terminated his contract with the Government to accept a marketing position offered by the Alpine Travel Group.There he was responsible for promoting Malta abroad as a travel destination particularly in relation to the conference and incentive travel sectors.This involved much overseas travel, mostly to the UK, in order to attend specialised exhibitions such as World Travel Market and Confex.He enjoyed his work, yet, weekends belonged to the profession and not to private life.Additionally the first Gulf War led to a loss of business and a 3-day working week, highlighting the vulnerability of this sector to global events.So when the opportunity arose, he moved to MIMCOL - Malta Investment Management Company Limited - as PR and Administration Manager, being involved with the process of rationalisation of Government Investments.This included the role of Company Secretary and Operations Manger for the controversial Fort Chambray project as well as a directorship at INTERPRINT Ltd.
   
   In 1995 efforts were made to merge MIMCOL with the MDC - Malta Development Corporation; and in the wake of this Simon was offered to set up an office in Germany, as well as develop and implement an investment promotion strategy targeting German-speaking countries.During this time he also held the position as Commercial Attaché to the Maltese Embassy with seat in Munich.
   
   And all this with a very modest knowledge of German!Actually, his first exposure to the German language happened in 1981 when after finishing school he sailed with German scouts on a big yacht for two months around the Mediterranean, taking in the Greek Islands and Israel.Although his companions would speak English to him, amongst each other they would of course converse in German, which installed in him the wish to take up this language.Well, he got as far as buying a book "Teach yourself German ... activities.Now, with the posting in Munich this language question became a serious challenge.Consequently he attended a two months' super-intensive course at the Goethe Institute in Munich and continued to refine his skills, today even enabling him to translate the technical material for his factory.
   
   After eight years in Munich one of his clients, the owner of a Bavarian company decided to go ahead with setting up a manufacturing plant in Malta, and in turn offered Simon Alden the position as General Manager with a brief to establish and run the factory.As is usual with such decisions, with one happy and one sad eye, the family moved back to home grounds at the end of 2004, where Simon has established several flourishing production lines for the company.
   
   In 1990 Simon married Doranne, a painter and photographer.
   ...
   Simon Alden's philosophy is the deeply ingrained wish to do his best in every situation.He is always willing to accept a bigger and more challenging job than the previous one, especially if it has an international perspective.
   
   Wichtige Informationen zur Ausstellung von Reisepässen ab dem 01.November
   
   Zum 01.11.2007 tritt ein neues Passgesetz in Kraft.Dieses sieht u.a. vor, dass in deutschen Reisepässen (bordeauxroter Einband) auch Fingerabdrücke auf einem Chip gespeichert werden müssen.Auf Grund technischer Probleme bei der Umsetzung der neuen Vorschriften kann die Botschaft Valletta ab dem 01.11.2007 voraussichtlich für mehrere Monate keine Anträge zur Ausstellung von Reisepässen entgegen nehmen.Vorläufige Reisepässe (grüner Einband) und Kinderreisepässe sind hiervon nicht betroffen.Wir raten Ihnen, vor dem 20.10.2007 bei der Botschaft Valletta einen neuen Reisepass zu beantragen, falls Ihr jetziger Pass vor Mitte 2008 abläuft.Wer bei der Botschaft Valletta nach dem 20.10.2007 einen neuen Reisepass beantragt, wird voraussichtlich zunächst nur einen vorläufigen Reisepass (Gültigkeitsdauer maximal 1 Jahr) erhalten können.Dieser vorläufige Reisepass berechtigt nicht zur visumsfreien Einreise in die Vereinigten Staaten von Amerika.Bitte geben Sie diese Informationen auch an andere Deutsche in Ihrem Freundes- und Bekanntenkreis weiter!Für Rückfragen steht Ihnen die Botschaft unter der Telefonnummer 21 336 520 zur Verfügung.

3. 3. November 2005 Newsletter

   www.germanmaltesecircle.org/ne - [Cached]

   Published on: 11/1/2005   Last Visited: 7/4/2008

   Simon Alden, Managing Director of Bavarian Technology Systems, Malta, explained what is typical of "Management in Malta" and what a foreign manager should know in Malta.