The Malta Chamber of SMEs and HSBC Malta Foundation organised the 5th webinar throughout 2022 entitled Sustainability for Small Businesses.
The webinar was delivered by Dr Roberta Lepre from WEAVE CONSULTING and focused on case studies relating to sustainability and grants and funding schemes available for businesses.
The session was moderated by Mr Glenn Bugeja.
Should you wish to join our next session please contact us on .
This Black Friday is the closest one to pre-Covid levels with shoppers flocking the streets for Black Friday, from the early hours of the day. Shop owners explain how the eagerness and will to shop is evident but at the same time cutomers are also being more careful in their spending.
Attributing the lower spending to inflationary issues, and this affecting purchasing power, consumers appear to have retained some of the spending trends we have seen during Covid, with appliances, household electronics and brown goods, having a very good November.
Similarly, more affordable brands within the fashion industry and costume jewellery exceeded expectations since they did very well. High end brands with a higher price tag did not do so well in comparison.
It is evident that different sectors have started adopting different strategies in how they time their offers. Some have extended their offers to cover most of November while others are sticking to the black Friday weekend.
Overall businesses are very pleased that despite the negative global feeling and inflationary pressures, they saw their clients eager once again on Black Friday, eager to shop and also to buy gifts. Black Friday has once again started establishing itself as a very important milestone for businesses, following 2 years of Covid downturn.
The Malta Chamber of SMEs in collaboration with Business first and Malta Enterprise on Thursday organised the SME Conference 2022 with the main theme being SMEs Maximising resources.
300 participants attended the conference which focused on the main challenges and businesses are facing. This includes boosting productivity and employee retention, sourcing foreign workers of quality, digital investments and achieving sustainability.
Malta Chamber of SMEs President Mr Paul Abela said that now that Covid is something of the past, we encourage SME’s to continue to look forward and invest, while working to Maximise their resources in order to combat the current challenges.
Enterprise Minister Hon. Miriam Dalli reiterated the Government’s commitment to support companies in their twin transition towards a sustainable and digital business model whilst becoming more competitive. “Budget 2023 will see the doubling of the financial assistance provided to companies by Malta Enterprise, which together with the Family Business Office and Business First will remain a key enabler of growth for our SMEs in the years to come,” Minister Dalli said.
Hon. Silvio Schembri, Minister for the Economy, EU Funds and Lands, during his address to small and medium-sized businesses stated that the Government’s assistance to businesses is helping to operate smoothly and further scaling up their operations.
Among the measures, he mentioned the recovery plan where businesses can apply for funds to further improve their operation, both in digital and energy-efficient terms.
The SME Conference is well renowned for its organised networking sessions and participants had the opportunity to network with fellow business people from different sectors.
SME Chamber Vice President, Michael Galea, participated in a panel discussion during a conference by the Malta Sustainability Forum organised by APS Bank.
The panel discussed the outcome of the survey findings held recently by Misco for APS bank with the theme “Voluntary Occupational Retirement Pension” bridging the pension gap.
The conference focused on the pension sustainability and adequacy which were held through a broad spectrum of speakers, including the finance minister Mr Clyde Caruana, social partners, employers, unions and other local and foreign experts.
The topics addressed by Mr Galea revolved around the property dynamics, the knock on effect of the property market on the Maltese economy. The trust that the Maltese people have towards this sector in terms of capital appreciation and return on investment which can serve as a second pension when the owner of the property arrives at retirement age.
The take up of the Voluntary Occupational Retirement Scheme was also addressed and what challenges the market is facing to reach the targets that one expects after seven years from the launch in 2015.
As a way forward it is being recommended that an automatic enrolment pension scheme will replace the existing scheme so as to encourage more people taking on the second pillar pension even from an early stage from when a person gets employed. It is being recommended that this scheme will also have an opt out option.
The Malta Chamber of SMEs on Friday launched this year’s black friday campaign. For this year’s edition, the SME Chamber launch a new website, www.blackfridaymalta.eu, a website to promote businesses black friday offers but also provides an easy tool for customers to search for offers.
This initiative was launch during a press conference addressed by the Minister for the Economy, European Funds and Lands Silvio Schembri. Minister Schembri said that this initiative provides a new tool for businesses and customers which makes Black Friday a more successful initiative.
Paul Abela, President of the SME Chamber, said that Black friday makes November a very important month for businesses. He encouraged more traders to offer offers on the new website.
Abigail Mamo, CEO of the Malta s Chamber, said that customers will have the opportunity to search for offers either by category and sector or by the offer percentage, with available offers up to 70%, Ms Agius Mamo explained that businesses may include their offers by creating an account.
The Malta Business Awards were organized by the Malta Chamber of SMEs in partnership with Malta Enterprise to recognize the work of Maltese businesses, honouring some of the best businesses in various prestigious categories including the SME of the Year, Local Cultural Contributor, Gozo Business of the Year and the highest honour, the President’s Choice Award.
With over 300 nominations in the different categories presented, 100 finalists were chosen by independent judges during the first round, with the winners being chosen after a second round of judging following pitches put forward by the finalists.
The event was attended by over 550 people representing local businesses and major stakeholders in the industry.
The Minister for the Environment, Enterprise and Energy , Hon. Miriam Dalli said: “The first edition of the Malta Business Awards served as a showcase of our nation’s leading entrepreneurs and businesses, who despite the ongoing challenges still strive to produce and deliver excellent products and services. I look forward to seeing more businesses adopt innovative and sustainable solutions, giving their operations a competitive edge.
Paul Abela, President of the Malta Chamber of SMEs highlighted the fact that Maltese businesses had been waiting for an evening like this for a very long time and that it has now finally arrived.
Malta Chamber of SMEs CEO, Abigail Agius Mamo said that it was a great honour that together with Malta Enterprise such awards were created in order to recognize Maltese business.
Malta Enterprise CEO, Kurt Farrugia said: “Our country has a strong and resilient business community and our mission as Malta Enterprise is to see that Maltese business is further strengthened and that it regenerates itself to be stronger in its future endeavours. Our schemes are designed to support businesses in their path towards growth. Tonight’s awards are a celebration of all the good that Maltese and Gozitan businesses and workers have to offer.”
The Malta Chamber of SMEs welcomes the continued confirmation that the Government will be extending the safety net of protecting Malta from the international hikes of energy prices. This is by far the biggest threat Malta is facing at the moment.
Another positive element found in this Budget is the extension and widening of the Rent Subsidy Scheme, as proposed by the Malta Chamber of SMEs, that will help Malta mitigate the impact of freight costs. Positively noted is the work being done to tackle issues with banking services and the increased importance being given to aesthetics in the development of buildings.
Apart from this the budget is a continuation of the 2022 budget, where it concerns SMEs.
Disappointingly, the Budget fails to effectively tackle other major challenges which are choking businesses. Very serious issues have merely been given a mentioned in this Budget speech, which falls too short from the action that Malta should be taking at the moment, as a stage of implementation.
The serious employment crisis, suffocating bureaucracy and impossible traffic, merited more than simply being mentioned in this budget. These issues are seriously affecting productivity and we cannot afford to start thinking of policies now, with no solution, nowhere on the horizon.
The Malta Chamber of SMEs welcome European Parliament President Roberta Metsola at its offices in Floriana. During this meeting, the SME Chamber discussed several issues currently effecting Maltese SMEs, such as employee shortage and shipping costs.
Both sides discussed also the energy crisis, currently effecting most European countries.
Pesident Metsola pledged she’ll continue to work in favour of Malta;s SMEs in the European Parliament and other European fora.
The SME Chamber was represented by President Mr Paul Abela, Deputy President Philip Fenech, Vice-President Noel Gauci, CEO Ms Abigail Agius Mamo, Head of Policiy Mr Andrew Aquilina, Head of Communications Mr Fabian Demicoli and Jamie Tanti.
