Author: SME Chamber

The European
Commission has launched a consultation on mobile health (which can be found at:
http://ec.europa.eu/news/environment/140410_en.htm), asking for help in finding
ways to enhance the health and wellbeing of Europeans with the use of mobile
devices, such as mobile phones, tablets, patient monitoring devices and other
wireless devices.

European
Commission Vice-President Neelie Kroes, responsible for the Digital Agenda,
said: "mHealth will reduce costly visits to hospitals, help citizens take
charge of their own health and wellbeing, and move towards prevention rather
than cure. It is also a great opportunity for the booming app economy and for
entrepreneurs.

I
personally use a sports-band on my wrist to measure how active I am from day to
day, so I am a great supporter of mHealth already. Please send us your input
into this consultation to help us become global leaders in this fascinating
area".

European
Commissioner for Health Tonio Borg said: "mHealth has a great potential to
empower citizens to manage their own health and stay healthy longer, to trigger
greater quality of care and comfort for patients, and to assist health
professionals in their work. As such, exploring mHealth solutions can
contribute to modern, efficient and sustainable health systems".

How can mHealth help?

This
service will help by:

Some
examples of mHealth include:

There are
nearly 100,000 mHealth #apps already available across multiple platforms such
as iTunes, Google play, Windows Marketplace, BlackBerry World. The top 20 free
sports, fitness and health apps already account for 231 million downloads
worldwide. By 2017, 3.4 billion people worldwide will own a smartphone and half
of them will be using mHealth apps. In 2017, if its potential is fully
unlocked, mHealth could save €99 billion in healthcare costs in the EU.

Further information can be found at:

http://ec.europa.eu/transport/modes/air/safety/air-ban/index_en.htm

Ġentilment ninfurmakom li fil-jiem li ġejjin se jinbidlu
t-tabelli tar-Residents'
Parking Scheme taż-żona tal-Pjazza n-Naxxar li se jkollhom tibdil żgħir fil-ħinijiet.

It-tabelli li hemm fil-preżent huma skont il-permess
oriġinali mill-Awtorità tat-Trasport iżda xi snin wara nbidel id-disinn u
għalhekk l-KUNSILL ser jkun qed jinstalla tabelli skont l-aktar disinn riċenti.

Bħala ħinijiet se jibqgħu kważi l-istess ħlief li se jkun
hemm tnaqqis wara nofsinhar, inkluż is-Sibtijiet li fil-preżent it-tabelli qed
jinkludu s-Sibt sas-6pm.

B'mod ġenerali mhux qed inħossu li se jkun hemm xi impatt
negattiv anzi għall-kuntrarju qed jinghata aktar nifs lil min jipparkja fit-tul
bejn is-1pm u l-4pm.  Inħossu wkoll li s-Sibt wara nofsinhar m'għandux
ikun hemm restrizzjoni.

F'każ ta' diffikultà napprezzaw jekk tikkomunikaw mall –
Kunsill Lokali Naxxar fuq tel: 21 416341

GRTU Council
Member Joan Haber has last week attended a conference hosted by the European
Commission in Brussels to discuss progress in tackling youth unemployment
through the Youth Guarantee.

The
"Youth Guarantee: Making it Happen" conference also looked at how EU
countries are implementing the schemes, as recommended by the Commission.
Speakers include President José Manuel Barroso, who opened the conference,
Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, László Andor, and
Director General of the International Labour Organisation, Guy Ryder.

Ahead of
the conference, President Barroso said, "With youth unemployment
unacceptably high across the EU, we need to do something urgently to help young
people into jobs. Youth Guarantees have proven their worth in several Member
States, which is why the European Commission has stepped in to recommend they
be implemented across the EU. And we have backed this up with at least €6
billion of dedicated funding from the Youth Employment Initiative that Member
States must now put to good use. This is a commitment at the highest level that
we are actively working to give young people hope for the future."

Commissioner
Andor said "The Youth Guarantee is not business as usual. It's an ambitious
and innovative policy for youth employment targeting a clear result: that every
young person gets a good labour market opportunity within 4 months. This
requires investment and many structural changes in how young people are
supported in moving from school to work. We cannot expect all young people's
job prospects to improve from one day to the next. But we do expect all Member
States to promptly implement the Youth Guarantee to give everyone a real
chance".

GRTU President
Paul Abela and Executive Abigail Mamo have this week had the opportunity to
welcome Dr Filip Bucin, who is a lawyer 
by professions and has been short listed for the position of Honorary
Consul for Malta in Malmo.

Malmö is
Sweden's third largest city by population, after Stockholm and Gothenburg.
It  was one of the earliest and most
industrialized towns of Scandinavia, but it struggled with the adaptation to
post-industrialism. The economy of Malmö was traditionally based on
shipbuilding and construction related industries, such as concrete factories.

Almost
30 companies have moved their headquarters to Malmö during the last seven
years, generating around 2,300 jobs. The level of new started companies is high
in Malmö. Around 7 new companies are started every day in Malmö. In 2010, the
renewal of the number of companies amounted to 13.9%, which exceeds both
Stockholm and Gothenburg. Among the industries that continue to increase their
share of companies in Malmö are transport, financial and business services,
entertainment, leisure and construction.

GRTU had
written to the Minister for Transport Hon Joe Mizzi following complaints
received by retailers operating their business from Dejma Road, Tarxien and the
surrounding areas, that since Dejma road was temporarily changed into a one way
street their business had been affected very negatively.

GRTU had not been
involved in discussions. It is very likely that when a road is changed to a one
way the traffic flow will increase in the surrounding roads.

Following
this GRTU received communication by the Ministry through which we have been
informed that the One-Way System was on a one month trial period which has now
elapsed and will not be made permanent as following monitoring it became evident
that the problem is an enforcement one and should be addressed through
enforcement measures and not through a one-way.

GRTU
sent a letter of thanks to the Minister for the cooperation we found from the
side of the Ministry.

Maltese enterprises should be given lower interest rates – GRTU was very
pleased to hear the undeniable confirmation from the Governor of the Central
Bank himself who insisted that lending rates practiced in Malta are the fourth
highest in the euro area. Maltese SMEs are facing lending rates that are far
higher than those faced by their counterparts not just in Luxembourg but also
in distressed countries Spain and Italy

SME
lending rates in Malta are not in synch with the MRO. The rates in Malta are
higher than the euro area average even if the latter is biased upwards due to
stressed countries. The spread between SME lending rates in Malta and MRO rates
was at 2.3% before 2009 and widened to 4.9% by the end of last year.

The
Governor further backed GRTU's claims that what we need is a Development bank.
GRTU has been insisting with the Government and at MCESD that setting up a
Development Bank is a priority.

GRTU
President Paul Abela reiterated GRTU's long standing argument that both bank
interest rates and bank charges are excessive,       especially on the smaller enterprises that
have less negotiating muscle.

Banks
are still increasing their charges with a relatively recent development as an
example by HSBC where it had introduced charges on internet baking to the
private sector. The Bank had saved money when it closed some branches and
pushed businesses to go online to affect their banking needs.

Governor
Bonnici stated that bank charges in Malta are higher than in many other places
and that one would have thought that with the changeover to internet banking,
charges would be lower, but that has not been the case.

In
Luxembourg banks reduced costs of internet banking to encourage people to
switch over to internet banking. Not in Malta. In Malta banks charge you even
to transfer your money between your own accounts because more than one bank is
involved.

The EU
is also looking closely into bank charges and the European Commission has
already issued Communications that should result in curbing abuses in this
regard.

The Malta-EU
Steering and Action Committee (MEUSAC) together with the Ministry for Finance
(MFIN) will be organising a consultation session on a ‘Proposal for a Council
Directive amending Directive 2006/112/EC on the common system of value added
tax as regards a standard VAT return'.  

This
consultation session will focus on a system that has two main objectives: to
reduce obstacles to cross-border trade and to reduce burdens on domestic
businesses in order to support growth and competitiveness.

Should
you be interested in attending kindly register at by not later than Tuesday, April 22, 2014 at noon.

The consultation session will be held on

Wednesday,
April 23, 2014 at 2:30 p.m.

at
MEUSAC, 280, Republic Street, Valletta.

Malta
Enterprise invites interested parties to participate in a B2B networking
session organised in conjunction with the Confederation of Indian Industries
(CII).  Besides representatives from the
CII, Indian companies from the following sectors will be present:- education
and training, engineering and construction, 
engineering services, iron and steel and electrical machinery,
pharmaceuticals and healthcare and fire safety.

The
participating Indian companies are also interested in collaborating with
Maltese companies to explore together trade and investment opportunities in
Malta's neighbouring countries.

Time:           14.00 hrs onwards

Venue:          Malta Enterprise, Pieta`

To
register for the event and for more specific information about the
participating companies please contact Malta Enterprise on 2542 0000 or via
email .