Many businesses produce good quality goods, but it is important that all recognize the need for the highest quality merchandise to be produced by all, said parliamentary secretary Edwin Vassallo yesterday.

Mr Vassallo said this during the launch of an educational campaign for better quality at work.

“We need to instill a greater awareness about the necessity for the manufacture of good quality products.

There are already a large number of businesses that are operating very well and that manufacture products of the highest quality and it is now important for other commercial entities to become aware of this need,” he said.

This campaign is another in a series of educational campaigns being organised by the secretariat among the small businesses that are found in the industrial zones of Mosta, Handaq, Mriehel and Zebbug.

Also present for the press conference were representatives from the Occupational Health and Safety Authority (OHSA), Malta Standards Authority (MSA), WasteServ and the Consumer and Competition Division, who are collaborating with the Secretariat for Small Business and the Self Employed in this campaign.

Mr Vassallo said he was inviting business persons to think about the following points:

• Work in a clean environment;

• Safeguard health and safety of workers at the workplace;

• Offer a good service to consumers;

• Be more creative and innovative.

“In this way the Secretariat will be building on the messages put forward by entities like the MSA, OHSA, CCD and WasteServ. Thanks to the direct contact that we have always had and will continue to nurture with the small business sector, I am sure that we can work closely with these entities to spread a message with the ultimate aim of improving the work of those who operate from these zones,” he said.

Mr Vassallo said that “with such cooperation, businesses will endorse a more entrepreneurial mentality, where the meaning of the word business goes beyond making profits, and comes to truly signify being of service, cultivating satisfaction and success.”

He continued: “After the government’s investment of Lm3 million in these zones to improve the infrastructure and organisation, the next step was investing in the human resources of these areas and in the various authorities that regulate these issues, to ensure that the products and methods of operations in these zones improve.”

A promotional poster “Better Quality for You (Kwalita’ Ahjar Ghalik)” will also be distributed in the industrial zones to ensure that the message in favour of better quality reaches all the businesses in the zones.

Mr Vassallo concluded: “Those business that respect the four focal points of this campaign will be ensuring that they have a better quality product and work place, however, they will not be simply following instructions but will be working concretely towards improving their business.”