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Author: SME Chamber

A Budget that extends the safety-net for Businesses, more tax incentives should follow to enable new investments

Posted on by SME Chamber

Budget 2021

The Malta Chamber of SMEs is pleased to see a number of its Budget proposals taken up and welcomes the extension of the most important Covid Support measures.

The SME Chamber welcomes the extension of the wage supplement, as proposed, till end of March. It is apparent also that a fairer system will be adopted that ensures that all enterprises requiring help will be receiving this assistance. A positive development will also be the possibility to integrate new employees on this assistance, something that was causing great practical difficulties to business owners.

Another positive is the fresh round of vouchers that is announced to be released. The Malta Chamber of SMEs appreciates the fairer distribution of the allocation of the vouchers between sectors, which is another proposal that came from the SME Chamber and was taken up. This measure will be essential to re-energise consumption with immediate effect to guarantee the best outcome for the fast approaching most important business period for many sectors.

In line with the SME Chambers’ proposals, Budget 2021 also incentivises investments to help businesses in their digital and sustainable transformations. Businesses are being directed to re-engineer their business models and invest heavily in digital tools. The SME Chamber emphasis for strong incentives in this sense given the delicate condition many enterprises are in at the moment.

Tax incentives and the lowering of VAT rates would have boosted businesses’ ability to invest. A step that many other EU countries have taken, which is absent in Malta’s 2021 Budget. On the other hand however the SME Chamber positively notes the widening of the bracket for tax exempt businesses from Eur 20,000 to Eur 30,000.

Another necessary pillar for investment is the Banks. The Malta Chamber of SMEs believes that the Banks are still not delivering in being the protagonists they should be in the current situation. The banks must pull up their sleeves and see how they can ensure business survival and be catalysts for investment. All too often business owners are reporting failures in terms of banking support for SMEs.

All in all this budget aims to instill confidence in Maltese businesses and aims to sustain Malta’s economy during these exceptional circumstances. The SME Chamber will continue to offer support to its members and work hand in hand with the government in order to ensure the safeguarding of its members livelihoods and that of their employees.

Covid-19: Masks made mandatory outdoors, bars to close at 11pm

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Masks will be made mandatory outdoors and bars and clubs will be ordered to shut by 11pm in a new wave of measures intended to slow down the spread of COVID-19.

The measures impacting establishments will come into effect on Monday. Those not wearing masks in all outdoor public places will be fined from October 24.

Addressing the news conference, Prime Minister Robert Abela described this as a critical time in the country’s fight against COVID-19.

A message from the CEO: An important juncture in a difficult period

Posted on by SME Chamber

“The coming days will however be very decisive”

A very important juncture is looming. We are right on the doorstep of new actions that will be announced to control the spread of the virus and also on the most important budget, possibly in the history of Budgets, to be announced.

Times of excitement, pressures and stress. This time would have been more exciting hadn’t we been here, in this position, awaiting this important news that is potentially life changing to your individual businesses, all too frequently over the 7 last months.  

The coming days will however be very decisive and, days that we as a Chamber have been working hard to prepare for in the direction of the best outcome, for months now. 

Throughout this period we have tried our very best to assist our members and the business community in general in all ways possible.  

 The coming months are not expected to be easy but we will be there with our continued support. The day following the Budget we will already be coming to you with a webinar explaining the highlights of the Budget. We are teaming up with Malta Enterprise and having Kurt Farrugia as CEO discussing the upcoming priorities and schemes. 

 It is an activity not to be missed to gear up for the months to come. It will be an important stepping stone and the basis for the planning you will need to undertake to benefit from the schemes available as much as possible and use this time as valuably as you can. 

 On a daily basis I speak to countless business owners and your feedback and updates are invaluable to me. Apart from my enjoyment in staying in touch with you it gives me a sense of security that I am in sync with the people I represent and have been entrusted to speak for.  

 

 I therefore appreciate you dropping me a line every now and then with your news, both good and bad, to keep me updated with what is going on. This helps me a lot in the work I do and fulfil my duty in the best possible way. 

 You can use any communication channel the SME Chamber has available to get in touch with me as you feel comfortable. 

 I look forward to hearing from you. 

Abigail Mamo

CEO Malta Chamber of SMEs

The Impact of Covid at the Workplace – The top 10 basics to follow 

Posted on by SME Chamber

The top 10 basics to follow

 

The number of new cases in Malta remains on the high side when compared to lower numbers that we have seen before. It is also however true that we are all living in the closest form of normality and finding this tricky balance of keeping numbers down while life moves on. 

While the country continues to limit the effects of Covid and also the effects this brings on the economy and our society, disruption is unfortunately the order of the day.   

As those following updates from the Ministry for Health related to the virus cases know, on a daily basis, a small number of the cases reported relate to contagion at the place of work. This of course causes an even greater level of disruption and being careful and formalising protocols to follow will help reduce the disruption at the workplace. 

Each workplace needs to be analysed on its own merit but it is important that this takes place as it is a legal duty of the employer to ensure a safe working environment.  

 

The most basic steps to follow are: 

  1. Staff experiencing symptoms not to come to the workplace (fever, cough, sore throat, shortness of breath, runny/blocked nose, headaches, tiredness, muscle pain, loss of taste, loss of smell, vomiting, diarrhoea, together with additional symptoms being recognised including sinus pain and expectoration)

  2. Ensure a high level of cleaning and hygiene at the workplace

  3. Making masks/visors available for staff to be worn in common areas and avoiding prolonged use of common areas such as kitchens and taking it in turns 

  4. Making masks/visors available for visitors to keep on for the duration on their stay at the workplace 

  5. Making hand sanitisers available (70% alcohol based) 

  6. Clustering staff members who have to work in close proximity and avoid interaction between clusters. Communication between staff as much as possible to be done from own workspace by phone or online 

  7. Social distancing to be observed in general 

  8. Reorganisation of layouts, shifts and working time where possible 

  9. Open windows or extractors where possible to enhance circulation of air 

  10. Signage (especially for larger working environments) as a reminder and awareness raising tool 

 

The full set of measures one can follow at the workplace can be find through the following link: https://bit.ly/2GFmR3k 

The full set of guidelines per workplace type and activity can be accessed here: https://bit.ly/36OcBQQ  

Stay Safe! 

Malta Chamber of SMEs meets Prime Minister Robert Abela ahead of the Budget 2021

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SME Chamber proposals address both the short and long term

As the Budget for 2021 is-set to be announced on the 19th of October, the Malta Chamber of SMEs today met Prime Minister Robert Abela as part of the pre-budget consultation.

During today’s meeting with Prime Minister Abela the SME Chamber presented its full set of 19 Budget proposals that mainly focus on mitigating the impact of Covid 19 by sustaining businesses, and also support businesses in going into viable investments.

SME Chamber President Paul Abela said that the SME Chamber proposals address both the short and long term. The SME Chamber wants to see Covid support measures extended. These include the wage supplement till March and a new round of the voucher scheme. Important fiscal proposals include lowering income tax on the first Eur 100,000 in profit that a business makes and lowering VAT to make goods and services more affordable for consumers.

Mr Paul Abela emphasised that Malta’s Economic Strategy must change and Libya is one project that the SME Chamber is working on. Libya has always been important for Malta and it is one of the doors that will unlock our economic recovery. Libya is a country with 7 million consumers and investment opportunities are ample.

Prime minister Robert Abela said that when implementing the Moneyval recommendations, the Government will not be hurting businesses.

The Prime Minister added that the Government is looking at opportunities for Maltese businesses in Libya, and explained that during last week’s European Council he had referred to the need for Libya to be given the opportunity to build its economy, with Maltese and even European businessmen being able to invest.

SME Chamber congratulates Dr Bernard Grech on being elected leader of the opposition

Posted on by SME Chamber
Photo: Netnews.com.mt

Following last Saturday’s election and today’s swearing-in as Opposition Leader, the Malta Chamber of SMEs congratulated Dr Bernard Grech.

The Malta Chamber of SMEs said that it looks forward to meet Dr Grech to initiate discussions with him as leader of the opposition, especially on the current Covid situation and recovery plans for SMEs.

The Malta Chamber of SMEs also thanked Dr Adrian Delia for his service during the last years.

Robert Abela Says Malta Could Get More Vouchers

Posted on by SME Chamber

Malta’s Chamber of SMEs has called for a second round of vouchers but with more focus on retail outlets

Residents of Malta could soon receive a second round of government vouchers, with Prime Minister Robert Abela confirming discussions are being held to this effect.

“The first scheme was extremely successful,” Abela told the press yesterday. “Not only did we invest €45 million in our people but this investment prompted more public expenditure, so it had an accumulative effect.”

In the first round of vouchers, people were given €80 to spend at establishments licensed by the Malta Tourism Authority, such as hotels, restaurants and bars, and €20 to spend at a retail outlet or service that was closed as a result of COVID-19.

The scheme, which has been extended to the end of October, was a roaring success, helping keep business afloat.

The Malta’s Chamber of SMEs has called for a second round of vouchers but with more focus on retail outlets.

“Our main principle is to preserve jobs and to keep businesses strong,” Robert Abela said.

Source: LovinMalta.com

Malta SME Week 2020 launched!

Posted on by SME Chamber

The Malta Chamber of SMEs will hold its annual event on Wednesday 18th November 2020

The Malta SME Week 2020 has been launched  with various activities throughout a span of 7 weeks targeting different audiences.

The Malta SME Week is part of the European Commission’s European SME Week events aimed at generating public awareness amongst those people who wish to start a business or are already in business and wish to grow and scale-up their activities. This year, the calendar of events for SME Week will be spread over seven weeks making it possible for businesses to participate in different events.

It is a joint effort with the constituted bodies that support enterprises and this year’s edition will feature a wide range of events targeting different audiences. SME Week ties with the Ministry’s efforts to promote entrepreneurship so that more people, in particular younger ones, consider becoming an entrepreneur as a career option, whilst providing information on national and EU entities assistance to micro, small and medium-sized businesses and also giving recognition to entrepreneurs for their contribution to Malta’s welfare, jobs, innovation, and competitiveness.

During this years Maltaz SME Week the Malta Chamber of SMEs will once again hold its annual conference entitled “The SME Conference – Getting ready for a new era” on the 18th of November. More information will provided soon.

Click here to view the Malta SME Week 2020 programme: SME week programme A4 – Final.

 

EU reconsidering phasing out 1 and 2 cent coins

Posted on by SME Chamber

The European Commission is considering proposing a law to start phasing out the small 1 and 2 Eurocent coins, and round prices off to the nearest 5 cents

The European Commission is once again assessing the use of 1c and 2c euro coins and considering the possibility of following the examples already set by Finland, Netherlands, Ireland, Italy and Belgium by introducing rounding rules or the discontinuation of these two coins altogether.

The commission “will carefully study the economic, environmental and social consequences of introducing uniform rounding rules.

The Malta Chamber of SMEs is in favour of a system whereby the final total bill at the till, not the individual items, would be rounded up or down as necessary to the nearest 5c. Meaning sometimes customers would have a discount of 2c and sometimes an increase of 2c, depending on the case. It is therefore a very balanced approach and something that is many times done for practicality reasons.

The Malta Chamber of SMEs CEO, Abigail Mamo said “the cost of producing and administering these coins outways their value by far. There would be on impact of inflation.”

In Belgium, shops have been obliged to round up or down the total amount of purchases to the nearest 5 cents if the client pays in cash since December 2019. However, paying with 1 and 2 cent coins is still possible.

Rounding just at the point of the final bill would mean the coins could be phased out without retailers having to re-label items and allowing them to offer competitive prices, especially in the price-sensitive world of groceries, she pointed out. Card transactions would, however, still charge the exact amount.

A spokesman for the European Central Bank said there were many ways to phase out the two small coins.

“Ceasing the issuance of 1c and 2c coins would not be likely to have a noticeable impact on inflation, provided that the rounding is done to total payments in cash and to the nearest 5c, as currently applied in some member states,” he noted.

The last time a consultation was initiated was in November 2017.