Author: SME Chamber

Il-GRTU għadha kif ikkonkludit żewġ laqgħat separati mall-kandidati ghall-elezzjoni tal-Kap tal-Partit Nazzjonalista Dr. Adrian Delia u Dr. Chris Said. Matul dawn il-laqgħat il-President tal-GRTU Paul Abela spjega li l-għan ewlieni tal-GRTU huwa dak li jisalvagwardja l-interess tal-intraprizi ż- żgħar u medji li hu fl-interess tal-membri tal-GRTU li l-organiżazzjoni iżżomm linja ta’ komunikazzjoni miftuħa ma min ikun fil-gvern u anke l-oppożizzjoni bħala l-gvern alternattiv.

Il-President tal-GRTU Paul Abela, iffoka fuq żewġ sfidi ewlenin li qegħdin jiffacjaw l-intrapriżi żgħar u medji. Is-Sur Abela qal li Malta illum qiegħda fi kriżi għaliex l-intrapriżi Maltin iridu jaħdmu, jikbru u jinvestu u dawn qed jiġu maħnuqa għaliex ma jsibux nies b’min jaħdmu. Hawn ‘shortage’ qawwi ta’ riżorsi umani li qed jikkawża inflazzjoni fil-pagi u operat limitat.

Fosthom Paul Abela spjega wkoll li għad hemm problemi relatati ma’ ‘Access to Finance’ lokali għaliex għad hawn dipendenza assoluta fuq il-banek. Din hija problema li qiegħda ittellef lill-industrija u tnaqqas il-kompetitivita. Paul Abela spjega li bħala GRTU ilha snin tiddiskuti dan, u dan ukoll wassal biex jinħoloq il- ‘Malta Development Bank’.

Iż-Żewg kandidati wrew li huma konxji sew ta’ dawn il-problemi u flimkien mal-GRTU iddiskutew soluzjonijiet li jistgħu jiġu implimentati b’mod nazzjonali.

Il-President tal-GRTU irringrazzja liż-żewġ kandidati talli sabu ic-cans jiltaqgħu mall-GRTU u awguralhom kull success għall-elezzjoni. Paul Abela kompla jgħid li l-GRTU iħares il-quddiem biex jaħdem ma min ikun Kap tal-Partit Nazzjonalista.

GRTU acknowledges the issue there is with waste in Valletta, an issue that both GRTU and its members in the retail, catering and hospitality sector within Valletta want to see resolved. In fact, this has been flagged by businesses themselves on a number of occasions because businesses care about the capital city. They care not only because they walk in every now and again and are displeased with the waste they see on the street, but because they have their investments and means of living in Valletta. Waste left on the street gives a bad image of the capital city as a whole especially with V18 right around the corner. Such state, diminishes the attractiveness of the capital to visitors and reduces the value of any investment. 

The solution to this problem is not easy, but by no means impossible. Until recently a number of solutions, some very costly, were implemented but these did not give the desired results mainly because a piecemeal approach does not work.

With the appointment of Hon Deo Debattista as Parliamentary Secretary, responsible for cleansing, things seem to have taken a different turn and the will to do things differently is evident. As soon as GRTU was approached, in consultation and to ensure the cooperation of the business community, we gave our full support and commitment. GRTU has in fact, a few months ago, conducted a survey amongst 91 catering establishments in order to take stock of the current state of play. Amongst these only 8 establishments reported not having a private contractor. All the rest gave us the name of their contractor and the waste collection schedule. GRTU is of course not in a position to check the veracity of such claims, however the information provided is very encouraging.

GRTU does not believe that the problem will cease, simply by ensuring that all the catering establishments have a private contractor. When things look complicated many turn to the private sector to find a magical solution. The reality is far from that and that is why we believe that the waste problem in Valletta tackled collectively through shared responsibility. A capital city like Valletta needs to be protected more than other localities and a coordinated system is required. Currently there are at least 10 different contractors that GRTU knows of, coming in with their waste vans and trucks into Valletta at different times of the day.

GRTU has carried out an extensive consultation with its members to find solutions and we are pleased to say that we found common ground with Hon Debattista and we are now awaiting to be involved in the implementation stage. This will see collection times organised, off peak hours as far as possible. The biggest change will however be the quality of waste collection, which has deteriorated over the years, due to lack of controls and poor procurement practices.

GRTU therefore welcomes the new impetus to seriously tackle the issue of waste in Valletta and the establishment of an agency for the procurement of waste services in the locality in a professional manner. The business community is keen to see changes implemented in a holistic manner.

We are today enjoying an economy that is healthy and encourages investment. We are experiencing the long coveted economic surplus, something we should celebrate, appreciate and safeguard. GRTU acknowledges the role the last legislature has played in reaching an economic surplus but it also acknowledges the role played by the previous legislature and the role played by employers.

GRTU advocates that an election is always an opportune time to take stock of what has happened and it is up to the political parties to pledge to work in the right direction and improve. We should all learn from past experience and this is what GRTU is doing. With its experience of representing enterprises for 70 years, GRTU is presenting its own electoral manifesto, from a business point of view, as if GRTU had to be a political party contesting the general election and pledging its promises for the next legislature.

GRTU’s 33 proposals are well thought out and measured, they are all easily implementable and needed if the next legislature wants to stimulate business and improve the environment in which they operate. These proposals are essential for enterprise for government to truly be pro-business.

I invite the political parties to incorporate these proposals into their own manifesto to pledge their commitment to being pro-business.

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GRTU has today launched its full set of proposals for the 2017 General Election through its own electoral manifesto. GRTU President Paul Abela stated that its 33 proposals are being presented to the main political parties for inclusion in their own political manifesto as a commitment to be pro-business once they make it to government. Mr Abela noted positively that some of GRTU’s proposals have already been committed to by one side or both sides of the political spectrum.

• Key principles

Amongst the proposals are 5 key principles that GRTU is expecting to see implemented in the next legislature. The first one is that any agreement, falling within the MCESD remit, reached by social partners would be ratified by the government of the day. Another important priority is that the government shall not enter in direct competition with the private sector and shall not put public entities, NGOs and charitable foundations in competition with the private sector. ODZ found on public land is also a key principle with GRTU insisting that with government being the gate-keeper, for no reason should ODZ found on public land be developed. GRTU is also proposing the proper valuation of the price for ODZ not for it to carry a price tag but as an ultimate deterrent.

• The Institutions

GRTU is also proposing revisiting the powers our Prime Ministers have always enjoyed through greater democratization and strengths given to Parliament. This, GRTU believes is important for any government that wants to act according to the principles of good governance and limit chances of political interference. Through its proposals targeting the institutions, GRTU also called for an increase in transparency and fairness within the Planning Authority.

• Legislative amendments

Amongst the other commitments requested by GRTU are a crusade to eradicate unfair competition, a consultation that will lead to an ‘Accountability Bill’ for the civil service, the removal of audit requirements on micro companies, the immediate removal of SISA on tyres, tiles, aluminium, glass and personal care products and the reduction of electricity prices for the commercial sector by 30%.

• Taxation

On the taxation front GRTU has requested the rationalization of taxation whereby the maximum income tax on SMEs would be of 10%, for the 6/7 tax incentive to be reclassified to exclude those economic sectors where we have already reached market stagnation and the removal of the tax on business transfers both before death and after.

• Incentives and Measures

Amongst the incentives proposed by GRTU are and measures to alleviate package delivery costs to encourage eCommerce, the setting up of a Second Chance Foundation to address the stigma on failures and give entrepreneurs a second chance and the setting up of a Retail School to give the opportunity to a significant amount of our workforce skills recognition and the chance to take up a career in retail.

GRTU is alarmed by how the political uncertainty has engulfed all of our social and economic spheres of life and the results are very worrying. Numerous GRTU members have expressed their concern with the political situation with no conclusion in sight. On the contrary, GRTU is following developments with grave concern and the situation is increasing in absurdity fragmenting our social and economic fabrics.

Business is being negatively affected by the intense political tensions and the feeling that the election is round the corner has been lingering with us for weeks. Business is hit with every piece of sensational news and demonstration and this has now become the order of the day. The outlook is unsustainable in the short term. Consumer sales are hitting rock bottom all too frequently and business and investment in general is experiencing slowdown.

GRTU calls for the government and the opposition to shoulder their political responsibility towards the country and come out with an immediate solution to stabilize the situation and end the stalemate in the shortest time possible.

The current political crises and allegations do not do our country justice. We expect everyone, especially our institutions, to do their utmost to clear the air and go about things with responsibility. The results we are enjoying in our economy today are not just the result of the government’s work. Enterprises have worked very hard and we will not accept to have this progress thrown away and Malta’s goodwill tarnished.

Our country is calling for closure and stability.        

GRTU was one of the social partners who have signed the agreement on the revisions related to low income earners. The negotiations were very delicate and to-gether with the other employers’ representatives, GRTU made sure that any increases would not negatively af-fect the competitiveness of businesses.

The agreement signed amongst social partners ad-dresses the concerns presented to us by government and to which social partners took the brave decision to shoulder responsibility. The measures agreed upon in this agreement are purposely designed to preserve wage relativities and industrial relations, while address-ing social inequalities.

 

Malta has a national minimum wage, this minimum wage is legal and is there for a reason, there is nothing unlawful in workers entering employment on minimum wage. Social partners however agreed that minimum wage earners should not remain stuck on the minimum wage and therefore these employees will have their pay increased by Eur 6 per week over a period of two year following their first year of employment, starting January 2017. This will lead to a drastic decrease in workers being paid on the minimum wage.

Apart for this, the agreement also caters for another increase as a onetime increase in the COLA supplement amounting to Eur1 per week during 2018 and another Eur1 per week in 2019. This affectively means that minimum wage earners will have their pay increased by Eur 8/week in 2018 and another Eur 8/week in 2019.

As part of this agreement, social partners also under-line that a change in the minimum wage alone will not realistically resolve the poverty risk of many families, including pensioners and the labour market mechanism on its own cannot be expected to address poverty mat-ters. At enterprise level, wage levels are determined on the basis of productivity and competitiveness.

The social partners also suggested that specific measures targeting poverty are more effective in addressing the prob-lem without destabilising the labour market.

All Social Partners within the MCESD are aware that poverty is a social issue and conduct their functions – within MCESD and without – with a keen social conscience. These meas-ures underscore the importance of designing and imple-menting specific and targeted measures to address pockets of poverty, as against adopting wide ranging actions which risk destabilising the labour market, which can be wasteful since they may well end up channelling resources to indi-viduals/ segments which are not really at risk of poverty (e.g. raising incomes to relatively higher income earners to restore relativities). Such resources will be more efficiently used if they are directed in a focused manner to recipients who are the most afflicted by poverty and social problems.

 

In March 2016, the Maltese Government together with the private sector has set up the Mriehel Enterprise Zone Foundation, a Private Public Partnership (PPP). The idea initiated by the private sector was set up to give a makeover to the Mriehel Industrial Estate. Both the private and public sphere of this partnership will fork out equal amounts of investment to make the in-dustrial estate a state of the art business hub. Within this Foundation, GRTU will be representing smaller size operators through President Paul Abela, who acts as one of the members of the Foundation.

 

In this environment, GRTU organised a meeting with its members within the Mriehel Industrial Estate with the intention to involve SMEs actively in the feedback given to the board of the Foundation. The Foundation is very active at the moment and adjourns every two weeks.

During the meeting with its members GRTU CEO Abigail Mamo, discussed a number of issues and concerns which could be raised to the Foundation. Such as pro-posals for alternative parking zones, waste collection systems, storm water mitigation system and marketing proposals for the area, amongst others. Feedback from small businesses in the area to this cause has been very positive and enlightening.

GRTU has initiated progress in the interest of small busi-nesses. The organisation has been able to obtain a €50,000 contribution from Government towards the PPP, as a collec-tive sum contribution by small businesses. GRTU is of the opinion that small businesses do have interests in the area especially since the market price allocated to the area is ris-ing. Therefore, due to the involvement of large stake-holders, it is in the small businesses’ interest to remain up to date and active stakeholders. GRTU will be speaking to indi-vidual businesses separately to gather their feedback and create a separate sub committee. This committee will be represented in the Foundation’s Board through President Paul Abela as one of its members. The intent of such a com-mittee is to integrate the interests of small businesses in Mriehel which collectively will become proactive players to the agenda setting of the Foundation’s board.

GRTU has signed a shareholders’ agreement with the Water Services Corporation to develop two solar farms to be utilised by the commercial sector on the Corporation’s land. Through this agreement a company has been es-tablished with the name of Malta Energy Ltd.

Minister Konrad Mizzi responsible for energy and water conservation exclaimed that the two solar farms will be constructed over reservoirs at Ta’ Cenc in Gozo and an-other in Mellieha in Malta.They will jointly generate a minimum of 1 megawatt of electricity.

 

Minister Mizzi also noted that the recent renewable en-ergy projects, including the communal PV farm scheme, the Water Services Corporation will be making optimal use of its assets for renewable energy. This measure is envisaged to contribute to Malta’s 10% of renewable en-ergy, country specific requirement target by 2020. Minis-ter Mizzi also mentioned that the Ministry and its entities are working very well with the GRTU, which organisation is also currently the promotional partner in the Energy.

GRTU has signed a shareholders’ agreement with the Water Services Corporation to develop two solar farms to be utilised by the commercial sector on the Corporation’s land. Through this agreement a company has been es-tablished with the name of Malta Energy Ltd.

Minister Konrad Mizzi responsible for energy and water conservation exclaimed that the two solar farms will be constructed over reservoirs at Ta’ Cenc in Gozo and an-other in Mellieha in Malta.They will jointly generate a minimum of 1 megawatt of electricity.

Minister Mizzi also noted that the recent renewable en-ergy projects, including the communal PV farm scheme, the Water Services Corporation will be making optimal use of its assets for renewable energy. This measure is envisaged to contribute to Malta’s 10% of renewable en-ergy, country specific requirement target by 2020. Minis-ter Mizzi also mentioned that the Ministry and its entities are working very well with the GRTU, which organisation is also currently the promotional partner in the Energy

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