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As part of our efforts to promote business matchmaking for Israeli companies, The Federation of the Israeli Chambers of Commerce (FICC) announced several business offers from companies and its members.

All companies within the list of business offers are looking for new business partners, distributors, representation or suppliers.

Companies interested to get more information related to these business offers and full list of business offers, please contact Fabian Demicoli by email on

List of busniess offers below:

The Malta Chamber of SMEs has noted a number of positive initiatives that will aim at pushing both businesses and workers forward. Addressing Malta’s human resources crises the Budget will result in rewards for those choosing to work more through in-work benefits and tax incentives.

At the same time the Budget acknowledges the support businesses require following the pandemic in making investments. The incentives welcome include allowing the transferability of capital allowances, tax benefits on reinvested profits, financing schemes and various other schemes that encourage sustainability and moving towards clean energy amongst others.

The SME Chamber is particularly pleased to see a number of its own proposal being included in this years Budget, namely:

The Budget further explains that work to get Malta out of the Greylisting status is well underway and is expected to yield the desired results. It however falls short in addressing how this Greylisting is affecting the backbone of our economy, Maltese SMEs. During Budget discussions the Malta Chamber of SMEs has emphasised on the importance to assess the additional costs and burdens that are being lumped on SMEs by the various financial and regulatory institutions without a risk-based or proportionality driven approach. Businesses are being punished on a daily basis and it is not acceptable that the greylisting strategy comes at the pure expense of Maltese SMEs.

View a full summary of the Budget highlights for businesses

COLA – €1.75 per week

TAX ARREARS CRACKDOWN – from June 2022 with pledge to end regular amnesties on penalties and interest on unpaid tax increased to 7.2%

PROPERTY – No capital gains tax or stamp duty on the purchase of properties that are more than 20 years old and have been vacant for seven years or more

– First-time buyers of such properties will also receive a grant of €15,000

– That grant doubles to €30,000 for properties bought in Gozo

– VAT up to €54,000 on the first €300,000 spent on renovation works

RENT SUBSIDIES – Extended to cover a wider spread of business sectors

TRANSPORT

– Free public transport for all from October 1 2022

-Maximum grants on electric vehicles increased from €8,000 to €11,000 and €1,000 scrappage scheme

-5 year exemption on license fees for electric vehicles has been extended

-Electric vehicles will remain exempt from registration tax

-1,200 charging points for electric vehicles to be installed in next three years

-A grant of up to €900 for minibuses, coaches and trucks that install photovoltaic panels

-VAT refunds for bicycles and electric bikes continue

FAMILY

-Free childcare services will be extended to evenings and weekends for people working shifts

-Threshold for in-work benefits paid to parents who have children under the age of 23 raised for couples who both work to €50,000, up from the previous €35,000

-For couples where only one of the parents is employed, the threshold is raised from €26,000 to €35,000, while the threshold for single parents is raised from €23,000 to €35,000 per annum

PART-TIME TAX RATE – reduced from 15% to 10%

EXEMPTION ON PENSION INCOME – The maximum amount of exempt pension income will be increased to €14,318.

MORE MONEY IN PEOPLE’S POCKETS

-COLA increase to pensioners, people on social benefits and students

-Tax refunds increased to. between €60 and €140

-Increase in pensions

FAMILY BUSINESSES – Extending 1.5% stamp duty

START-UP VISA– to attract start-ups to Malta

EMPLOYMENT – Incentive to attract workers to Jobs with unattractive hours – € 150 for those whose wage does not exceed €20,000 a year

SUSTAINABILITY 

-Schemes for businesses to subsidise the cost of changing existing petrol or diesel engines to electric

-Scheme to encourages businesses to install PV panels on their vehicles.

BUSINESS INVESTMENT 

-Able to take benefits from Capital Allowances on Investments carried out in enterprises hit by the pandemic and use them in favour of tax on income on companies that remained sustainable

-Malta Enterprise will start a scheme where a % of the profits that is retained within a business and is invested in the same or another business would receive a tax benefit as long as the investment is completed within 2 years from 2022

-Seed Fund to support researchers and entrepreneurs in developing innovative and sustainable ideas

-MDB’s SME Tailored Facility extended to include green and ecological projects up to a max of €5M

-Sale incentive for enterprises that would have invested in green project to have surplus of Carbon Credits

Ignores however the negative effects of the Greylisting on SMEs

The Malta Chamber of SMEs has noted a number of positive initiatives that will aim at pushing both businesses and workers forward. Addressing Malta’s human resources crises the Budget will result in rewards for those choosing to work more through in-work benefits and tax incentives.

At the same time the Budget acknowledges the support businesses require following the pandemic in making investments. The incentives welcome include allowing the transferability of capital allowances, tax benefits on reinvested profits, financing schemes and various other schemes that encourage sustainability and moving towards clean energy amongst others.

Incentives in favour of green transport, electrification of vehicles and sustainability of buildings show also a clear commitment aimed at making Malta a cleaner and more attractive country for locals and tourists alike. Most of these incentives come out of discussions directly held with the Malta Chamber of SMEs in support of the many sectors interested in moving towards carbon neutrality.

The SME Chamber is particularly pleased to see its own proposal being included in the Budget, aimed at alleviating the heavy burden of the international transport costs by subsidising the rents on storage facilities. The Malta Chamber of SMEs believes that it is not easy to find a solution for this complicated issue however Malta’s particular circumstances must be taken into consideration and businesses supported accordingly. Other support structures will be necessary to further alleviate this problem, but this is surely a very important first step.

The Budget further explains that work to get Malta out of the Greylisting status is well underway and is expected to yield the desired results. It however falls short in addressing how this Greylisting is affecting the backbone of our economy, Maltese SMEs. During Budget discussions the Malta Chamber of SMEs has emphasised on the importance to assess the additional costs and burdens that are being lumped on SMEs by the various financial and regulatory institutions without a risk-based or proportionality driven approach. Businesses are being punished on a daily basis and it is not acceptable that the greylisting strategy comes at the pure expense of Maltese SMEs.

SME Chamber proposed tax reductions and numerous other incentives to bolster investments

As part of its Budget preparations and discussions, the Malta Chamber of SMEs has worked on a number of proposals and held numerous discussions with the various ministries. Amongst others, the SME Chamber proposed tax reductions and numerous other incentives to bolster investments. Proposals were put forward also to strengthen the digitalisation of businesses as well as assist them in their path towards sustainability and carbon neutrality.

A topic which however topped our agenda was the increasing effect of the greylisting on businesses.

Over the last years we have seen Malta’s reputation taking one blow after another, and, in tandem, doing business, across the board, became increasingly difficult. With EU and international supervisory authorities following Malta’s every step, the government fast-tracked institutional reforms. This was however deemed to be insufficient, with the result of Malta becoming greylisted, and the business environment continued to worsen.

We are living through a time when institutions are expected to show they are active and make a sound. Is this however working in the way it should be working? The Chamber of SMEs believes it is not.

Whilst the Malta Chamber of SMEs is all for compliance and everyone paying the dues they should be paying, it is certainly not in favour of suffocating businesses, treating them all like they are criminals and taking every opportunity to elicit fines and fees through the process.

The Authorities, Institutions and Banks are expected to do better. They were they are treating businesses, especially small businesses is paramount to abuse. It seems that these entities have stepped up their reform but basic etiquette of how to deal with users and clients is nowhere to be seen. Instead of focussing on the real problems they are carpet bombing all businesses to show they are making noise.

No proportionality is being adopted, no risk-based approach. Compliance has become the biggest nightmare for businesses. It is effecting the mental health of business owners and challenging the spirit of entrepreneurship. Coupled with that, compliance is being used as an excuse and an opportunity to increase fees and charges and to fine businesses.

Businesses are being faced with hostility, unjust enrichment, abuse of dominance and a service that continues to worsen.

The SME Chamber will continue highlighting these issues and putting pressure to change these negative attitudes.

Top eCommerce trends your company needs to be familiar with this year to stand out and meet the ever-changing and progressive expectations of the market

Now more than ever, eCommerce brands need to adapt and communicate more effectively with their customers. With technological improvements advancing at a rapid pace and changing customer behaviour around shopping, eCommerce trends cannot be overlooked for 2021.

Companies need to understand the importance of these trends from a customer perspective in order to make the most of the opportunities eCommerce offers: the latest retail trends, consumer expectations, design trends and technologies will be essential to unlock the potential to build brand loyalty and attract new customers.

Here are the top eCommerce trends your company needs to be familiar with this year to stand out and meet the ever-changing and progressive expectations of the market:

1. Marketplaces versus eCommerce stores

During the pandemic and beyond, customer behaviours have shown a consistent theme of convenience. A lot of the brick-and-mortar businesses were forced to move online to survive, and some of them lacked the infrastructure to cope with traffic and demand increases. Customers turned to marketplaces like Amazon or Etsy that offer fast shipping and free returns. To keep up with demand and the new eCommerce trend, stores will need solutions like Stor.co to help them leverage AI to compete with big marketplaces.

2. Online buying will expand to DTC and B2B

2020 was a turning point for businesses that sell directly to consumers, from manufacturing and farming to technology and services. While the world is slowly returning to its pre-pandemic state in some respects, consumers and businesses have seen the benefits of buying directly from suppliers. Making online purchases easier will be vital to facilitating direct-to-consumer and business-to-business purchases, therefore, creating a user-friendly customer experience for purchase and payment becomes essential. Partnering with a payment gateway that will allow suppliers to create branded Hosted Payment Pages will help make the customers transition smoother.

3. Omnichannel selling will be the norm

As an eCommerce trend, omnichannel selling will be more accessible in 2021 and beyond as it becomes more ubiquitous. Customers want to see content in a variety of ways, some of which most businesses are already shifting towards. Tablets, smartphones, and desktop computers are only the beginning. Brands are exploring new ways to market their products using social media as the new eCommerce trend. Brands will need to deep dive into their customer habits and understand the channels they frequently visit. Following closely, businesses should find the right partner to help them support social selling via payment links. To complement that, using shoppable ads in stories on apps like Instagram and Snapchat will be the next step in the evolution of social media selling.

4.Self-service platforms to rise even more in popularity

Platforms that can be swiftly deployed to help businesses sell online without requiring a small army of developers and consultants are another significant eCommerce trend. Consider creating templated content for your brand’s audience that will help your clients learn quickly how to use your products or solve a problem they have in your industry.

5. Analytics will flourish

Customer insights will continue to gain value, especially transactional data. Many brands focus on the basic metrics like the click-through rate on specific campaigns and conversion metrics that indicate where the bulk of traffic and sales are coming from.

But the pandemic has taught businesses to think even more granularly, and to learn how customers interact with online businesses is a beneficial eCommerce exercise. This is why using a payment gateway like Tru Loyalty will help your business to get insights from payment data in real-time, together with creating data-driven loyalty marketing programmes. The right analytical choice will help businesses flourish and reduce cart abandonment.

6. AI will get more beneficial

As machine learning becomes more mainstream, businesses can leverage AI to create a real impact on their bottom line. This eCommerce trend has bloomed during the pandemic, and AI is now used to make recommendations for what customers should purchase next based on their shopping history. More importantly for businesses, AI is already used by intelligent payment gateways for real-time fraud detection, saving them millions of pounds that would have been claimed through chargebacks or disingenuous payments.

7. Personalisation will create a bond with customers

Customer expectations and technological capabilities have changed what is possible with personalisation. According to a survey by Bazaarvoice published in April 2021, 54% of global customers now prefer to shop online than browse in stores. CRM databases can be used to create a personalised customer service experience wherever a client chooses to communicate – via phone, email, or any other channel.

Trust Payments – Partners of the Malta Chamber of SMEs

the government should incentivise the private sector to invest in this infrastructure and possibly enter to market to offer charging pillars

The Malta Chamber of SMEs through its wide representation in the Transport Sector has submitted its position paper on the National Strategy for Electric Vehicle Public Charging Infrastructure. The Policy document was issued by the ministry for Energy, Enterprise and Sustainable Development.

The SME Chamber believes that as much as possible the government should incentivise the private sector to invest in this infrastructure and possibly enter to market to offer charging pillars made available to the public.

The SME Chamber insists that the government needs to assist the private sector when it comes to investing in fast chargers and the ancillary infrastructure involved, including sub-stations and dedicated cables. The Malta Chamber of SMEs therefore proposed, aggressive schemes to assist the private sector in making the investment.

More importantly the SME Chamber noted that the government should only act as a facilitator and should therefore not compete with the private sector when it comes to more advantageous premium rates and feed in tariffs.

The SME Chamber also noted that its members operating fuel stations, have shown interest in investing in this infrastructure and are willing to contribute towards the government targets, that of providing adequate infrastructure, complementing the electrification of vehicles in Malta.

The SME Chamber also recommended that strategic points need to be identified in order to ensure that key localities in Malta and Gozo are adequately equipped to cater for an influx in electric vehicles, such as the airport, highly touristic areas. Moreover the public infrastructure should also be able to cater for the different vehicles which includes heavy and large passenger vehicles.

Together with the policy document, the government also published the regulations for the authorisation of Charging Service Providers. The SME Chamber maintained its position that the government should facilitate the market. In this regard, the SME Chamber recommended that authorisation fees and other fees for every charging pillar are completely waived, during the first five years of implementation in order to incentivise further the private sector to enter the market.

The Malta Chamber of SMEs will keep following closely this topic and is currently expecting a second policy document aimed at addressing the private sector.

The scheme encourages enterprises to invest in sustainable and digitalised operations

Malta’s largest virtual business forum returns on October 19-22

EY’s annual flagship event – a checkpoint for Malta’s economy – is back next October! The almost two decades old event, previously known as the Malta Attractiveness Event, went through a transformation of its own in 2020, turning into a week-long virtual experience open to all of Malta: public and private sector leaders, academics, students, NGOs, businesses, entrepreneurs, start-ups, environmentalists, advisors, investors, techies, creatives … everybody with Malta and their own future, at heart.

As Malta battles through and emerges from the biggest global crisis of the 21st Century, we must view this moment as the opportunity to really build a better working Malta.
You’re probably wondering: how can we do that?

Everything begins with an idea.