Author: Developers Think

The Malta Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry has partnered up with 11 other entities, one of which being MCAST, across four other different European Union member states on a project aimed at designing and developing a European Platform of Centre of Excellence devoted to innovating the VET sector for the social inclusion of individuals belonging to disadvantaged groups. The project titled Governance for Inclusive Vocational Excellence better known as GIVE, aims at consolidating the activities and practices developed at local level by the partners in terms of inclusion, exploiting their outcomes and impacts of Inclusive Excellence.

The project will be targeting disadvantaged groups that come from a migration background, with disabilities, those that have low skills and obsolete qualifications, a drop-out history, with special learning needs and those from a difficult socio-economic background.

President Perit David Xuereb said, “This project is an excellent opportunity for The Malta Chamber to help make a difference and together with MCAST we are geared up to do so.”

The Malta Chamber will provide feedback based on their perspective on the business sector as a social partner and will work to bridge the gap between MCAST and the business community by participating in all work packages listed in the project. This project will amount to a total of 4 million euros and will have a duration of four years. The GIVE project will offer a trigger for the consolidation of a European Platform for the analysis and development of practices and tools in terms of pedagogical framework and governance for a really inclusive and excellent VET system, as well as leaders’ and trainers’ training in the EU and beyond.

Over 60 participants from 8 different countries joined the webinar, ‘Deciphering the Brexit deal for business’ held yesterday, providing a more thorough analysis to understand the salient specifications that emerged from the EU-UK Cooperation Trade Agreement.

With a strong line-up of speakers forming the panel of speakers, attendees could better grasp the influences that such an agreement could have within the business world.

EU and international trade lawyer, Dr Jan Micallef, who also forms part of the Malta Chamber International Relations Council, started off by giving a brief introduction as to what this trade agreement truly entails. Dr Micallef noted that “Although the agreement is nowhere close to emulating the benefits of the UK being in the EU, it does go further than normal free trade agreements.”

Micallef continued by stating that the trade deal does provide arrangements in various areas such as transport, energy and fisheries. However, it does fall short in tackling areas such as foreign policy and cooperation on external security. “The agreement contains limited provisions on trade in services. Moreover, restrictions on freedom of movement of workers have been created while recognition of professional qualifications have become more complicated,” said Dr Micallef. He concluded by encouraging businesses to seek developments and opportunities amidst the uncertainties.

Shanella Rajanayagam, Trade Economist at HSBC Holdings plc, reiterated what Dr Micallef explained in terms of the opportunities and risks that the post-Brexit trade deal will introduce. Rajanayagam noted that although the trade agreement does not cover all required specifications, it does provide extensive clarity when compared to other FTAs.

“Amongst other key provisions, new customs formalities and traveller visa restrictions in both directions are introduced and covered. This said, mutual recognition of conformity assessments and professional qualifications is not provided,” continued Rajanayagam. She concluded by saying that businesses within countries which have high trade exposure to the UK need to exert additional care to ensure that the complications incurred in such a trade deal can be overcome.

Lastly, Alan Mamo, Director of Compliance and Systems at the Department of Customs provided insights on trading with the UK as of January 1st of 2021. “UK goods imported into the EU are eligible for zero tariffs if the goods meet the Rules of Origin requirements set out in the agreement and have the correct documentation. If not, the goods may be subject to EU tariffs. It is vital to note that this also applies for EU goods exported to the UK,” noted Mamo.

The Malta Chamber and Klikk Ltd, have furthered their collaboration in the past months, as the leading tech company has equipped Malta’s foremost business representative body with the latest tools required to fulfil its mission.

“Klikk remains a valuable partner to the Chamber, as it has furnished our operation with all the necessary tech tools, required in this day and age. Through our collaboration, Klikk has enabled substantial parts of the considerable digitalisation journey undertaken by The Malta Chamber in the past months, through the provision of hardware” said Rachel Micallef, Projects Manager at the Malta Chamber.

The Malta Chamber has recently embarked on a complete restructuring process, which also included the upgrading of its tech, in its bid to stay at the forefront of Malta’s business representation, for the benefit of its membership.

Klikk Ltd, has enjoyed a privileged position of visibility with Malta Chamber members, throughout the past year, in its bid to support businesses in Malta.
Commenting to maltachamber.org.mt, General Manager of Klikk Ltd., Mr Joenick Farrugia said that “The partnership with the Chamber of Commerce highlights our maturity on the B2B scenario – we are proud and confident of our abilities and technological insight.”

“Our technical and sales teams are fully trained to offer highest level of IT and electronics equipment, software development, and other devices, along with excellent aftersales service, with minimal response time and at very competitive prices,” he added.

Mr Farrugia said that “Through Klikk Code Ltd, our specialised software division, we can offer the BizHandle application which is utilised by companies to handle their day to day running including management of jobs, time allocation, payroll, resource allocation and other tools.”

Klikk Ltd is a leading tech company in Malta, with over 22 years of experience in helping retail and corporate customers. Klikk also supports companies in reaching their goals through the correct hardware selection and software support consultations.

Through a Bronze Partner Support Agreement, Klikk Ltd has supported the Malta Chamber to be better equipped with the latest tools in order to provide its members with the best service possible. This adds to the ongoing modernisation efforts that have been carried out by the Chamber throughout the past year.

This agreement also follows in line with the principles and recommendations grounded in the Chamber’s Economic Vision for Malta 2020-2025. As reflected in the strategic principles upon which the document is founded, Innovation and Technology is considered at the heart of sustainable economic growth.

TradeMalta and Namibia, through the Namibian High Commission accredited to Malta from London and the Namibia Investment Promotion Development Board (NIPDB), successfully concluded a virtual B2B networking event from 16 to 17 February. Over 270 meetings were held between Maltese and Namibian enterprises from micro-businesses to large scale operators.

The event, which attracted over 200 Maltese and Namibian companies, was held in collaboration with the NIPDB, the Namibia Chamber of Commerce and the Namibian business community, under the auspices of TradeMalta and the Namibian High Commission in London. It was targeted at businesses from multiple sectors with the aim of establishing and enhancing commercial relationships between the two countries. The B2B event also generated new ideas and opportunities for post-pandemic activity linking Europe and Africa through Malta and Namibia.

As a result of the pandemic, we have recognised and taken advantage of the virtual technology, enabling our two countries to develop new partnerships for trade, explore new market opportunities and adapt to a changed global economic environment. Whereas Malta has been one of the EU’s leading economic performers in recent years, Namibia is also establishing itself as an important entry port and gateway for trade into Africa, following recent investments such as the expansion of the port of Walvis Bay.

TradeMalta CEO Anton Buttigieg commented:

“Despite the current travel restrictions, we are aware that companies are still scouting for international business. As a result, the team at TradeMalta decided to invest in the latest online technology platforms to facilitate business-to-business meetings between Maltese and international entrepreneurs. It is extremely encouraging to see such a huge response from the Maltese and Namibian business community to work together during this first ever B2B event between both countries. We are pleased to have initiated these fruitful business connections for the benefit of both countries.”

Namibian High Commissioner to Malta, H.E. Linda Scott commented:

“Aware of the restrictions placed on us by the pandemic, we have developed our creative potential to seek out new avenues of cooperation between our two countries, based on our resources and potential. We are sincerely grateful to our partners at TradeMalta who were able to explore a new framework for cooperation with us, and in so doing, introduced nearly 200 companies to each other from two regions. I look forward to the outcome of these conversations and to using this model repeatedly to grow our international cooperation for trade, development, value addition and real people-to-people contacts.”

For more information on TradeMalta visit the website: www.trademalta.org.
For more information on Namibia visit the website: http://www.namibiahc.org.uk/, https://mit.gov.na/, (email: commerce@namibiahc.org.uk)

The Malta Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry, in collaboration with VISTAGE Malta has launched the first edition of the international Confidence Index for businesses, this afternoon. The Confidence Index for businesses is a benchmarking exercise which is being introduced to Malta for the first time by VISTAGE Malta.

Addressing a press conference, President Perit David Xuereb said that the Malta Chamber’s drive to play a leadership role in the country’s economic growth, did not stop at proposing policy in favour of business. The President explained how the Chamber also aspired to provide businesses with the necessary tools to predict economic trends and derive insights that aid decision making.

“The Confidence Index, provides the concrete sentiments of the country’s business leaders, and how they feel their business interests will be fairing in the coming months” Perit Xuereb said. “More importantly, the index results are collated and compared to other economies from around the globe, hence providing a timely and complete picture of economic trends within a wide context”

This offers a unique opportunity for businesses and policymakers alike to have an evermore complete picture of the economic trends that are expected to influence business in the near future, Perit Xuereb said.

VISTAGE Malta CEO Nathan Farrugia said “The Vistage CI index aims to collate and measure the confidence of CEOs around the world. Now released in Malta, the results show the current sentiment of local business leaders on the past 12 months and their predictions of the upcoming year. Q1 results show that businesses are confident on economic growth, with 50% expecting positive change in the first 6 months and a further 34% believing it will take 12. They are cautious about their cash flow situation and will refrain from significant investment and recruitment initially until profitability follows revenue growth. This index is a proven trend predictor and in other countries, an early indicator of upcoming economic change.”

“Vistage is a global network of CEOs and business owners, as well as running programmes on leadership and executive decision-making. For more information about joining Vistage please contact us” Mr Farrugia said.

Experience and research attest that the Confidence Index has shown to pre-empt market shifts by 6 months, making it a very powerful tool. During the press conference, the results for Malta Quarter 1 were presented to the press.

A webinar, that will discuss the results further, will be held on the 23rd of February at 17:00. Click here to register.

The Confidence Index has supported business decision-making in the US by providing feedback from business leaders on their views of the economy, policy and operations every quarter, for the past years. The CI collates insight and sentiment from leaders in a well-researched manner that allows for better strategy, planning and investment decisions.

Last month, Malta Chamber teamed up with Zenit (Germany), Netherlands Chamber of Commerce and SFG (Austria) to facilitate business-to-business virtual meeting as part of Enterprise Europe Network (EEN).

The events spread over an array of thematic clusters, including Green Office (solutions, Healthcare Technology textiles and fashion.

Over 20 Maltese companies met international counterparts during pre-set meetings, which brought together start-ups and established enterprises to explore business ventures, partner in international projects, discover new ideas and exchange knowledge and experiences.

“We can safely say that these extraordinary times did not hinder our efforts to keep providing value to our internationalisation-seeking-clients. Rather than postpone such opportunities we endeavoured to explore new ways how to pursue effective international business matching activities. Being part of Enterprise Europe Network, we made our contacts work and leveraged respective digital tools to sustain quality events which our members expect from us.” – Perit David Xuereb, Malta Chamber President

The EEN team is committed more than ever to be closer to these companies to help them invest their talent coherently through support journeys as part of Enterprise Europe Network.

The Malta Chamber encourages local start-ups to stay tuned with more of its support initiatives and matchmaking opportunities. These events can provide penetration in targeted overseas markets by matching companies, investors, entrepreneurs, researchers, academia and decision-makers to do business.

Stay tuned with The Malta Chamber events by clicking here.

The Enterprise Europe Network (EEN) supports SMEs in working with other businesses in Europe and countries outside of Europe, implementing partnering, advisory, innovation projects and helping them penetrate new markets. It consists of more than 600 member organisations in contact with each other across more than 60 countries.

In its efforts to provide its members with the best insights on business leadership and economic growth, The Malta Chamber, in collaboration with Vistage Malta, has launched the Confidence Index late last year.

With the number-crunching done, the Q1 report results is ready to be presented. The survey was open for participation to Malta Chamber members in December and January.

To this end, The Malta Chamber, together with Vistage Malta are organising the ‘Thriving during challenging times’ webinar which will present the research results of the Confidence Index Q1 Survey.

Click here to register.

Special guest Joe Galvin, Vistage Worldwide Head of Research, will be sharing his insight on comparisons with the CI UK and CI USA results.

The webinar will be held on the 23rd of February at 17:00. The Confidence Index has supported business decision-making in the US by providing feedback from business leaders on their views of the economy, policy and operations every quarter, for the past years. Published in the Wall Street Journal as well as an array of digital platforms, the CI collates insight and sentiment from leaders in a well-researched manner that allows for better strategy, planning and investment decisions. Indeed, it has shown to preempt market shifts by 6 months, making it a very powerful tool. The Confidence Index is an optimum tool for any business as it provides feedback from business leaders on their views of the economy, policy and operations.

A delegation of The Malta Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry presented the recently launched Public Procurement Reform Report 2021 to the Director of the Department of Contracts, Mr Anthony Cachia.

“It is vital to harmonise all our collective efforts in order to effectively implement measures that will ensure good governance through public procurement. The numerous proposals within this document require a substantial amount of investment, however, as Malta’s foremost business representative body, we strongly believe that this would be a true example of smart investment, as it would lead to a wide array of economic benefits,” noted The Chamber President, Perit David Xuereb.

During the meeting, Xuereb was pleased to hear that certain proposals within the report were already being implemented to provide a more transparent and fair public procurement process that is driven by the highest standards of good governance.

“As a Chamber of Commerce, we acknowledge the complexity that such a process may entail, and although steps forward are being taken to provide a level-playing field for all, more needs to be done, especially in terms of direct orders and blacklisting,” explained The Chamber President.

The document was developed after a consultation process with its members and through a working group of experienced individuals and professionals from across the economy. The document serves as valuable guidance for the necessary reforms that are needed, in order to ensure that economic operators are able to perform on an equitable level playing field when tendering for government purchase requests.

These reforms also serve to ensure that national funds are deployed to their best potential and in the interest of the general public.

The Working Group was led by Vice President Ms Liz Barbaro Sant, and included Former President Mr Anton Borg, Council member Mr Marcel K. Mifsud, and members Ms Maronna Filletti, Ms Mary Gaerty, and Mr Roderick Abela. The group was assisted by Policy Executive Ms Julia Aquilina, while Dr Clement Mifsud Bonnici (Ganado Advocates) was the professional advisor on the process. The document presented was developed in collaboration with Ganado Advocates.

The Malta Chamber, in collaboration with Enterprise Europe Network and HSBC Malta is organizing a webinar entitled ‘Deciphering the Brexit deal for business’ to understand how the corporate world has been influenced post-Brexit.

The webinar will shed light on the substance of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement and it will also help analyzing cross-country experiences on what the UK leaving the EU’s ecosystem really meant in terms of common rules, supervision, and enforcement mechanisms.

Click here to register.

‘Deciphering the Brexit Deal for business’, scheduled for the 18th of February, will have a strong line-up of speakers explaining what the UK’s departure from the EU truly entails with regards to rules, supervision and enforcement mechanisms.

Shanella Rajanayagam, Trade Economist at HSBC Holdings plc, who will be one of the speakers at the event, said: “The post-Brexit business world will come with trade opportunities, as well as risks. My presentation will focus on the opportunities and challenges for businesses navigating the post-Brexit trade environment. It will explore the implications of the new EU-UK trade deal, trade policy priorities for the United Kingdom, and international trade prospects.”

Rajanayagam will be joined by EU and international trade lawyer Dr Jan Micallef, who forms part of the Malta Chamber International Relations Council.