Month: April 2021

The Malta Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry and AP Valletta have collaborated in a joint submission to the national consultation on the National Culture Policy 2021, as part of their extensive joint research project ‘Building Futures’. While broadly welcoming of the initiative, the submission calls for an overall governance shift of the architectural sector from ‘Works and Infrastructure’ towards ‘Culture’, while emphasizing the critical need to address the climate crisis through a cultural shift.

Addressing Malta’s planning shortcomings with revised policies alone merely addresses the superficial symptoms, rather than the underlying cultural causes. In line with Baukultur principles, The Malta Chamber & AP Valletta recognise that Building is an act of Culture and that therefore any policy aiming at supporting a cultural shift cannot restrict itself to the protection and safeguarding of cultural heritage.

It should therefore be the remit of the National Cultural Policy 2021 not only to preserve our heritage, both intangible and tangible, but to chart a vision for a responsible, civic, and inspired culture for tomorrow, which would ultimately address the contradictions between economic development and the environment, society, and quality of life. The Malta Chamber & AP Valletta advocate an approach that:

(a) questions firstly the relationship between culture and architecture;
(b) aims at testing processes leading to the definition of new parameters which will define the environment of the future;
(c) fosters multidisciplinary and collaborations among different sectors; and
(d) conveys the urgency of the need for sustainable alternatives in a direct way.

Click here to download the document. 

It is about unlocking drastic reductions in industry downtimes, creating new business models, and a better customer experience…

This was the recurrent theme during a Pitching Webinar organised by the Malta Chamber as part of Enterprise Europe Network, in collaboration with Tech.MT and Bank of Valletta during the second day of the virtual event entitled ‘Re-Engineering Manufacturing and Retail for the New Norm’.

The first of two pitching webinars taking place this month provided exposure for Malta-based technology solution companies, attracting the attention of investors and end users in manufacturing and retail industry about a distinct product they wanted to promote.

It served as an excellent opportunity to boost their visibility with future potential buyers and business collaborators, improving respective capability to grow and reach out to new local and international clients. Close to 200 business representatives from over 20 countries registered a profile till date, in the virtual platform published by the Malta Chamber in February. More expected to register in the run-up to the second part of the event on the 28th and 29th April.

5 successful applicants were assigned a brief timeslot to showcase and impress buyers with their distinct solution, assessed by 3 local leading experts.

A combination of technical and organisational challenges were showcased, including applicants in supply-chain management, digital payments, manufacturing operations management, plant maintenance, and enterprise resource planning for IoT platforms.

The pitching performers were:
• Alex Sun and Ron Mifsud from Connecton Marketing
• David Sciberras from Invent3D
• James Camilleri from Fyorin
• Foaad Mohamad Haddod from HumAIne Ltd
• Stefan Debattista from ShowsHappening

The three experts engaged by Malta Chamber and Tech.MT were:

• Mark Scicluna Bartoli, Executive on EU & Institutional Affairs section from Bank of Valletta:
• Gordon Micallef, Digital Consultant from RSM Malta:
• Johan Zammit, Founder and CEO at Smart Studios Ltd:

Tech.MT CEO Dana Farrugia opened the proceedings of the Pitching event by underlining the importance of these events to showcase economic-based innovation solutions towards value-added manufacturing and smart technologies.

Ms Farrugia explained how disruption is revolutionising our thinking, our operations and our production, aligning industry output with consumer expectations and enabling returns on investments.
The Pitching session was supplemented with an online session of one-to-one B2B pre-arranged meetings amongst the participants.

Thirty manufacturing operators, seventy service providers, fifteen stakeholders and ten EU funding entities registered in the event digital platform had the opportunity to meet each other during short network meetings to establish business collaborations.

On Wednesday, the Malta Chamber, active member within Enterprise Europe Network which brings together 600 business organisations from across 65 countries; kickstarted a virtual event bringing together manufacturing, retail and technology companies with corporate service providers, public bodies and academia to learn, meet and engage in the current economic recovery phase.

Within the strong line up of speakers, Mr. Norman Aquilina, CEO, Farsons Group and Malta Chamber Board of Management member, weighed in on the future of sustainable manufacturing. Mr Aquilina started off by noting that sustainable manufacturing must ensure that business models should not only feature environmentally friendly and socially responsible practices but must also be supported by economically sound practices.

Mr Aquilina elaborated on the concept of a triple bottom line approach, including Financial – Environment – Community. With this in mind, he shared practical and tangible examples on how businesses can embrace the competitive challenge by restructuring their business models to incorporate elements of innovation, a strong investment plan and smart upskilling of workforce.

Aquilina emphasised that adopting such practices are fruitful in terms of building long-term business visibility, strengthening corporate reputation and promoting circularity, three very important factors in todays ever so competitive business environment.

Close to 200 business representatives from over 20 countries have so far registered a profile in the virtual platform published by the Malta Chamber in February.

The learning and engaging platform is focused on realigning Manufacturing business activity, restructure operations, optimising the use of technology and identifying new markets internationally which embrace sustainable practices.

More companies are expected to register in the coming days, particularly Retail operators, whose focus will take place during the second part of the event on the 28th and 29th April.

A collaboration between Malta Enterprise and the Malta Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry will see start-ups benefitting from a new measure set to increase their visibility. The agreement, supported by the Ministry for Energy, Enterprise and Sustainable Development, is another measure in a string of initiatives announced in recent days.

The agreement will allow innovative businesses hosted at the Korradino Business Incubation Center (KBIC) to strengthen their network. Entrepreneurs will benefit from services, rights, and obligations resulting from a partnership with the Malta Chamber. This includes the opportunity to actively participate in internal committees, join the Young Chamber Network, meet established business people, and access international opportunities.

The Memorandum of Understanding was signed by Malta Enterprise CEO Kurt Farrugia, Malta Chamber President Marisa Xuereb and Deputy President Christopher Vassallo Cesareo. Minister Miriam Dalli presided over the signing ceremony.

President of the Malta Chamber Marisa Xuereb explained how these start-ups’ membership within the Malta Chamber will expose them to important contacts, knowledge and discussions in their respective industry.

“It will allow them to share their views and not just listen to what others have to say. I believe that this support is essential for these start-ups to grow in a business environment that, over time, is becoming more competitive, and to contribute to a better economic future that our country deserves,” Marisa Xuereb said.

“With one initiative after another, we are looking at strengthening the foundations for start-ups on four main pillars; access to funding through schemes, mentoring, access to information, and networking,” said Minister Miriam Dalli.

“Malta Enterprise has provided some €6 million in assistance to entrepreneurs under the BStart and Startup Finance schemes in four years. We will continue to encourage businesses to be innovative and continue attracting investment in different and innovative areas such as drones, fintech, AI, augmented reality, and digital gaming sectors.”

Mr Cain Grech, head of KBIC, explained how the hub currently hosts 13 companies operating in various sectors, including restoration services, digital game development, cosmetics, forensics, quality controls, and 3D printing, among others.

This agreement follows the launch of the Startinmalta initiative. Malta continues to strengthen the visibility of Maltese start-ups and attract new ones. Additionally, through the agreement between Malta Enterprise and the University of Malta, the TAKEOFF initiative will lead to new start-ups having the necessary knowledge to access different funds and schemes.

“We are in talks with Government to convey industry operators’ feedback on the re-engineering and transformation scheme, to build further on its sound basis and align it more to their needs.”

Malta Chamber President Ms Marisa Xuereb stated this during an Enterprise Europe Network event within an innovative digital learning and networking platform launched by Malta Chamber, focused on aligning manufacturing and retail businesses to the requirements of a New Norm.

The platform is aimed to help operators restructure their operations, optimise the use of technology and business operations by bringing them in contact with service providers and facilitate their preposition to penetrate international markets during one-to-one business meetings.

Close to 200 business representatives from over 20 countries have so far registered in the virtual platform set up by The Malta Chamber last February.
Ms Marisa Xuereb, explained the thought process behind the learning and engagement platform. She stated why the Malta Chamber has endeavoured to invest towards making best use of digital tools to continue providing value to its members during the pandemic, emphasising that the manufacturing industry needs to be clear towards where it is heading, by starting small but thinking big.

“The first ambition, which the Malta Chamber has clearly outlined in its Economic Vision towards 2025, is that of achieving smart economic growth within the sector. Through this learning and engagement platform we are responsibly showcasing what a company within the industry can do to achieve its ambitions within a New Norm. Essentially, we want the industry to embrace initatives and implement actions to design and build operating models around innovation and technological capabilities. We want our businesses to become knowledge-based enterprises, competing with cutting edge value-added manufacturing and reinventing service sectors such as retail and tourism”.

Ms Xuereb, a manufacturing operator herself, explained that even though our local industry proved to be resilient during the pandemic it is still a long way from reaping the full benefits of Industrial Internet of Things. She therefore underlined the importance of reacting to market changes faster and more efficiently by allowing adjustments to production capacity.

Ms Xuereb also acknowledged that the manufacturing industry, like the country, is in a race against time to achieve herd immunity against COVID-19 through vaccination. She explained that while remote working has provided many employers and employees with new possibilities, there are many jobs that do not lend themselves to remote working. In this spirit, she repeated the call made last week towards prioritising the vaccination of employees who cannot work from home.

“Initiatives such as workplace vaccination centres would make it easier for employees to get vaccinated and company doctors could assist in administering vaccines to get more people vaccinated within a short time frame. Such strategies would contribute to a more effective roll-out as workplaces have been consistently the second most common source of contagion after household contacts.”

Over the past months, both the public and the private sector had been calling on the Government to take the shortage of nurses seriously, even more so recently, since the UK was poaching foreign nurses working in Malta.

The Care Home Operators within The Malta Chamber proposed, among other recommendations, the reduction in bureaucracy being met with, when applying for work permits through Identity Malta. The duration of the permit, the substantial cost for renewals and the problems encountered when bringing their spouses and children to join them locally, were amongst the reasons several had decided to leave Malta, creating a huge problem in hospitals, clinics and care homes amongst others.

Following a decision reached between the Government and the Union of Nurses to allow for the provision of a three-year work permit for nurses employed in the public sector, representatives of the Care Home Operators Business Section met with Parliamentary Secretary Hon. Alex Muscat to discuss the application of these provisions to nurses working in the private sector.

Representatives of the Care Home Operators Business Section within the Malta Chamber made the point that the private sector alleviates the burden to the State when offering its services to the population, and many operators are also providing their service to the Government. Removing red tape in support of the public sector alone is unwarranted and will only result in foreign health care workers seeking employment within the Public Health System compounding the problem further for the private sector. Anything but an equal playing field is not acceptable.

The Parliamentary Secretary agreed to further discussion with Identity Malta on the issue of residency permits for nurses in the private sector. He further emphasised the applicability of EU legislation in the field of family reunification while promising to work within this framework to ensure that Malta offers competitive conditions for these workers.

We are in a race against time to achieve herd immunity against Covid-19 through vaccination. As the vaccine roll-out progresses, employers will be faced with new challenges.

In the first phase of the roll-out, priority was given to frontliners in addition to the elderly and the vulnerable. Vaccine uptake among frontliners was high, not least because these are workers who have witnessed loss of life due to Covid-19 and are fully cognisant of the risks of refusing vaccination. People who have not experienced loss or serious illness due to Covid-19 are more likely to underestimate the risks and hence be more hesitant about getting vaccinated.

While remote working has provided many employers and employees with new possibilities, there are many jobs that do not lend themselves to remote working, and many workplaces where it is impossible for employers to provide alternative working arrangements for employees who refuse to be vaccinated or are unable to do so for health reasons. Employers will find themselves caught between their responsibility to provide a safe environment for employees and customers alike, and their inability to oblige those who refuse vaccination to comply. While Covid-19 has highlighted the importance of trust in employer-employee relationships, this is a two-way street that depends greatly on the disposition of employees to cooperate. Due to GDPR provisions, employers are unable to ascertain where refusal of vaccination is capricious or otherwise, and the right to know whether an employee has been vaccinated or not rests loosely on the health and safety obligations of the employer. In cases where fulfilment of duties requires travel, refusal of vaccination will have even more serious implications for the employer.

Employers therefore need all the support they can get in achieving herd immunity within their organisations. This requires provisions such as vaccination certificates that will enable employers to request proof of vaccination. There also need to be legal provisions to enable employers to include vaccination as a prerequisite for employment of new recruits in sensitive work environments; to mandate alternative work arrangements for employees who are not vaccinated; to redeploy employees whose job involves contact with vulnerable people or travelling abroad; to require frequent testing of employees who are not vaccinated; and to terminate employment where there is lack of compliance to risk mitigation measures. A Spanish court recently upheld an employee’s summary dismissal for refusing to wear her mask appropriately, ruling that the employer was able to impose an obligation on its employees to wear masks for health and safety reasons, and that the individual’s refusal to comply justified a summary dismissal.

Practices such as vaccination pre-employment, redeployment of unvaccinated workers, and frequent testing of employees have become the norm in frontliner work environments, and are justified on the grounds of frequent contact with vulnerable people. But with the progression of the vaccine roll-out, the new vulnerable will become those who cannot be vaccinated for health reasons, and the obligation to protect these people will shift to employers, particularly those who, by the very nature of their operations, cannot provide remote working arrangements. In this spirit, it is pertinent to prioritise the vaccination of employees who cannot work from home.

Employment-driven prioritisation has so far been implemented in frontliner work environments, educational institutions and selected public entities deemed to be providing an essential service. Prioritisation of private sector workers who cannot work from home will require close collaboration between the health authorities and private sector employers. It is administratively more challenging and hence needs to be facilitated by employer and employee representatives. Initiatives such as workplace vaccination centres would make it easier for employees to get vaccinated, and company doctors could assist in administering vaccines to get more people vaccinated within a short timeframe. Such strategies would contribute to a more effective roll-out, as workplaces have been consistently the second most common source of contagion after household contacts.

The degree to which we can effectively address the need for prioritised vaccination of employees who cannot work from home, and support employers in implementing risk mitigation measures related to vaccination and testing, will determine to which extent we can keep case numbers low and maximise the productive capacity of the country while working towards the attainment of herd immunity.

This ‘Opinion Piece’ was also featured on The Times of Malta

The Malta Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry is collaborating with HSBC Bank Malta p.l.c. to organise the ‘Business Plan for the Planet’ webinar. This webinar, which will be held on the 13th of April, 2021 at 14:00, will explore ways on how your business can be part of this journey to build a sustainable future.

Register now by clicking here.

The webinar aims to highlight HSBC’s commitment towards a sustainable future by setting up an ambitious plan. At the heart of this plan is a pledge to help customers to transition to a more sustainable business. HSBC is dedicating between $750bn and $1trn, alongside expert guidance and support, to help their 1.5 million customers worldwide – and their partners – make a lasting sustainable transition to help us all thrive in a low carbon economy.

Local and international experts will join the panel of speakers to discuss the various initiatives that can be implemented to work towards a greener future.
Joyce Grech, Head of Commercial Banking HSBC Bank Malta p.l.c., Sabrin Rahman, Head of Sustainability, Europe, Middle East and North Africa HSBC Bank Middle East Ltd, Sibel Sirmagul Head of Product and Propositions, Europe, Global Trade and Receivables Finance HSBC Bank plc, and Hugh R Blacklock, Senior Manager, Transaction Risk Management HSBC Bank plc will share their insights on how HSBC is working towards providing financing and investment that supports the transition to a net zero global economy.

The Malta Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry is pleased to note that the restrictions adopted in response to the spike in Covid-19 cases a month ago have so far had the desired effect. The President of the Chamber, Marisa Xuereb highlighted that this comes at high cost to businesses and their employees, and therefore every effort needs to be made in terms of both enforcement and personal responsibility to ensure that cases do not overwhelm us again and our economy can reopen and stay open safely.

The Chamber commends the decision to give priority to the reopening of schools and to stagger the reopening of other establishments to ensure that the situation remains under control. With the vaccine roll-out progressing at a steady pace, it is imperative that we continue working on reducing case numbers through social distancing measures, so that we may approach the summer in a favourable position to start reopening for tourism with appropriate visitor protocols.

What certainly needs to improve is communication with social partners on the implementation and relaxation of restrictions. The Chamber expects that the date of reopening of establishments for which no timeline has been set yet is communicated soon to allow operators to plan accordingly. With constructive communication, Covid containment efforts can be better coordinated and all parties are likely to be more forthcoming in understanding and supporting the tough measures that the business community has to contend with.