Category: Articles

The Malta Chamber of SMEs signed a collaborative agreement  with MCAST for the introduction of a new Professional Research Doctorate (DRes) at the College. This programme of studies is the first of its kind provided at MCAST. The doctorate is a research-based EQF/MQF Level 8 qualification and focuses on the competitive behaviour of small organisations within small island states.

The announcement was made today during the signing of a collaborative agreement with the Malta Chamber of SMEs.

Statistics developed by the National Statistics Office (NSO) have identified around 30,000 small firms operational in Malta. According to the NSO, these small organisations are responsible for more than 65% of employment in Malta. The NSO’s findings highlight the importance of conducting research aimed to help small organisations grow and thrive.

Mr Paul Abela, President of the Malta Chamber of SMEs and Ms Abigail Mamo, CEO of the Malta Chamber of SMEs said, “MCAST is a very important pillar in our education system, and it is also an entity with whom we share many common goals related to how education should contribute to Malta’s economic development. Therefore, the Malta Chamber of SMEs is very pleased to be sharing another opportunity to strengthen our joint collaboration. This is one of a number of initiatives the Malta Chamber of SMEs is working on, with the ultimate objective of elevating the knowledge and competences of SMEs in Malta while encouraging small businesses not to lag and to spear ahead with their own research projects.”

Professor Joachim James Calleja, MCAST’s Principal and CEO, said, “The launch of this level 8 programme is the result of years of research and preparation. Our collaboration with industry goes beyond course provision, and not everyone might be aware of the diverse work going on at the College. Our research work aims to provide data and information, which will help industry to make evidence-based decisions. We are confident that the collaboration Malta Chamber of SMEs and the Richmond Foundation will be beneficial to the researchers and also to the growth of SMEs.”

Deputy Principal for Research and Innovation, Dr Ing. Alex Rizzo, said “through the application of mixed research methods, the course aims to unearth much-needed information on the behaviour of small organisations. Driven by grounded research, data obtained will help professionals comprehend better the complex decision making processes and behaviours within small organisations. In turn, potential findings will help researchers understand which best-practise models should be adopted by business-oriented small firms and other small organisations.”

Aimed toward Masters’ Degree holders, this DRes will run over 5-years on a part-time basis. Students must follow 4 taught modules related to advanced Research Methods MCAST Main Campus, Corradino Street, Paola PLA9032, Malta +356 2398 7100 | mcast.edu.mt during their first year.

After completion, successful candidates will progress to the main component of the DRes, namely, the research endeavour. Students must also publish three academic, rigorously researched articles.

A project by the Malta Chamber of SMEs and the Government

Some years ago the SME Chamber and the Government embarked on a project in the area of energy efficient by generating solar energy through the creation of two PV farms in Gozo that will generate enough electricity to cater for around 500 families per year.

The farms will generate two million kWh per year. The farms, at Ta’ Ċenċ, are being developed by the joint venture, Malta Energy on Water Services Corporation (WSC) reservoirs. They cover an area of 9,360m², with 2,871 panels.

Malta Energy Ltd, is a joint venture between the WSC (51 per cent shareholding) and the Malta Chamber of SMEs (49 per cent shareholding).

These projects are part of this government’s vision to continue to incentivise renewable energy in our country”, Dalli said.

She said the government will continue to incentivise entities to keep producing clean energy, which will contribute to more sustainable economic growth and allow Malta’s targets to be achieved by everyone.

WSC CEO Ivan Falzon said the corporation will continue working on projects of added value, where this will result in generating more clean and renewable energy.

Malta Energy CEO Noel Gauci said the venture will, in future, also be able to invite families who do not have space to install panels to buy a portion of future projects.

Malta Energy plans to expand its operations to areas outside of the Water Services Corporation’s facilities, which are owned by other government entities, and can provide more value to the entity hosting the installations.

The panels can offer shelter, electric vehicle charging, and other infrastructure utilities.

The Malta Embassy in Abu Dhabi will be organising a Malta Day event scheduled on the 20th of September 2021.  The event will be held in Abu Dhabi and the Maltese Embassy is currently seeking partners to participate in this event.

This event will be exclusive for those participating and the Maltese Embassy aims to offer total exclusivity for those willing to contribute towards this event, either financially or in kind.

From the feedback gathered, a good number of Emirati entities have made contact with the Maltese Embassy, seeking a more pro-active platform with Maltese businesses with a number of businesses interested in partnerships with local businesses. Although all sectors can be considered, as a guidance, the below sectors have been identified as possible collaborations:

Fintech 

Educational Institutions

Agri technology 

Event Planning 

Marketing, Branding & Designs  

Set-up and Events 

 This is just an indication and other sector interests are welcome.

Those willing to participate will be given the below exposure during this event, particularly:

1. Exclusive opportunity to network with counterparts in Abu Dhabi and hold one to one meetings

2. The Embassy will offer you two invitations for senior executive members of your entity plus a number of invitations to disturb to your counterparts whom you would consider important to meet.
   

3. The logo of your entity will feature on the photo backdrop at the event.

4. The logo of your entity will also feature on the invitation for the Malta Day.

5. You and your entity will be thanked publicly during the Ambassador’s speech.

6. If you wish, your entity’s brochures/merchandise (which fit in the palm of a hand) can be include in the Gift Bags which we will distribute to guests.

7. You and your entity will be thanked on the Embassy’s and the Ambassador’s social media: Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

During the event The Embassy will be inviting A-list composed of UAE dignitaries; members of the diplomatic corps; key contacts in the UAE government, society, media and academia; other Maltese stakeholders in the UAE; Maltese businesses and local businesses; and members of the Maltese diaspora in the UAE, among others.

The Malta Chamber of SMEs is also in contact with Trade Malta in order to identify possible funding opportunities to fund travel and accommodation expenses.

Interested Parties are to get in touch with Andrew Aquilina by email on  listing the respective sector and contact details.

A 2 hour Q & A online session

On Wednesday 19th May, the Malta Chamber of SMEs hosted a Webinar for its members about the latest business schemes, aimed at mitigating the negative economic effects on Maltese businesses.

The Minister for Energy, Enterprise and Sustainable Development Hon. Miriam Dalli addressed the participants and thanked the Malta Chamber of SMEs throughout the process of planning the new business support schemes.

During this webinar, participants had the opportunity to ask questions to our high level speakers, including Malta Enterprise CEO Mr Kurt Farrugia and Mr Steve Ellul, Advisor within the Ministry for Energy, Enterprise and Sustainable Development.

Malta has vaccinated 70% of its adult population with at least one COVID-19 shot

Malta has vaccinated 70% of its adult population with at least one COVID-19 shot, becoming the first European Union country to achieve so-called herd immunity.

During an MCESD meeting, the meeting was addressed by Prof Michael Borg, Head of the Departments of Infection Control.

SME Chamber President Paul Abela and CEO Abigail Mamo attended the meeting and put forward the most important concerns and frequently asked questions that the SME Chamber receives from its members.

The following are the main points that came out of this meeting:

Vaccination programme update  

• A vaccination strategy that started in December
• Total vaccinations as at today 438K – Currently an average of 7,000 doses administered a day
• There is very limited vaccine hesitance, but now that itargeting lower age groups this might increase slightly
• Malta has vaccinated over 60% of the population and is today the single country with the highest 1^st dose administered per capita, exceeding Israel, UK and all other countries.
• Malta is just behind 5 other countries, namely, Israel, UAE, Bahrain, Chile and the US, when it comes to 2^nd dose. The first dose is however the most crucial.

Herd immunity  

• From Israel’s experience we are able to assess the success of vaccinations.
• Vaccines are avoiding 85-92% of serious cases (ending in hospital) when compared to before a person had the vaccine.
• Like any jab it does not protect 100% and one can still get Covid with mild or no symptoms.
• From Israel’s experience we know that who is vaccinated and gets Covid has 50% less chance of passing it on to someone else.
• With over 70% vaccinated Malta will see a drastic decrease in contagion, including of the new variant present so far.
• Malta will be the first country reaching heard immunity. This will be achieved any time now and up to 3 weeks maximum.

The Covid Variants 

• As far as taking away the seriousness of the illness the vaccines appear to be equally effective on all the variants present at the moment.
• Each variant however appears to be more transmittable than the original virus. The UK variant was more transmittable than the original virus and the Indian variant is more transmittable than the UK one, and so on and so forth.
• So far the new variants we know about do not appear to pose a threat to herd immunity.

Green Pass 

• Will become a requirement for travelling. The Green Pass will not require a test or quarantine.
• The safety of the Green Pass as a strategy is still being analysed, yet the model, if found effected, would be used to return close to normality for a higher-risk activities.

The Government announced that the second round of the vouchers scheme will kick off on June 7th.

Following several discussions with the Government, the SME Chamber managed to secure the fastest possible release of the vouchers as well as a more balanced distribution – that of a total of €40 for retail outlets and €60 for the hospitality and entertainment sector.

The vouchers can be downloaded digitally from the website wallet.vouchersmimcol.com  until 4 June.
Those who do not download the vouchers digitally will automatically then receive them by post.

• The vouchers will be distributed as follows:

• Four red vouchers, each worth €15 to make up a total of €60, can be used at restaurants, hotels, accommodation places, bars, or diving centres.
• Four blue vouchers, each worth €10 to make up a total of €40, can be used at retail shops which sell clothes, footwear, jewellery, and gifts, hair and beauty salons, sports clubs and gyms, museums, arts and culture centres, and band clubs amongst others.