Category: Archive – 2014

The Ministry for the Economy,
Investment and Small Business has awarded €100,000 in seed funding to groups of
innovators and entrepreneurs that will help them move their promising ideas
forward toward commercialization and creation of high-growth businesses in
Malta.

The TAKEOFF Seed Fund Award is
the first programme in Malta to focus on early-stage technology and start-up
development. The 2014 pilot of this programme aims to help move promising ideas
forward toward commercialisation and ultimately, creation of high-growth
businesses in Malta. Award funding helps to bridge the initial gap between
lab/patent/idea and market development, and provides support to innovators and
entrepreneurs when they need it most to increase the likelihood of success.

The TAKEOFF Seed Fund Award programme received 30 applications and shortlisted twelve teams
to ‘pitch' their ideas to the award programme selection committee. Nine teams
received funding ranging from €5,000 and €18,000. Award winners will work
closely with the TAKEOFF incubator team to advance their technology
commercialization and startup business development plans.

The TAKEOFF Seed Fund Award is a joint initiative
between the Centre for Entrepreneurship and Business Incubation (CEBI) at the
University of Malta and the Ministry for the Economy, Industry and Small
Business (MEIB), with support from TAKEOFF, the Business Incubator of the
University of Malta.

Start-up teams receiving TAKEOFF
Seed Fund awards are:

DiscountIF (€18,000): Start-up DiscountIF's e-commerce platform will disrupt the traditional
online retail market by combining the thrill of winning a bet with the value of
a discounts site, offering a unique buying promise.

Inbound Muse
(€18,000): Inbound Muse will produce artificial intelligence-based software that
helps businesses gain in-depth understanding and insights about their markets.

MightyBox
Games (€10,000): Digital games studio MightyBox is focused on developing games for the
music industry, producing titles closely attached to songs and musical artists.

Sanctuary
(€6,000): Sanctuary is developing a mobile, audio-visual tool designed to
provide meditative aid to terminally ill hospital patients.

eSports
Unlimited (€5,000): eSports Unlimited is a new web-based platform offering fantasy sports
leagues, betting, and results analysis services for professional video games
competitions (esports).

Proof-of-concept technology commercialization
opportunities that received funding are:

Rib Bridge
(€16,000): A University of Malta team has invented a novel ‘rib bridge' that
helps surgeons safely and effectively reconstruct chest wall after operations
to remove cancers and address traumas.

Ultrawideband
Antenna (€14,500): A University of Malta team has developed an ultra-wideband, ultra-low
cost antenna with large market opportunities in astronomy, mobile, radar,
broadcasting, aviation and earth observations.

WALNUT
(€7,500): A University of Malta team is developing brain-controlled music player
app for mobile devices.

HydroStorageSystem
(€5,000): A University of Malta team has invented a system that combines
offshore wind energy and deep sea water to produce low-cost onshore cooling for
large buildings.

TAKEOFF which is situated at Dar Ġużeppi Zahra, in the
heart of campus, is a start-up development space that helps innovators and
aspiring entrepreneurs create thriving technology and knowledge-based ventures.
By providing fledgling start-up companies with private and shared work spaces,
and most importantly, business support, advice and vital connections, the
TAKEOFF business incubator aims to lower start-ups' costs and risks and improve
their chances of success.

Non fulfilment of your obligations is a criminal offence – The packaging and packaging
waste regulations have been in place since 2006 and it is more than high time
that those producers/ importers who in any way place packaging waste on the
market complied to the legislation.

GRTU has been at the
forefront of  making sure that importers
and SME s who place packaging waste on the market comply to the said
regulations as it is not fair that a number of producers continue to fail to
meet their obligations or state that they are self complaint without in actual
fact doing anything at all.

Since 2006 a number of
initiatives were taken by the Competent Authority , MEPA to make sure that
‘free riders' become either members of 
Authorised Waste Compliance Schemes , or else actually effect self
compliance.  Despite these initiatives,
and although more could have been done, it seems that a number continue to
breach the said legislation which is in itself a criminal offence

GRTU continues to urge
producers who have faltered and have as yet 
either not joined a Scheme or effected self compliance to take the
matter seriously as those caught out of the loop will be penalised from date of
inception of the legislation, like many others have been already in the past.
There is no reason at all to stay outside the loop and in so doing making sure
that others share the burden or create unsustainability of the system. Further
more since ‘free riders' place packaging on the market and Schemes are
collecting most recyclables from  Local
Councils through grey bag collections and Bring in Sites, Schemes are actually
forking out funds for providing this service without being compensated for
collecting packaging waste emanating from these 'free riders.'

Breaching the legislation
can be very costly. Whilst being a criminal offence at law, there are financial
penalties which far outweigh the advantages of being a 'free rider'.

GRTU urges all those
producers/ importers who have as yet not complied to the legislation to meet
their obligations by either joining an Authorized Packaging Waste Scheme or
else self complying to the legislation. Of course doing so now does not release
any producer from facing penalties for past years since 2006 as stipulated by
the Competent Authority, MEPA. There were many producers who complied or paid
fees to comply to the legislation whilst to date many ‘free riders' take this
legislation with a pinch of salt and do not comply. It is high time they acted
and comply.

Green MT , is a fully owned
subsidiary of GRTU and operates an Authorized Packaging Waste Compliance Scheme
permitted by the Malta Environment and Planning Authority. Further information
of how to comply to the legislation by becoming a producer member of the Scheme
can contact our offices on 2149 6965 during office hours.

GRTU emphasises on the need of increased knowledge and guidance for businesses – GRTU
CEO Abigail Psaila Mamo this week took part in a panel discussion that
commented on the newly proposed Breastfeeding Policy.

The Breastfeeding Policy aims to raise breast feeding levels in the interests of mothers and
their children. Malta has amongst the lowest rates of breastfeeding amongst EU
Member States especially the level of continued breastfeeding after leaving
hospital.

The policy aims at encouraging mothers to breastfeed exclusively for
six months and then to continue for two years using breast milk and appropriate
supplements. This they say would lead to healthier individuals with lower
possibilities of becoming obese and suffering from high blood pressures and
cholesterol levels. It would also result not only in immediate  savings from not buying milk but also long
term savings in our healthcare systems.

The policy aims at making mothers
realise the benefits of breastfeeding and making it easier for them to continue
breastfeeding even when they go back to work.

Ms Psaila Mamo said that GRTU agrees
with the aims of this Policy but we want to discuss how we can get there when
it comes to the private sector. GRTU's position is that we support the
reconciliation of work and family life, most of the businesses we represent are
family businesses and therefore this is inherent to us. GRTU agrees that a
successful career can exist inparallel to family obligations and we are also in
favour of the increased employment of women. GRTU recognizes that such family
friendly measures also give a return to employers because employees are
encouraged to go back to work after maternity leave and stay in work. This also
could result in increased commitment and performance of employees.

GRTU is also of the opinion that
employers are already doing a lot. For a micro enterprise complying to
maternity leave requirements is no easy feat and we therefore should try to
alleviate the burden on business as much as possible. The approach GRTU would
accept is one based on knowledge and giving the correct information, not just
to parents and the public at large but also to businesses and their employees.
GRTU would also encourage communication between the employer and his employees
as employers need to be notified in advance that the employee would need
support also in relation to breastfeeding. In addition the approach should not
be to impose but to guide employers and help them understand that with some
minor changes they can be supporting employees and we must give them practical
and cost effective options. This is an approach GRTU would fully support.

The drafted legislation also seeks to
control the marketing of breast milk substitutes by stopping companies from
advertising products as breast milk substitutes and impeding these companies
from sponsoring or advertise in certain health-related events. GRTU feels that
as far as health centres, the  hospital and health events organized by
them are concerned they have the right to limit the involvement of the private
sector as they deem fit. We do however feel that it is excessive to regulate
private and independent advertising. This we feel would have insignificant
benefits and if we start regulating advertising like this to protect people from
the influence of the media there is no telling where we will stop.

The
consultation is open till the end of August and GRTU will be consulting its
members and presenting a position paper.

GRTU's
top officials have this week met the newly elected MEPs Dr Therese Comodini
Cachia and Dr Miriam Dalli. GRTU was very active in the run up to the European
Parliament elections and had emphasized on the importance of MEPs working close
to social partners to help them make informed decisions.

GRTU took immediate
initiative to express its satisfaction with the group of MEPs and the meetings
with Dr Dalli and Dr Comodini Cachia are the first introductory meeting held so
far. The meetings where both very positive, both MEPs showed great interest to
work with GRTU and stated they would be favourable to opportunities to carry
out joint consultation meetings for members.

At
this stage it is still very early and while the MEPs outlined to GRTU which
committees they are likely to be sitting on, most still needs to be confirmed.
GRTU explained the variety of business sectors it represents and how it works.
It also gave an overview of the issues we are currently dealing and how these
relate to the EU. GRTU emphasized that we regard our MEPs with high esteem and
we see them as a very valuable medium to get our message across and safeguard
the interest of our members. On the one hand GRTU communicates Europe to its
members and on the other hand it communicates the needs of its members to
Europe and MEPs could be of great assistance in doing this.

It
was agreed that bi-laterally GRTU and both MEPs will keep a constant
communication flow and would be meeting at regular intervals.  

The
expression of interest aims to provide traineeship opportunities, on a contract
for service basis, for registered pharmacists undertaking, or committed to
undertake, level 8 studies such as Doctorate of Pharmacy or Doctor of
Philosophy degrees, which course shall start not later than 1st October 2014.

This is
another initiative spearheaded by the Medicines Authority which aims to change
the approach between the various entities in this sector and focus on better
regulation of this important area which affects consumers on a day to day
basis.

Through
such initiatives, the Authority is taking its mission of protecting and
enhancing public health to the next level as it is creating an impact on the
future of pharmaceuticals in Malta with the provision of better equipped
professionals for the benefit of consumers. 

EASME, the
Executive Agency for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprise of the European
Commission has published a Call for expression of interest for setting up of a
list of coaches for coaching activities in connection with the SME Instrument
for innovation under Horizon 2020 (see attachment). The objective of this call
for expressions of interest is to set up a list of external experts, hereafter
called "business coach(es)". The role of the business coaches is to
provide business coaching and leadership development support to companies.

The
business coaches will perform their tasks within the framework of the Horizon
2020 SME instrument. The coaching support will focus on developing
organizational capabilities to equip the beneficiaries with the necessary skills
to ensure commercial growth based on the company's SME Instrument project.
Major responsibilities are, e.g. establish the client company's strategy, agree
a coaching work plan and deliver a programme of structured face to face
coaching to address barriers to growth (complete list see call).

Experts
shall be remunerated at a fixed price of 450 euros/day worked. In addition,
travel and subsistence expenses will be reimbursed under the conditions set out
in the contract. The activities shall be delivered in the premises of the
participating companies. Participation in the offered coaching support is
voluntary for SME Instrument participants.

Natural
persons are invited to submit an expression of interest in accordance with the
rules set out in this call. Expressions of interest should be submitted using
the EUsurvey tool by accessing the following URL:

http://ec.europa.eu/eusurvey/runner/businesscoachesSMEI

Interested
parties should provide their full contact details, a link (URL) to a publicly
available Curriculum Vita in English language, which is significant with
respect to the specifications as described.

Essential
Experience and Qualifications:

business coaches need to
have a proven track record of at least 5 years in managing a broad range of
business issues associated with high growth, proven experience in innovation
management within SMEs, a successful track record in coaching senior management
through the development of their company's vision and strategy;

personal track record in
coaching organisations and business leaders – coaches should demonstrate an
existing successful track record as a coach;

extensive network of contacts
with expertise in a wide range of business functions;

track record in managing a
range of business issues associated with periods of high growth;

evidence of having done
similar coaching work previously (at least three references or testimonials from
Chief Executive/Managing Director/Business Owner);

qualifications (including
membership of professional bodies).

The
coaches should demonstrate a good understanding of many of the following
business areas:

strategic planning and
innovative management;

leadership and
organisational development ;

new product development,
market development and internationalisation strategy;

IPR and IA;

financial management and
investor readiness;

business improvement
(processes and operational capability);

EASME will draw up a list of
experts who meet the criteria set out in the call. The list resulting from this
call is valid for the duration of the multi-annual programme Horizon 2020.
Interested parties may submit an application at any time prior to the last
three months of validity of the list.

Before
signing a contract experts shall provide a declaration on their honour stating
that they are not in one of the situations of exclusion listed in the call,
e.g. conflict of interest, bankruptcy, profession misconduct, judgement
concerning fraud, corruption etc.

If you
are interested to become a business coach in the framework of the Horizon 2020
SME instrument please submit your express of interest using the EUsurvey tool
by accessing the following link:

http://ec.europa.eu/eusurvey/runner/businesscoachesSMEI

The Technical
Regulations Division has declared that it is in the phase of amending L.N. 123
of 2005 Type of Approval Agricultural or Forestry Tractors Regulations, 2005 by
transposing the following Regulations:

Directive
2014/43/EU of 18 March 2014 amending Annexes I, II and III to Directive
2000/25/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on action to be taken
against the emission of gaseous and particulate pollutants by engines intended
to power agricultural or forestry tractors.

Directive 2000/25/EC
lays down the limit values for emissions of gaseous and particulate pollutants
to be applied in successive stages, and the test procedure for internal
combustion engines intended to power agricultural or forestry tractors by
reference to the provisions of Directive 97/68/EC relating to measures against
the emission of gaseous and particulate pollutants from internal combustion
engines to be installed in non-road mobile machinery.

Technical
progress requires rapid adaptation of the technical requirements set out in the
Annexes to Directive 97/68/EC and therefore that Directive has been amended
several times. It is therefore necessary to align Directive 2000/25/EC with the
provisions of Directive 97/68/EC as amended.

Directive 2014/44/EU of 18 March 2014
amending Annexes I, II and III to Directive 2003/37/EC of the European
Parliament and of the Council on type-approval of agricultural or forestry
tractors, their trailers and interchangeable towed machinery, together with
their systems, components and separate technical units

Directive
2003/37/EC sets up the type-approval system of agricultural and forestry
tractors, bringing it in line with the rules on type-approval of motor
vehicles.  Directive 2000/25/EC is one of
the separate directives in the framework of the type-approval system set up by
Directive 2003/37/EC.  Directive
2000/25/EC has been amended in order to include several modifications to
Directive 97/68/EC concerning adaptation to technical progress, introduction of
new emission stages, introduction of alternative type approval procedures and
implementation of flexibility schemes.

In the month
under review, the annual rate of inflation stood at 0.4 per cent, as shown in
Chart 1. A year earlier the annual rate was 0.8 per cent.

The main
downward impacts were recorded in the Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and
Other Fuels Index (-0.7 percentage points), the Transport Index (-0.3
percentage points) and the Communication Index (-0.1 percentage points). This was mainly due to lower electricity
rates, airfares and prices of mobile phones.

As more than a
third of bookings in the European hotel sector are already made via real-time
online channels, SMEs are very much dependant of their proper online
visibility.