Category: Press Releases

DR ROBERT ABELA WAS ELECTED FOLLOWING LAST SATURDAY’S GENERAL ELECTION

Following last Saturday’s election and today’s swearing-in of Dr Robert Abela as Prime Minister of Malta, the Malta Chamber of SMEs extends its congratulations and looks forward to continue working closely for this coming legislature.

Throughout the past 2 years Prime Minister Robert Abela always had an open channel of communication with the SME Chamber. The SME Chamber and Prime Minister have been working side by side during some of the hardest times our country has ever experienced for the benefit of the economy at large. We now look forward to continue building on this positive experience during the next five years.

The Malta Chamber of SMEs also congratulates all candidates on being elected as Members of Parliament.

The Malta Chamber of SMEs believes that the implementation phase of these proposals is key in order to achieve the desired results

The immense bureaucratic burden and impossible situations businesses have been facing in relation to access to banking services and compliance have only become more serious and counterproductive over the last years.

The Malta Chamber of SMEs has been highlighting its concern on the situation and how this was harming businesses and our economy. The SME Chamber was never against putting in place the required checks and balances. Over-regulation and burdening SMEs with the inability to work and waste of precious resources was never the answer, or a solution to any problem our country was facing. Access to banking services and the issue of the repetition of compliance exercises were main budget proposals from the side of the Malta Chamber of SMEs and we are therefore pleased to see them being taken up.

Apart from this, the SME Chamber also asked the government to intervene to protect corporate bank clients from the abuse of dominant position, from unfair treatment and the imposition of unjustified costs and charges. The SME Chamber still believes that while the cost of banking services is increasing exponentially, the quality of the service is not only not being elevated at par but continues going down in quality. Therefore, while paying much more for basic banking functions, SMEs are many times greatly unhappy with the level of service being given by the major banks. Regulatory surveillance and protection in this area is evidently missing.

The commitment made yesterday by the Prime Minister to give access to banking services to all businesses and centralise all compliance efforts across the country are greatly welcome. The Malta Chamber of SMEs also notes the positive remarks of the Leader of the Opposition in this regard. The Prime Minister’s commitment initiates a principle and a very important step to address Malta’s failures in the banking sector and give businesses guaranteed banking support.

The Prime Minister is also confirming that the compliance burden on businesses will not be removed but will be alleviated, as it should be. The Malta Chamber of SMEs believes that the implementation phase of these proposals is key in order to achieve the desired results.

The SME Chamber will continue supporting the business community and those implementing these important steps throughout this phase and will also continue working to have a healthy banking sector in Malta.

SME CHAMBER PROPOSES TO REDUCE THE VAT RATE FROM 18% TO 15.5%

A study conducted by the Malta Chamber of SMEs among 250 business owners  shows that 44% of SMEs in Malta expected their business to fare better this year.

The survey was carried out between the 10th and 27th of January amongst business owners. 17% replied that 2022 will be worse than 2021 while 39% replied that 2022 will be the same as 2021.

The press conference was addressed by SME Chamber Vice-President Mr Marcel Mizzi, Deputy President Mr Philip Fenech and CEO Ms Abigail Agius Mamo.

 According to the Business performance survey, businesses reported a better 2021 over 2020 but it was nowhere close to 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic hit.

Asked about their biggest concerns for the year, businesses said they were seriously concerned about the increases in costs, the prolonged uncertainty due to the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the uncertainty created by the impending general election.

In terms of financial constraints, businesses biggest concerns were sales levels, cash flow, problems with collecting payments, employee wages, banking issues and repaying deferred taxes.

Several businesses reported that they have suffered a difficulty in performance due to quarantine rules, as 13% reported that 30% or more of their employees were out at one go due to quarantine.

38% of the respondents remained neutral on whether they were satisfied with the overall business sales in the first few weeks of 2022. 20% and 15% responded being dissatisfied and very dissatisfied respectively. Despite this, an overwhelming 44% of the respondents believe that 2022 will have better results than 2021, factoring in better control of the pandemic and increased consumer confidence. 

Click here to download full survey results

During the same press conference, the Malta Chamber of SMEs has presented 5 key proposals that will address the biggest challenges facing our economy and businesses during 2022:

• Eliminate Excise Tax on Consumer goods such as Water, Non-Alcoholic Beverages and Toiletries. Eliminating this invisible tax imposed by our policy makers would leave Eur 5 Million in the pockets of local consumers during 2022, according to government budget estimates.

• Reduce the VAT rate from 18% to 15.5%. While safeguarding Government’s income, this measure would ensure that the Government would not be gaining out of the calculation of the VAT percentage on the inflationary increases. This leaves the difference in VAT in the pockets of consumers and businesses.

• Reduce quarantine leave, in accordance to the recommendation by the CDC, to 5 days for positive cases only. This would be followed by 5 days of mask wearing.

• Facilitate the employment of TCNs from countries that have a positive track record in terms of visa acceptance. The engagement of TCNs should be centrally administered by the government and fast tracked.

• Malta to lobby in favour of harmonised travel rulesin order to increase the level of confidence in travelling for private and corporate clients.

SME Chamber and its members look forward to experiencing it being led with the seriousness and commitment that is required and expected

The Malta Chamber of SMEs, in representation of a number of sectors directly dependent and affected by the Ministry for Education, amongst which licensed private educational institutions, wishes to pass on its congratulations to the new Minister Hon.Clifton Grima and Permanent Secretary Mr. Matthew Vella.

While auguring them all the success in their new role, the SME Chamber and its members assure them with their cooperation and commitment to drive the private education sector forward.

It must unfortunately be said that the Ministry has been marred by a lot of turbulence and this has made work and collaboration extremely difficult, with energy and initiative not achieving the desired results. Education is the most important pillar on which our society and our economy is built on.

As such, the SME Chamber and its members look forward to experiencing it being led with the seriousness and commitment that is required and expected. This will enhance the quality in this sector and we are fully committed to contribute in this regard.

The Malta Chamber of SMEs has full faith in the capabilities of the new Minister and Permanent Secretary. It is important that our policy makers at large invest in full in supporting the stability in this Ministry as its functions are crucial.

The Malta Chamber of SMEs firmly believes that both Hon. Dr. Clifton Grima and Mr.Matthew Vella are more than capable with improving the education state of affairs in Malta. Both Dr. Grima and Mr. Vella have always kept an open line of communication and closely collaborated with the SME Chamber with the aim of finding a workable solution for issues faced.

Many livelihoods depend on the well-functioning of the concession agreement

The Chamber of SME’s will continue consulting its members

The Chamber of SME’s, along with the Chamber of Pharmacies, have been in discussions with Government to enhance the Pharmacy Service even on Sundays.

This is no easy task. There are large logistical and other costs involved, and any enhancement of the service must take this into account. There is also a human cost in the equation to consider.

It is a known fact that the pharmacy service in Malta is one of the best, however, times change, and necessary tweaking is essential in order to improve an already excellent service.

The Chamber of SME’s will continue consulting its members and work towards an equitable solution that will ensure a fair compromise.

The SME Chamber supports the proposal presented by the Opposition to address Malta’s Insularity and market limitation

The Malta Chamber of SMEs has been highlighting the big problem Maltese businesses have with the inability to compete both outside Malta and in Malta itself, with online purchases. The weakness in being competitive with prices comes as a result of the high level of additional transportation costs that need to be accounted for as well the issue of economies of scale.  

 Malta’s economy has a number of handicaps, being a small island economy, that makes goods entering Malta much more expensive than that in any other country.   

 This problem has recently grown to a much bigger proportions at the close of 2020, with the cost of international shipping going up even by 10 times. Being a small island state Malta has no other option but to be reliant on imports by sea. Other countries have shifted more of their imports on land-based transport and have stronger manufacturing streams, making them less dependent on imports in the first place. Malta needs to address this problem in the short to long-term.  

Apart from this, Maltese Importers and Retailers have, at the same time, also been very negatively affected by Brexit. Malta’s small market does not justify the level of bureaucracy, and additional cost associated with it, for UK businesses to export to Malta. The deal the EU struck with the UK does not take into consideration Malta’s circumstances. This, in most cases, means that importers end up passing on the increase in costs to consumers. In some other cases it means losing the supplier they have been importing from for many years and removing products, that consumers have long become accustomed to, from the Maltese market.    

 The Malta Chamber of SMEs therefore supports the proposal presented by the Opposition to address Malta’s Insularity and market limitation. The SME Chamber has already presented the following proposals to address this serious problem in its Budget Proposals for 2022:  

Click here to download all proposals