Between January and September 2016, Malta Enterprise approved 45 capital investment projects worth €170 million with the prospects of creating roughly 800 new jobs, Economy Minister Chris Cardona said while visiting Trelleborg – a sealing solution company.
He also announced the removal of needing a trading license to set up a business, while speaking of upcoming 2017 Budget measures.
Trelleborg Sealing Solutions is a company based in Malta that employs over 500 employees. Earlier this year it celebrated 55 years in Malta.
Speaking of the progress carried out by Malta Enterprise and the upcoming projects to hit Malta’s shores, Dr Cardona said that four of the approved projects stem from foreign direct investors, 10 projects refer to expansion works of pre-existing foreign companies such as Playmobil and a further 27 expansion projects of local companies.
“When evaluating the figures, these confirm the positive sentiment that exists among local and foreign investors,” said Dr Cardona.
He made reference to the annual EY attractiveness survey which confirmed that Malta remains highly attractive among foreign investors.
“Over the past 10 months, a number of measures and assistance scheme were unveiled, as was laid out in the 2016 national budget.
“Among them was the BSTART scheme – through which millions of Euro of assistance was apportioned to start-up businesses. Apart from this, schemes that encourage women to enter entrepreneurial roles were also employed, so were rent subsidy schemes, Training Assistance Schemes and Knowledge Transfer and Tax Credits for Energy Efficiency projects.”
Budget 2017
Dr Cardona said that the upcoming budget that will be presented next Monday (17 October) will continue to strengthen the portfolio that contains assistance and subsidy schemes offered by Malta Enterprise – such as schemes that address the skills gap.
“All in all, the 2017 Budget will mark an important step in reducing bureaucratic processes to set up businesses. This is a Government that always acknowledged how bureaucracy prevents businesses from being set up. Today I can announce, following Cabinet approval, the removal of the requirement to have a trading license from the Commercial Department. This is a measure that we expect to impact roughly 30,000 businesses, many of which are SMEs.
“These businesses will be saving from anywhere between €70 and €1,000 in annual expenses,” Dr Cardona said.