Author: SME Chamber

GRTU's Director General and EESC Employers Representative Vincent Farrugia took a prime role in this week's EESC Single Market Production and Consumption (INT) Section – on the new EESC Opinion on Audit and Procurement. Vincent Farrugia was one main speaker emphasising the main points in the Opinion he drafted on eProcurment:

 

1. Implementation of an inter-European e-procurement framework is a cornerstone for the proper functioning of commerce within the internal market

2. deployment of e-procurement up to local public administration level is to be considered as an important policy instrument as e-procurement:

a.  reduces cost for business and public admini stration;

b. results in a streamlined procurement process,

c. results in greater transparency

d. is a vehicle to the further attainment of an information society.

3. e procurement is a channel that enables public procurement policy to be carried out more efficiently, effectively and economically.

4.   Ensure that while no activity by any individual Member State is affected that further endangers the achievement of the desirable target, action is actually implemented that furthers the implementation process over an agreed time-frame of an approved cohesion approach.

5.   An implementation monitoring mechanism is introduced to review progress, barriers, corrective action et al with regards to the introduction of e procurement within Member States.

6.   Encourage Member States to seek innovative solutions to overcome business procedures and language issues.

7.   It is imperative that the work resulting from the review of the public procurement and the e-procurement frameworks respectively is directed to unleash SMEs and micro-enterprises ability to compete in an e-procurement environment.

8. SMEs are assisted either through direct capacity building initiatives, setting up of e procurement Facilitating Support Centres by national, regional contracting authorities or constituted bodies representing SMEs through national and EU financing – to ensure that SMEs and micro-enterprises embrace and leverage e procurement.

GRTU has today held a very successful and well attended meeting for all its members who have some kind of interest in the post-war Libya both if they were present in Libya before the trouble started or if they have never set foot in Libya.

 

GRTU believes in the importance of the Libyan market now like never before. From the vast experience GRTU representatives have in Libya GRTU can easily say that there are new opportunities in the new Libya specifically because it is different from the Libya before the war and business is slowly getting to be more transparent and healthy.

Mr Mario Debono, GRTU Council member heading the Libya initiative, provided participants with plenty of valuable and current information. Mr Debono, who has several years experience in the country, is today leading GRTU's initiative, signing agreements on behalf of GRTU with the Misurata Chamber of Commerce and the Libyan Businessman Council and helping GRTU assist Maltese businesses interested in Libya.

Mr Debono reported on the state of Libya today both economically and socially and explained how, if the approach is right, Maltese businessmen can achieve success in Libya. Mario Debono together with GRTU President Paul Abela have just returned from a business delegation to Libya which had very specific target areas.

This latest experience helped the GRTU go into detail about the business opportunities that exist, what investments are urgently needed and what would the Libyan people be interested in.

Imminently GRTU will focus on the four most important areas at the moment:

The food sector, including food handling and preparation

Construction services in its widest terms

General services (Finance, personal investment, insurance, etc…)

Maritime services

However no sectors will be excluded and therefore we will go into detail of all the interests, capacities and capabilities of our members. GRTU will be leading sector specific delegations, coaching members in their approach, helping in finding partners and making contracts and the required basics such as background research, visas applications, access to finance, setting up, etc…

A GRTU Libya Committee has been set up and GRTU is calling for interested members to form part of the Committee which already has a number of members. Interested enterprises can contact the GRTU Internationalisation Desk Ms Abigail Mamo on 21 232 881.

GRTU would like to extend an invitation to you for an exclusive one bedroom 'EXPO Hotel' at the HSBC Malta Property & Homes Expo.

DAAA House and their Italian partners CLOU and BARRISOL will be showcasing their creativity by designing and developing the innovative Expo Hotel. The stand re-creates spaces typically found in hotels including; a small reception, retail area, a one bedroom suite and lounge bar with a distinctive creative flair synonymous with DAAA HAUS.

Fri 13th April – 18.00-22.00

Sat 14th & Sun 15th April – 10.00-13.00 & 15.30-22.00

MFCC Ta` Qali

Should you wish to meet the Italian partners, they will be available for meetings and consultations throughout the three day event.

 

The Internal Market Committee of the European Parliament (IMCO) has voted recently on its report, which contains an article that can have very negative consequences for the participation of SMEs in the European standardisation process.  As the file is currently being discussed in the Council called on the Maltese Government's intervention.

 

Annex III of the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on European Standardisation COM(2011)0315 – C7 0150/2011 – 2011/0150(COD)) sets the requirements that the European stakeholder organisations should  meet in order to be eligible for the financing by the Union.

The draft regulation, in its original version as proposed by the European Commission, stipulated that a European SME stakeholder organization should be mandated by non-profit organisations representing the relevant stakeholder category "in at least two thirds of the Member States".

Amendment 110 of the IMCO report modifies the above requirement only for the organisation representing SMEs, making this much more demanding than before: the European organisation must be "mandated by non-profit organisations representing the majority of SMEs in all Member States".

If this text is adopted this will have extremely negative consequences. The three most relevant ones being:

a) no European SME organisation would be able to fulfil the criteria

b) no financing for the representation of SMEs in standardisation

c)  no representation of SME-specific interests in standardisation at EU-level

GRTU therefore asked the Maltese Government to reject the amendment 110 of IMCO, in order to go back to the initial Commission proposal.

The Malta Council for Science and Technology will be organising an information session on the Horizon 2020 Programme. Horizon 2020 will be the new EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation.

The Programme will run from 2014 to 2020 with an €80 billion budget and aims to implement the Innovation Union, a Europe 2020 flagship initiative aimed at securing Europe's global competitiveness.

The information session will be held on Wednesday 18^th April between 10:00 am and 12:00 pm. Mr Alan Cross, Deputy Head of Unit from the European Commission will deliver the main presentation.

Should you wish to attend this session, please send an email to

An Italian organization is looking for a partners in order to submit a project proposal under CIP ICT PSP 2012 under objective 3.1 'Digital Services for Smart Urban Energy Efficiency".

The project intends to test an ICT and services platform oriented to boost energy efficiency especially oriented at publicly owned buildings and installations. It devises a practical approach taking into account all steps needed in order to get saving in energy and cost.

The project involves several pilots at Italy, UK and Spain at moment.

Partner searches:

Energy Service Companies – Bringing business models that are measured in respect of all savings in the project

Cities/Building/Public Administrations – Providing both places where perform the actions of energy efficiency and the definition

Technology companies – Bringing ICT, control technology, and power generation systems

For more information please contact APRE Anita D'Andrea () or Chiara Pocaterra ()

Why did you become an entrepreneur? My vision to offer better IT services in Malta, 22 years ago, inspired me to become an entrepreneur. My father also inspired me to start my own enterprise since he was a self-employed person in a totally different sector, i.e. tile-laying.

How have you come to choose your line of business?

I was always an IT Savvy person, and I studied computer technology back in 1988. I started working as an IT Administrator with a company when IT was literally at it's infancy. The service provided by IT companies at that time left much to be desired, focusing only on box shifting. My ambition was to offer the best possible service in a newly developing industry.

Where did you go on your last holiday?

My last holiday was in Cyprus, Agia Napa, with my wife and my youngest kids. I enjoyed the food, the location and the people. I was impressed with how the village of Famagusta has been left after the invasion.

What is your earliest memory?

Going out with my family every weekend to different places in Malta, like Ghar Lapsi and Ghar Dalam.

If you could chose to be someone famous who would you be and why?

Bill Gates because I always admired how he manages to use the knowledge he gathers from people and turns it into a project or system that eventually makes him more money. Besides that, after he made himself one of the richest people on earth, he eventually dedicated his time to improve other people's lives, mostly those people that are more in need in the world.

Saudi Arabia's supreme council has formally approved a draft agreement between the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Government of Malta for the avoidance of double taxation and prevention of tax evasion concerning tax on income.

The Council-also known as the Majlis Al-Shura-met last Monday in Riyadh, and approved the treaty signed with Malta last January.

It is understood that the treaty provisions are based on the articles of the OECD model tax convention. The Malta-Saudi Arabia treaty will enter into force once ratification procedures applicable in both jurisdictions are completed. Malta signed a ‘Convention on the Avoidance of Double Taxation' with Saudi Arabia during bilateral talks held by Malta's Deputy Prime Minister and his counterpart in Riyadh in January.

Saudi Arabia is the largest member of the Gulf Cooperation Council with the most power and oil-based economy. The agreement should significantly boost bi-lateral trade and investment flows.

 

The meeting held today with the Contracts Department was called by GRTU following complaints we received from our members.
Graphic Designers cannot bid due to high thresholds – GRTU was approached by self-employed graphic designers complaining of a clause in a tender document they were interested to apply for: "The maximum amount of sub-contracting must not exceed 40 % of the total contract value. The main contractor must have the ability to carry out at least 60 % of the contract works by his own means."

 

This, GRTU argued, is prohibitive and heavily limits the participation of such micro service providers and self-employed because while being able to fulfill an important part of the tender requirements, their share still constitutes much less than the 60%. GRTU spoke especially for those micro and self-employed enterprises who's main operation relies most especially on their artistic ability and do not have the capital to invest in materials of production such as printing machinery.

In most cases the price of the art is much lower than the actual production, as such the 40% limit of the total contract value is prohibitive to the graphic designer, who is still able to deliver a finished product instead of submitting his own quotation.

The Contracts Department explained that they do see GRTU's point. They said that these specifications are not standard and are included by the body issuing the tender as it deems fit, and in other cases such clauses do make sense. The Contracts Department also explained that in any case if an interested bidder feels there is lack of fairness or transparency the bidder can ask for clarification and argue their case.

The contacts department however also confirmed that such thresholds are prohibitive to the participation of independent graphic designers and therefore they will guide the bodies issuing tenders in a way not to prohibit such bidders from participating. GRTU was pleased with this arrangement.

Sub-contracting to self-employed

The second point raised by GRTU was related to the "Statement on Conditions of Employment" accompanying a tender. The paper stated that "Tenderers are to ensure that self-employed personnel are not engaged on this contract. Non-compliance will invalidate the contact". GRTU members interpreted this as meaning that they cannot sub-contract to self-employed individuals and therefore felt they were unable to bid for the tender because they can supply materials but they must sub-contract to self-employed individuals to carry out the works. The Contracts Department clarified that the case GRTU is putting forward was not of engagement of self-employed but sub-contracting. Therefore there was no issue.

Compliance with Environmental laws

The last point presented by GRTU was that the Contracts Department ensured that bidders being awarded a contract were complaint with VAT regulations and any other regulations which ensured that only those abiding to Maltese Law were awarded tenders and therefore ensuring a level playing field. The GRTU however informed the Contracts Department that enterprises today are also abiding to very costly environmental obligations which also should be taken into consideration when awarding tenders.

The price put forward by a bidder who abides with his environmental obligations is certainly less than the price of a bidder who doesn't. Compliance with the Waste Packaging Directive by all importers is imperative under Maltese Law, therefore awarding contracts also to non-complaint enterprises does create an unlevel playing field and does encourage non compliance since the bidding price will be inevitably lower.

The Contracts Department immediately assured the GRTU that in no way is their intention to encourage non-compliance and therefore will immediately initiate talks with other Government Departments to see how this objective can be achieved. They explained this would probably be included as a clause in the tender document but discussions would have to be carried out to assess any impact this might have. GRTU was also pleased with this arrangement.