The government is committed to a coordinated effort to promote Malta as a country which is “open for business”, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said yesterday.
He was speaking at a media conference during which the Parliamentary Secretary for Small Business and the Self-Employed, Edwin Vassallo, presented a document which incorporates an action plan for the period 2006-2007, aimed at strengthening the small business sector.
Mr Vassallo explained that the action plan is based on the European Charter for Small Businesses and it includes 44 initiatives ranging from education and training, to the use of information technology.
“The government’s commitment is to see that work is carried out effectively and efficiently, so that entrepreneurs and shop owners may be assisted to work, negotiate and make money,” said Mr Vassallo.
Dr Gonzi said the motto “open for business” implies that the action plan will strengthen the synergy of the whole government – ministries, departments and other entities.
The Prime Minister said that once the action plan comes into effect, it will help the country to boost its commercial activity, improve services for the consumer and also increase employment opportunities.
Prime Minister Gonzi pointed out that until the end of 2004, there were a total of 29,670 businesses with fewer than 10 employees and 1,120 that employed more than 10 people. This means, he said, that there were 30,800 businesses, 96 per cent of which were micro-enterprises.
“All these businesses employed a total of 67,309 people, so when saying that Malta is ‘open for business’, it is a matter of having a coordinated governmental effort to further increase employment opportunities within the private sector,” Dr Gonzi said.
Competitiveness and Communications Minister Censu Galea said the country will bear fruit once an increase in improved commercial and business activities took place.
“We must ‘open for business’ to better understand that commerce helps to improve the service for the customer, to increase the choice of products and to guarantee competitive prices as a result of competition between businesses,” Mr Galea said.
The minister also referred to the work being carried out for the benefit of small businesses and the consumer, in the area of the port reform, and the manufacture of generic pharmaceuticals.
Mr Vassallo said the two priorities of this year’s action plan were entrepreneurial education and corporate social responsibility (CSR). He said the government consulted various associations and other entities when it was preparing the action plan – which is a result of suggestions contributed by associations representing businesses and the self-employed.
The parliamentary secretary said the government will continue to give importance to both issues, and its commitment to reduce bureaucracy and further develop the infrastructure in which businesses carry out their activities.
“I am convinced that if we work together with the commercial sector, we will be able to create a country that is ‘open for business’,” Mr Vassallo concluded.