Author: SME Chamber

GRTU,
represented by President Paul Abela, Deputy President Philip Fenech and
Executives Abigail Psaila Mamo and Carmen Borg met the Minister for Foreign
Affairs Hon George Vella and Permanent Secretary Mr Joseph Cole, for a cordial
introductory meeting.

GRTU
explained the role GRTU has as a Chamber representing SMEs and that
international relations are today very important for our members. GRTU's
members are looking at expanding beyond the limitations offered by the Maltese
market not just to the EU market but to the international market. GRTU today
welcomes business delegations and accompanies members of trade missions in
order to help them in their efforts to expand their business prospects. GRTU
therefore emphasized the importance that it is involved in efforts in this
regards as it has a lot to contribute and members have a lot to gain.

The
Minister said that Government had initiated a process of pooling of resources
so that countries are targeted better and the target is more focused. He
immediately welcomed GRTU's offer of collaboration and assured us that GRTU
will be involved in Government's efforts. The interest of his Ministry was also
that the Maltese businessmen derived as many benefits as they can from Malta's
relations with EU and non EU countries.

GRTU
also enquired on what is called a State of Forces Agreement (SOFA) Agreement
with the US. The Minister said that Malta currently enjoyed very good relations
with the US and the status quo should be maintained. GRTU mentioned the
positive economic effects ships coming into Malta have and this was
acknowledged by the Minister. The Minister explained that he had as yet
encountered no reason to decline entry of ships that requested entry into Malta
and explained the issues that concerned him in relation to a SOFA Agreement
with the US. 

EEN Malta is
promoting various brokerage events organised and/or supported by the Enterprise
Europe Network. Below are a few of the events for your perusal.

There are no
registration fees; only travel costs. Please note that around 50% will be
refunded by Malta Enterprise through the Trade Promotion Scheme, subject to
conditions. Further info may be obtained by visiting http://www.enterprise-europemalta.com/ or by emailing:

Brokerage event in Spain

Date: 3-4 April, 2014

Venue: Sevilla and Merida, Spain

Target sectors: TBA

Brokerage event in Luxemburg

Date: 18-19 June, 2014

Venue:  Luxembourg

Target
sectors:    Eco environment & energy; eco-construction
& sustainable development; e-mobility; machinery & metallurgy; ICT,
e-commerce & web-marketing; training & education; transports &
logistics; services to companies

A Mission for
Growth, led by the Vice-President of the European Commission responsible for
Industry and Entrepreneurship, will be organised in Wallonia, Belgium, on
February 18 and 19, 2014.

The
Mission aims at connecting Walloon SMEs to European companies active in the
same or complementary sectors by participating in networking and B2B
events.   Additionally to the B2B, in
order to allow foreign companies and associated EEN partners to discover
Wallonia activities in the targeted sectors, dedicated thematic visits will
also be organised.

This
Mission targets the following industry sectors, corresponding to the main
clusters in Wallonia:

For registration and further info, visit:

http://www.enterprise-europemalta.com

The Building
Industry Consultative Council (BICC) together with the Malta Competition and
Consumer Affairs Authority (MCCAA) will be organizing a seminar for all the
Architects, Engineers, contractors and professionals within the construction
industry for the official of the Euro Codes in Maltaa. Since this seminar is
free of charge all these professionals and building contractors are invited to
attend to this event.

A
foreign guest speaker Professor David. A. Nethercot is the main speaker.
Professor David A. Nethercot is a British expert in the Euro Codes. Other
speakers are the Engineer Francis Farrugia from the MCCAA, Professor Alex
Torpiano from the University of Malta, the Hon. Architect Charles Buhagiar M.P
Chairman and C.E.O of the BICC and the Hon. Minister for Social Dialogue,
Consumer Affairs and Civil Liberties Dr. Helena Dalli.

This
event is being held on Friday 31st January at the Aula Magna, Old University in
Valletta from 5.30pm onwards. It is important that those who intend to attend
should register on 2292 7933/4 at the earliest as reservations are limited.

The
pan-European job search network EURES would be strengthened to provide more job
offers, increase the likelihood of job matches and help employers, notably
small and medium businesses, to fill job vacancies faster and better, under a
proposal just presented by the European Commission.

The proposal would help
citizens to make the most informed choice possible when it comes to moving
abroad for work. "The Commission's proposal represents an ambitious step
to fight unemployment in a very practical way. It would help to address
imbalances on labour markets by maximising the exchange of available job
vacancies throughout the EU and ensuring a more accurate match between job
vacancies and job seekers. The reformed EURES would facilitate labour mobility
and contribute to achieving a truly integrated EU labour market",
Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, László Andor,
highlighted.

The
EURES job search network can be found at: https://ec.europa.eu/eures/

The submission
deadline for the 3rd edition of the "Sustainable Entrepreneurship Award" (SEA),
an international prize for companies applying sustainability criteria in their
entrepreneurial activities, has been set for 30th April.

The award consists of
two categories – Best Project and Best Idea – and goes out to companies and
individuals whose business model strives towards improving social, economical
and ecological issues in their global, regional or micro-local surroundings.
Projects can be submitted from around the world, national as well as
international companies from any sector and of any size are eligible to
participate. Winners, to be announced on 7th October, will receive a 10.000 EUR
reward to be invested in their current work or in a follow-up project.

Further information can be
found at: http://se-award.org/en

Participants will also have the opportunity to
participate in a brokerage session, whereby the representatives from Managing
Authorities and National Contact Points will be present in an adjacent room to
answer queries on a one-to-one basis. 

The
first EXPLORE session will promote EU funding programmes related to the culture
and the arts sector for non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and businesses
active in the sector, as well as local councils that are interested in
implementing ‘artistic' initiatives in their localities.

The EU
Funding Programmes that will feature in this session are:

Erasmus+

Creative Europe – Culture Sub-Programme

Creative Europe – Media Sub-Programme

A talk
about other national funds namely: the Malta Arts Fund, Malta Film Fund, Video
Games Fund and Kreattiv will also be delivered during the information session.
Personnel from the Malta Arts Scholarship and Valletta 2018 Foundation will
also be present for the brokerage session.

Should
you be interested in taking part, kindly fill in the form below and
reply on by not later than Tuesday, January 28,
2014.

The Europa
series €5 started circulating in the euro area on 2 May 2013. On 13 January
2014 Yves Mersch, member of the ECB's Executive Board, unveiled the second
banknote of this series, the €10, at a press conference in Frankfurt am Main.

The security features of this banknote were made public several weeks earlier
in a game that is still online. The new €10 will start circulating on 23
September 2014. The other banknotes in the series will be introduced gradually
over several years, in ascending order. The denominations remain unchanged: €5,
€10, €20, €50, €100, €200 and €500.

The ECB
and the national central banks of the Eurosystem are conducting an information
campaign about the Europa series, which includes a dedicated website. The
campaign aims to help the public recognise the new notes and their security
features. In April 2013, the Eurosystem sent information materials on the new
series and specifically on the €5 to professional cash handlers working in over
3 million shops and banks in the euro area. It will be doing the same for the
new €10 in 2014.

In
addition, the information campaign on the new €10 will include a Eurosystem
Partnership Programme to help banknote equipment manufacturers (BEMs) and
suppliers on the one hand, and their clients and users on the other, to prepare
for the introduction of the new banknotes. There are many advantages in
becoming a partner ahead of the issuance of the new €10.

Lists
are available on the ECB's website of banknote authentication devices and
handling machines which have been tested by the Eurosystem central banks and
been adapted to recognise the new €5 banknotes. Similar lists for the new €10
banknotes will be published in 2014 after the machines and devices have
undergone the same testing. Of course, the new €5 and €10 can also be easily
checked using the simple "FEEL, LOOK and TILT" method, as with the
first series of euro banknotes.

Details of the
list can be found at: http://www.ecb.europa.eu/euro/cashprof/cashhand/devices/html/results.en.html