Enjoy this Christmas

GRTU warmly extends the best of
greetings to all GRTU members. This has been another successful year for GRTU
and our social enterprise initiative, Green
MT. The management structure of
GRTU continued to improve with more of GRTU executives specializing on specific
areas of importance for our members.
Our EU & International Support
Services ably managed by Abigail Mamo this year have once again continued to
improve. We continue to publish a highly effective and informative newsletter every
Friday evening: GRTU Newstring. The Newstring is by far Malta's best EU and Business information
electronic publication in Malta.

 More than 25,000 readers now regularly view the GRTU Newstring. The EU Desk has
now become specialist on all EU Communications, Green Papers and Proposals.
This background analysis serves also to support the work of GRTU's Director
General as Maltese Employers' Representative at the European Economic and
Social Committee (EESC) where he succeeds to raise and comment upon a vast
number of issues. Their work is also reflected and supportive to GRTU President
Paul Abela as member of the European Social Fund (ESF), Vice President Michael
Galea as member of the UEAPME Social Dialogue Project and other GRTU
representation at UEAPME, EuroCommerce and during the increasing number of
conferences held in Brussels
and other European Capitals.

The work of the EU & International
Desk is also reflected in the growing number of direct services to individual
members and section committees seeking services or having interest in doing
business with foreign countries, funding and incentive schemes amongst others
and in the number of opinions and papers GRTU now presents to practically all
Ministries and Authorities in Malta.
This Desk also is the main producer of official documents on all major GRTU
events, conferences and proposal for Budget and other schemes of consultation.
This year GRTU was more active at EU level than ever before and our standing as
Maltese Employers Representative of EESC and at ESF as well as our active
pressure at Euro Commerce and at UEAPME has given GRTU a positive reputation
with all EU institutions at EU level in general.

The Localities Support Services is
another growing important part of GRTU management. GRTU through Carmen Borg's
unit now handles all major issues at locality level faced by our growing
membership in each locality. The issues handled react out from traffic
management, special locality events, and municipality support service and
issues of individual concern to businesses in the community. Many members here
benefit from individual support for their business and guidance on specific
matters.

The Environment Compliance Services have
constituted a great innovation within GRTU over these last years. Through the
formidable Green MT team, GRTU now handles the environment
and recycling compliance issues of thousands of enterprises. Under the capable
leadership of the Green MT CEO Joe Attard, the Green MT and GRTU team today are
the main voice of the enterprise on all issues related to the EU Waste
Management Framework.

The general Membership Support Team
under Elizabeth Said remains a reliable and exceptional part of GRTU Direct
services support. This is the Unit which is in constant daily contact with
GRTU's membership base, filing in complaints and issues for the rest of the
GRTU team to analyze and seek solutions and representation to resolve
identified problems.

This administrative team lead by young
yet dynamic Bernice Cutajar does the miracles. The bulk of issues and sheer
volume of paperwork and electronic communication that GRTU has now to handle is
exceptional, yet this team keeps producing results of increasing quality.

In Malta GRTU is probably the most
effective business representative organization recognized repeatedly by the
Prime Minister Hon. Lawrence Gonzi and by all leading Ministers more especially
by Hon. Tonio Fenech Minister, Hon George Pullicino, Hon Mario de Marco, Hon
Chris Said, Hon Dolores Christina and Hon Jason Azzopardi Minist. GRTU's relationship
with these Ministers is strong, regular and extremely fruitful.

This year we also faced tremendously
annoying and grossly unfair criticism from those green with envy at our
successes and from those who still look down on the people we represent, the
owners of small businesses and the self-employed. But GRTU has learned to live
with all of this. 2012 was a good year for GRTU and a good year for the
enterprises we represent. It could have been a year that further dipped our
economy in a second round of recession. It did not happen. Malta is one
spot in the whole EU system that can fell relatively good at the end of 2012
and look forward for a happier 2013.

GRTU did a great job this year. The
results show this will be explained in detail during our AGM this January when
GRTU Director General Vince Farrugia will present the Annual Report. A year of
tremendous work that only a formidable organization can master.

To all at GRTU, to all our members and
supporters and to all the consumers of our members, the Newstring team wishes a
Happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year.