Bank of Valletta in collaboration with the Gozo Business Chamber organised an afternoon session for SMEs in its branch in Victoria Gozo. Participants were addressed by Alfred Attard, Chief Officer SME Financing at Bank of Valletta, Joseph G Grech, President of the Gozo Business Chamber, Cain Grech Manager SME Support and Development within the Malta Enterprise and Victoria Azzopardi, EU Funding Specialist, EU & Institutional Affairs at Bank of Valletta.

In his opening remarks, Joseph G Grech expressed his satisfaction at the turnout, and thanked the participants for accepting the invitation, whilst urging them to learn more about the opportunities available to broaden their horizons and maximise the opportunities available. "Once again, the Gozo Business Chamber is happy to be able to offer such opportunities to its members and thanks Bank of Valletta for its support. At the same time, I also wish to continue encouraging our members to attend such events as these are for their own benefit."

Cain Grech delivered a presentation about support measures available to the industry through the Malta Enterprise. He explained that, "Support measures to industry are intended to help businesses invest to grow and innovate. An essential part of this support is the development of a sound relations management between the service provider and industry which provides the former with a structured understanding of how industry can be assisted." Mr Grech gave an overview of different support measures offered by the Malta Enterprise, which span advisory services to fostering collaboration through business associations and networks, providing access to finance as well as Enterprise Europe Network.

In his intervention, Alfred Attard traced the Bank's journey in building a name for itself as the Bank for SMEs in Malta. He explained that Bank of Valletta has recognised that local SMEs come in different forms and sizes. Some are family-owned, whilst others are micro-enterprises. Nonetheless, their inherent characteristics, which are similar to those of their counterparts across the EU member states, often means that access to finance proves to be extremely challenging, with several claiming that such businesses present a higher risk profile.

"At Bank of Valletta, we recognise the value of small and medium sized enterprises that contribute significantly to the country's GDP. Thus, we have worked hard through our office in Brussels, to give SMEs access to financing tools that offer unique advantages, because they address their specific circumstances."

Bank of Valletta has only recently launched the BOV JAIME Financing Package that builds on the success story of its predecessors like the BOV JEREMIE Financing Package and the BOV4SME. This financing tool is the result of an agreement reached between the European Investment Fund (EIF) and the Bank. It also taps into EU Structural and Investment Funds resources and is co-funded by the European Union through Horizon 2020 and the EIB Group resources.

"Addressing important constraints faced by local SMEs, the Bank will be assisting over 700 SMEs from Malta and Gozo through the BOV JAIME Financing Package by providing EUR50 million worth of financing at a reduced interest rate of more than 2%, resulting in a final interest rate of 3.5%."

Thanking the Malta Enterprise and the Gozo Business Chamber for collaborating with the Bank in organising this event, Victoria Azzopardi urged constituent bodies to continue working with BOV to create further opportunities for SMEs to grow.

Further information about the BOV JAIME Financing Package can be obtained from bov.com, or by contacting Bank of Valletta on 2275 1529.