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Tag: covid-19

Balance and Sensitivity should be our priority to survive the current crises – Initiatives for Valletta are not events

Posted on by SME Chamber

“Initiatives for Valletta are not events”

Valletta businesses have had a very bad year due to Covid, much worse than that experienced in any other locality. A good number have had to close and let people go. Calling it a day is a very hard decision, and the repercussion of such decisions and being very underestimated today. Waking up not having a job to go to is a very harsh reality with devastating effects on the person and the family.

The Capital city is ideal for many reasons during the current times. It has large open-air spaces and in total Valletta covers a significant area. People are still finding ways to enjoy the outdoors and Valletta is currently safe and under-utilised. Highlighting this function of Valletta and giving the families, seeking to enjoy some quality time safely, a small token of encouragement in terms of free parking is very balanced and sensitive in the current times.

Hopefully a solution through the vaccine is fast approaching and one will be able to return to an increased level of normality, however in the meantime we must be balanced and sensitive to avoid severe repercussions.

People want to go on living their life safely and it is the duty of the Government to provide such a space with the best possible conditions to do so. It is also the duty of the Government to sustain Valletta and private operators in this great time of need.

No Notte Bianca or event-like activity was announced yesterday. Some Christmas lights and kids choir can hardly be referred to as an activity, let alone an event. The Health Authorities have been consulted and there are clear protocols that must be followed. Apart from this everyone has his own responsibilities to follow and the authorities have their important function to address anyone acting in disregard. A few bad apples cannot steal away everyone else’s enjoyment of the Christmas spirit.

Needless to say the SME Chamber is categorically against any irresponsibility and breach of health regulations. Health and the economy are not against each other. Quite to the contrary they go hand-in-hand and we will continue being against any attempts to upset this balance from either side.

Covid-19: Masks made mandatory outdoors, bars to close at 11pm

Posted on by SME Chamber

Masks will be made mandatory outdoors and bars and clubs will be ordered to shut by 11pm in a new wave of measures intended to slow down the spread of COVID-19.

The measures impacting establishments will come into effect on Monday. Those not wearing masks in all outdoor public places will be fined from October 24.

Addressing the news conference, Prime Minister Robert Abela described this as a critical time in the country’s fight against COVID-19.

EY to hold virtual event discussing Malta’s post-COVID-19 future

Posted on by SME Chamber

Future Realised Week will take place over four days from 20th to 23rd October 2020

Former European leaders, futurists, investors, CEOs, academics and NGOs from Malta and the world will gather virtually in October to discuss how Malta can get the next 10 years right.

Future Realised Week replaces what was previously known as the EY Annual Attractiveness Event and will take place over four days from October 20 to 23. It is free to attend and open to all.

Organised by multinational professional services network EY, the event is intended to trigger new ideas, challenge perspectives and explore different possibilities for Malta post-COVID-19.

For more information and to book your free place visit: www.ey.com/mt/futurerealised

Malta Chamber of SMEs presents 19 proposals for a Covid 19 Budget year

Posted on by SME Chamber

“SME Chamber calls for a Budget of strength to sustain businesses through the Covid crises and beyond.”

Photo: timesofmalta.com

 

The Malta Chamber of SMEs has published its full set of 19 Budget proposals that mainly focus on the required urgent response mechanism to counter the effects of the Covid 19 pandemic on businesses.

In his foreword, the SME Chamber President Paul Abela states that 2020 is nothing like what anyone expected and will be remembered as an exceptional year for all the wrong reasons. Mr Abela also explained that businesses had hoped for greater stability in 2020, after Malta had gone through very turbulent months at the end of 2019 and later saw the election of Dr Robert Abela as Prime Minister. Unfortunately, Covid 19 did quite the opposite. 

Lack of confidence, lack of stability and great uncertainty have been with us for close to a year now when considering also the political instability that we closed 2019 with. Businesses have been hit very hard and Malta is still not rid of Covid and will not be for some more time. Budget 2021 must guarantee a financial package that will see businesses through the Covid period and help them rebuild their strength to be able to sustain the Maltese Economy independently again.  

 

Below are the highlights of the set of proposals being put forward by the Malta Chamber of SMEs: 

REDUCTION OF INCOME TAX ON BUSINESS TRADING INCOME

To 20% for the first Eur 100,000 in profits, to leave increased liquidity in the pockets of businesses 

 

LOWERING THE VAT RATES ACROSS THE BOARD

10% from the current 18% and extending the special VAT rates for businesses that have been hardest hit by the pandemic. Similar to what other countries have done, lower VAT rates will encourage increased consumption 

 

REMOVAL OF SISA

An unfair and hidden tax on consumption. SISA removed for all goods that do not carry the excise identifying marker 

 

COVID WAGE SUPPLEMENT

Extended till March 2021 to give businesses pradicability 

Reintegrating a number of business sectors on the original wage supplement 

Give the possibility to employers to integrate critical staff in the Wage Supplement system to replace employees that have left and not made redundant 

 

RELAUNCHING THE VOUCHER SCHEME

Redistribution of another round of Eur100 vouchers 

 

INCREASED BANKING SUPPORT  

Extending the moratoria on bank repayments for an additional 6 months in the form of a partial moratorium 

Interest rate subsidy of 2.5% to be extended to all loans linked to new investments 

 

NEW EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING SCHEMES

A full financed training scheme that will incentivise the business to keep employees on and rather than staying unproductive 

A re-employment grant scheme where employers that employ someone who has over the last months been made redundant due to Covid would be assisted by covering Eur 500/month of the wage for one year 

Strengthen the Get Qualified scheme to encourage personal development 

 

E-COMMERCE SUPPORT SCHEMES

A grant scheme that would help businesses cover costs linked to the successful execution of a website which are beyond the cost of building a website per se 

 

EXTENDING MICROINVEST BENEFITS 

Extending the cash conversion possibility of MicroInvest from 30% to 50% up to a maximum of  Eur 5000 insteatd of Eur 2000  

Extend eligible costs covered by MicroInvest to cover Covid consumables such as disposable and reusable masks, disinfection and fumigation services and sanitizers 

 

NO BUSINESS SUCCESSION TAX ON CAUSA MORTIS

 When a business stays within the immediate family.

 

IMPROVING THE ACCESSIBILITY TO AND WITHIN GOZO IN A SUSTAINABLE MANNER TO PRESERVE GOZO’S PRISTINE NATURE

 

The SME Chamber’s Budget 2021 targets businesses and consumers alike, who depend on each other now, with the effects of Covid, more than ever. 

We thank the Prime Minister for his support and cooperation during this difficult year as the state support measures were crucial to avoid mass business closures and unemployment.

Wage supplement, COVID-19 vouchers extended to October

Posted on by SME Chamber

SME CHAMBER WELCOMES THE NEWLY LAUNCHED AND EXTENDED AID INCENTIVES TO MITIGATE THE IMPACT OF COVID ON BUSINESSES 

The Malta Chamber of SMEs greatly welcomes the newly launched rent subsidy scheme for self-employed and businesses. The SME Chamber was the main business representative that has been campaigning incessantly for the government to support enterprises with their rental costs.

The first time the scheme was announced way back in June, the SME Chamber had expressed its disappointment that Eur2,500 fall short significantly and will have little impact on businesses needing help with accumulating rental costs. Since then, the SME Chamber has continued actively working with the authorities and insisted that the scheme should be widened to cater for businesses according to size. We therefore greatly welcome the improved announced scheme that on its own can reach up to Eur 7,500 in aid to businesses.

The SME Chamber also expresses its satisfaction with today’s announcements that two main pillars in government’s enterprise support strategy are being extended. The Wage Supplement and the Voucher Schemes were two essential measures that have kept the majority of businesses afloat during these difficult times. The SME Chamber also appreciates that this comes before the 2021 Budget that should then announce further support measures beyond this period.

In its Budget proposals the SME Chamber is specifically asking for an extension of the Wage Supplement till March 2021 and for another round of vouchers to be issued under the voucher scheme and extended for consumers to be able to spend it till December 2020.  The SME Chamber is expecting the situation to stabilise more as of March of 2021 which is till when it is envisaged that businesses will require support.

The Malta Chamber of SMEs thanks Hon Silvio Schembri as Minister for the Economy and Small Businesses as well as Mr Kurt Farrugia as Malta Enterprise CEO, for their support during this challenging time.

SME Chamber discusses rent proposals with Minister Ian Borg ahead of next week’s Covid Busget

Posted on by SME Chamber

Malta Chamber of SMEs President Paul Abela and CEO Abigail Mamo this morning met Hon Minister Ian Borg, the Hon Parliamentary Secretary Chris Agius and the Lands Authority Chairman Lino Farrugia Sacco and CEO James Piscopo to discuss important matters related to the immediate support businesses need with regards to rent.

Piling rental costs represents one of the main concerns that businesses are experiencing in this precarious time of Covid. Preserving businesses’ current condition and not let it deteriorate further until the economy starts improving is where urgent government support is necessary. Expenses accumulating during this time will take very long to recuperate making the recovery of businesses longer and more difficult.

SME Chamber President Paul Abela said that ‘as an SME Chamber we expect the Government to recognise the responsibility it has towards saving business and should lead by example. The Lands Authority should be giving aggressive discounts at the moment that would see the tenant paying only a share of what is due for the time being’. We have to collectively realise that business is down across the board, with some sectors reporting figures of just 10% turnover compared to the norm. The same expectation goes for the Malta Industrial Parks that should also be leading by example.

This will give out a very important message on what changes are needed in rents including the private sector. Specific schemes should be made available for landlords to encourage a burden sharing approach where the landlord forfeits part of his/her revenue and the government subsidises another part, leaving the tenant with his/her share to pay. As an SME Chamber we are hopeful that next week’s budget will not leave this matter unaddressed.

During the meeting discussions also focused on extending current rental schemes to open opportunities to businesses in government owned property wishing to consolidate their position and invest in their establishment. It was agreed that a joint study would be undertaken to ensure a tailored approach given the current sensitive scenario that will lead to a nation-wide scheme for businesses.

 

67% of businesses suffer incomplete or close to a complete suspension – SME Chamber survey

Posted on by SME Chamber

COVID-19 IMPACT CONTINUES TO BE HEAVY ON BUSINESSES

Businesses show resilience but numerous concerns still threatening their survival

The Malta Chamber of SMEs has conducted a second study to continue assessing the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on businesses. As anticipated, just over a month into the pandemic, the situation has so far not improved much. Full implementation of the government support measures are eagerly awaited in order to start making a difference. The study was carried out between the 4th and the 19th of April and 360 SME respondents participated covering all economic sectors.

67% of respondents have indicated suffering what is a complete or close to a complete suspension, with over 75% of their business at a standstill. 10% from specific sectors claim that they are still fully operational. These include pharmaceuticals, food products, telecoms, ICT, construction, machinery and tools, corporate and financial services amongst others.

The primary concern for businesses remains wage costs. The main reason that this remains major concern is that the wage supplement has only started to be distributed. Furthermore, many businesses feel that their business should qualify for the full supplement when in fact it does not. Businesses are now opting for alternative solutions to decrease their losses and maintain their operations. 22% claim that they asked the Department of Industrial and Employment Relations (DIER) for approval on changes to that they made to working agreements with their employees. 12% claim that they have started redundancies to some degree.

24% of the respondents claim that they are concerned with late payments. In fact a tug of war seems to be developing between businesses saying that they plan to enforce credit terms while others are saying that they are stopping all kinds of payments. Whilst we appeal for businesses to be understanding and flexible during these extraordinary times, as an SME Chamber we also appeal to businesses utilize available schemes, including the Covid Guarantee Scheme (CGS). Once fully operational, the CGS will enable payments due to creditors to be made through temporary financing. In this way, businesses will be able to pay their creditors and encourage the functioning of the domestic economy.

Rents so far continue to be a major concern with 25% claiming that they would like to see some form of intervention. The measure of regulating banks to issue moratoria on loan repayments across the board should ease pressure on landlords. Undoubtedly landlords are worried about their own repayments, and therefore this courtesy should be extended to their tenants.

If things stay as they are only 19% of businesses see themselves making it beyond a further 3 months. Hopefully, with the full benefits of the intervention measures and moving closer to the aftermath of Covid, will mean that this percentage increases in the weeks to come. Another 19% is on the other hand is encouraging with businesses thinking of their current and future sustainability by indicating investing more in selling online as well as reinventing their products/services.

As an SME Chamber, our biggest concern is however on how the effects of Covid-19 are negatively affecting people’s mental health, both business owners and their employees. Around 45% of business owners and employees state that their mental health has been surely affected to significantly affected by the effects that the pandemic has had on their enterprises. As businesses representatives we are continuously working to help SMEs work their way through the current difficult months. We continue to strive to easy their worries by suggesting practical solutions as much as possible

‘Fostering workers’ initiative launched by Malta Chamber of SMEs

Posted on by SME Chamber

The Malta Chamber of SMEs has embarked on a “fostering workers” initiative of matching newly laid-off employees to available jobs and employers.

It informed members that while it was doing its utmost to get the government to SMEs the direct help they needed in these challenging times, they were aware that some had no other option but to start laying off people.

“We ask you to, where possible, hang in there and support your employees a while longer as the government is promising that the real measures we are asking for are not far away.”

In the meantime, it said, it was starting an initiative of fostering workers.

The chamber said very few sectors were doing well or still going on and might need or could afford to take on a bit of extra help. Whoever was in this situation should get in touch to save some workers from redundancies.

“A number of businesses have workers that are risking imminent layoffs and also vehicles and equipment that is available ready for use. The Malta Chamber of SMEs will help with the matchmaking,” it said pointing out that no one was looking to make profit out of this.

“The only aim is to keep workers in employment and help each other.”

Source: timesofmalta.com