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.
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
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.
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.
Future Realised Week will take place over four days from 20th to 23rd October 2020
Former European leaders, futurists, investors, CEOs, academics and NGOs from Malta and the world will gather virtually in October to discuss how Malta can get the next 10 years right.
Future Realised Week replaces what was previously known as the EY Annual Attractiveness Event and will take place over four days from October 20 to 23. It is free to attend and open to all.
Organised by multinational professional services network EY, the event is intended to trigger new ideas, challenge perspectives and explore different possibilities for Malta post-COVID-19.
The date of the 2021 Budget has been announced as the 19th October 2020.
The announcement was made on Monday afternoon as a meeting of the House Business Committee, ahead of the first sitting of the House of Representative following the summer recess.
The budget would be announced on October 19, with the Opposition leader’s reply a week later on October 26. The remarks by the prime minister will follow on the next day.
All the financial estimates debates will be held by not later than November 6, with the House meeting twice or three times daily.
Members of the public will not be allowed in the strangers’ gallery in line with COVID-19 restrictions.
Last month, the Malta Chamber of SMEs has published its full set of 19 Budget proposals that mainly focus on the required urgent response mechanism to counter the effects of the Covid 19 pandemic on businesses.
Source: Timesofmalta.com
Tomorrow, the Malta Freeport Terminal will be closing between 12pm and 4pm as Christ Zahra will be laid to rest
The Malta Freeport Terminal will tomorrow, Tuesday 6th October close temporally as a sign of respect towards Christ Zahra, 36-year old, a Malta Freeport employee who was killed on the job on Tuesday 29th September during a tragic accident when a container fell from a height and hit Zahra whilst he was operating a forklift.
Tomorrow, the Malta Freeport Terminal will be closing between 12pm and 4pm as Christ Zahra will be laid to rest.
Earlier today, the Malta Chamber of SMEs informed the Malta Freeport Terminal hauliers about this temporary closure.
Our thoughts are with Mr Zahra’s family and friends at this extraordinarily difficult time.
The Malta Chamber of SMEs met Partit Laburista Economic Forum to discuss new economic ideas.
The SME Chamber mentioned the importance of new incentives for SMEs, the SME Chamber 2021 Budget proposals and the economic growth post Covid-19.
The forum is coordinated by MEP Miriam Dalli and Mr Steve Ellul and will draw up a set of policies by year’s end in a project called 100 ideas.
Paul Abela, Marcel Mizzi, Abigail Mamo, Philip Fenech, Michael Galea, Noel Gauci, Chris Vassallo and Fabian Demicoli participated on behalf the SME Chamber during this meeting.
EU figures show that the impact of cybercrime is increasing at an alarming level with the absolute majority of businesses having experienced at least one cybersecurity incident.
Covid has hit the economy hard and the negative impact has been felt by all economic sectors. One area that has unfortunately flourished during this difficult time is cybercrime. Businesses going through difficulty have also been targeted by increased online threats and the number of victims is unfortunately on the increase. Hackers and malign actors, seeking to harm our systems and steal our data, have taken advantage of the Covid situation that has provided more opportunities due to increased online activity.
October is the European Cyber Security Month. During 2020, this EU campaign focuses on addressing the need for behavioral change and helping users recognise cyber risks. The Malta Chamber of SMEs has therefore partnered up with Cybergate International, in a quest to raise the bar in Malta on cyber security and increase businesses’ level of protection.
The absolute majority of threats are easily avoidable with better knowledge, education and taking the necessary safeguard. Businesses, especially SMEs, not having personnel, in-house or outsourced, that specialise in cybersecurity, are currently very exposed to online threats. It only takes one person within an entire business clicking on a disguised link, or taking instructions from what looks like a normal communication at first glance.
As our partner, Cybergate International will assist the SME Chamber in championing this mandate in Malta on behalf of SMEs, backed by its long years of experience working in the area and a professional outreach strategy. Through this partnership an educational campaign will ensue on cyber security for business.
SME Chamber President, Mr Paul Abela said “we are very pleased to be taking a tangible step forward on the subject through this partnership, with a partner that shares our good intentions and ambitions for businesses. He stated that as a Chamber of SMEs we continuously encourage businesses to increase their online activity and we want them to do this in a safe manner”.
Ing. Keith Fitzpatrick, Director of Cybergate International stated that he wants this partnership to make a difference to businesses, especially SMEs. “As an experienced service provider in the sector we will put our knowledge at the disposal of the SME Chamber’s members in the form of free training and online resources to increase businesses’ capability to win over this injustice”.
EU figures show that the impact of cybercrime is increasing at an alarming level with the absolute majority of businesses having experienced at least one cybersecurity incident. Among companies in the EU 69% are reporting no or only basic understanding of their exposure to cyber threats. With an accelerating digital economy and society and the dependence on technology, cyber security has become more relevant and essential for businesses than ever.
Cybergate International is a service provider in cyber security services with over 10 years of experience. Cybergate Limited has had the opportunity to work with diverse sectors, including the financial, gaming, banking, insurance, legal, wholesale and retail sectors and with sizes ranging from small to large enterprises.
