Author: SME Chamber

Present your ideas on how to raise awareness
about sustainable consumption and win sponsorship prizes!
Through
the European Network I SHOP FAIR (a network of critical consumers standing up
for social and ecological subsistence strategies) five NGOs from Malta, Poland,
Austria and Germany are giving cash prizes to any project that gives the public
an understanding of "Ethical Consumption".

Any idea
that engages the public to think about responsible consumption will be
admissible for the competition!

There
are 18 prizes (First-1000€, Second-500€, Third-250€) to be won that are
distributed over 3 categories being:

Best Public
Action: (e.g. flashmobs, postcard actions, panel discussions, creative
info-booths, etc…)

Best Alternative Consumption Project
(e.g. clothes swap parties, repair cafes, ‘cutting-back-on-consumption'
experiments, etc…)

Best Eco-Fair Structural Consumption
Change (e.g. change of supplier to fair trade products, replace products, fair
purchasing in communities, sport clubs, schools, etc…)

Each category
will then be divided into two further sub-categories: those in which the
applicant(s) are below the age of 20 and those in which the applicant(s) are
above the age of 20.

Winners will
also receive a travel package to attend the European Consumption Summit that
will take place in Germany in Bonn, Germany from 19th to 21st of June 2015!

This
competition is being launched in Poland, Malta, Austria and Germany, but we
also warmly welcome participants from other countries.

Applications
can be downloaded from the I SHOP FAIR website (http://www.ishopfair.net/competition).

In August the
Economic Sentiment Indicator (ESI) fell in the euro area ( by 1.5 points to
100.6) 1 and the EU ( by 1.2 points at 104.6).

Euro area developments

After a
broadly flat development over the last five months, August's decrease shifted
the euro area headline indicator back to its December 2013 level. Worsened
sentiment resulted from deterioration in retail trade, consumer, industry, and,
to a lesser extent, services confidence. Construction confidence remained
broadly unchanged. Amongst the largest euro area economies, sentiment dropped
significantly in Italy (-4.1), sending the ESI below its long-term average of
100, and in Germany (-1.9). Milder contractions were booked also in France
(-0.6) and the Netherlands (-0.8), while sentiment remained flat in Spain.
Since January 2014 construction confidence in Malta has reduce by -11. Weakened
industry confidence (-1.5) was caused by managers' more careful views on
expected production, while assessments of the current level of overall order
books and the stocks of finished products stayed broadly unchanged. By
contrast, managers' assessments of the level of past production and, to a
lesser extent, export order books, which do not enter the calculation of the
confidence indicator, improved.

Services
confidence slid somewhat (-0.5) owing to downward revisions of managers'
assessments of the past business situation and past demand, while their demand
expectations remained virtually unchanged. The deterioration in consumer
confidence (-1.6) was driven by more negative assessments of future
unemployment and the future general economic situation, and, to a lesser
extent, future savings and households' future financial situation. Falling
retail trade confidence (-2.3) was the result of mangers' more pessimistic
views on both the present and expected business situation together with a
worsened assessment of the adequacy of the volume of stocks. Malta retail trade
has lower by -18.4 from January to the month of August. The broadly flat
development of construction confidence (-0.2) reflected downward revisions of
the level of order books partially offset by a small improvement in employment
expectations. The slight increase (+0.4) in financial services confidence (not
included in the ESI) was backed by more positive appraisals of the past
business situation and past demand, while demand expectations were revised
downward.

Employment
plans saw an upward revision in services, while they remained broadly unchanged
in industry and construction and deteriorated in the retail trade sector.
Selling price expectations increased in services and construction, but declined
in the other two surveyed business sectors (industry and retail trade).
Consumers' price expectations were revised downward.

EU developments

The
relatively more moderate decrease of the headline indicator in the two largest
non-euro area EU economies, the UK (-1.1) and Poland (-1.0), resulted in a less
severe contraction for the EU ESI (-1.2) compared to the euro area.

EU
construction confidence improved, while, as in the euro area, industry, retail
trade, services and consumer confidence slipped. Financial services confidence
booked a more robust improvement (+1.9). Contrary to the euro area, EU-wide
employment plans were revised downwards in industry but increased slightly in
construction and remained flat in retail trade. EU price expectations were in
line with those for the euro area apart from a broadly flat development in
services.

GRTU has
endorsed the Malta Business Expo. Therefore you have been selected to
participate in this unique initiative, which is also endorsed and supported, by
the Hon. Dr Chris Cardona, Minister of the Economy, Investment and Business, as
well as by other Constituted Bodies in Malta, representing every aspect of the
Maltese economy.

The
Malta Business Expo is exceptional both in its form as an online business
exposition, and also in its reach, being accessible and available from anywhere
in the world, at any time of the day and night, or day of the year.

Since
the best enterprises in the local market have already started taking up
residence on the select number of stands allocated for each industry, you are
urged to act expediently and join them in securing your own presence.

If you
would like more information a representative can come to your premises and
offer a presentation of the Malta Business Expo. All you need to do is to choose
a date and time that is convenient for you by visiting http://www.maltabusinessexpo.com/new2/form_app.php

In August 2014,
the DG ECFIN flash estimate of the consumer confidence indicator decreased in
both the EU (by 0.9 points to -6.4) and the euro area (by 1.6 points to -10.0)
compared to July.

Computation of Flash CCI

To
compute the flash consumer confidence indicator for the EU and euro area, DG
ECFIN uses the data available on the cut-off date. The estimation procedure
combines historical data with information from those Member States for which
data are available in the reference month. Experience has shown this procedure
to be statistically reliable.

Nowadays, many
organisations are striving to become more eco-friendly as society becomes more
aware of the environmental repercussions of its actions. When looking through a
list of some very successful organisations, a common denominator of proactive
environmental-friendliness is evident. Being green has been fashioned into a
stamp of approval that encourages consumer confidence and sends out a caring
message of sustainability.

The
European Commission established the EU Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS)
with the aim of helping companies to evaluate, report and enhance their
environmental performance. The EMAS is a management tool that is available to
all types of organisation and is applicable worldwide. At the moment at least
4,500 organisations and 7,800 sites are registered for the EMAS, and include
public authorities as well as both multinational companies and smaller
enterprises.

The
foundation of the EMAS scheme is known as the continuous improvement circle.
This starts with an initial environmental review, which is a broad analysis of
the negative environmental impacts caused by the company's activities. Legal
requirements are then pinpointed, whilst benchmarks are set so as to measure
the viability of reducing these impacts. The second stage consists of a
development in the organisation's environmental policy and programme, whereby
the company addresses the main environmental issues identified in the initial
environmental review and prepares specific targets to tackle these issues.
Additionally, the company should also commit to comply with legal requirements
and improve its environmental performance.

Organisations
are then required to train their staff on environmental awareness and carry out
an internal environmental audit, through which they can assess the extent to
which staff members uphold the operating procedures. Organisations must also
develop an environmental statement that highlights their environmental efforts
and achievements in addition to the requirements for continuous environmental
improvements. Finally, an independent environmental verifier ensures that the
organisation's environmental policy, Environmental Management System and
environmental audit fulfil the EMAS Regulation provisions. After this
industrious process, organisations are rewarded by being listed in the EMAS
Register and can make use of the exclusive EMAS logo. The EMAS Register is an
online database hosted by the European Commission that lists all EMAS
registered sites and organisations.

The
EMAS, therefore, brings with it a great deal of benefits. Along with cutting
costs related to resources and waste management, it has potential to give
companies an edge over their competitors and improve relations with
stakeholders.

Who will become
this year's most successful European Web Entrepreneur? Applications are open
until 31 August for the Europioneers 2014 Web Entrepreneur of the Year awards.

To follow in the footsteps of last year's winners, the hot tech up-and-comers
Alexander Ljung & Eric Wahlforss (Soundcloud) and Jon Reynolds (Swiftkey)
visit http://www.europioneers.eu/apply/ to apply. Europioneers exists to
celebrate the successes of web entrepreneurs in the EU and to provide a
platform for them to connect with each other and with investors.

To nominate your solution kindly
click on this link and

complete a short application
: 

<http://www.mca.org.mt/ebiz-awards>

The Minister
for the Economy, Investment and Small Business, Dr Chris Cardona had a formal
discussion on Female Entrepreneurship with Ms Zita Gurmai PES Women President
and Former MEP.

Minister Cardona said that the
story in Malta is a similar one to many countries; the position of women has
advanced in recent years but there is still a lot to do.

 "The active
participation of women in the world of work and entrepreneurship is an
essential ingredient to meet our objective of creating economic growth that reaches
everyone. If we don't harness the skills of women we, as a society, as an
economy, are under performing" said
Minister Cardona.

Dr Chris Cardona said that the
Government is now designing a national platform to promote female
entrepreneurship. He stressed that this needs to be a continuous strategy,
consistent and coordinated, not just sporadic initiatives taken once in a
while.

Minister Cardona stated that
initiatives encouraging women to enter the work force have also been
acknowledged by Standard & Poor's as one of the elements helping the
Maltese economy to continue growing: "A recent report by Standard & Poor's
affirmed that the Maltese economy is stable and expected to continue growing in
the coming years and this is in part due to the reforms the current government
has been implementing such as initiatives aimed at encouraging women to enter
the work force."

A Mission for
Growth to Turkey (Ankara and Istanbul) will be led by Commissioner Fernando
Nelli Feroci, which will take place in the second half of October 2014

 The Missions for Growth is an initiative to
stimulate growth and competitiveness of European industry. The objectives of
this visit are the following:

the setting up of an EU-Turkey business roundtable which will, in
the future, advise governments on both sides on enterprise and industry
policies;

the signing of an agreement to integrate Turkey in the programme
for Competitiveness of Enterprises and Small and Medium Sized Enterprises
(COSME)

If you
are interested kindly send an email at by 10 September
2014.

This week Philip Fenech, GRTU Deputy President and President
of the Tourism and Hospitality Section met MTA's new CEO Mr Paul Bugeja in a
very cordial and informal meeting. Mr Fenech discussed the theme of the next
World Tourism Day that will next September focus on Community Tourism.