The private sector should now step in to attract EU funding following the government’s positive experience, the Parliamentary Secretary for Small Business and Self-Employed Edwin Vassallo said yesterday.

He was speaking during a visit to two companies at Mosta Technopark that have benefited from a European Union Structural Funds project called ForLink.

The project is aimed at financing training for Maltese entrepreneurs and their employees to be able to carry out research and learn methods of production used by similar companies abroad.

ForLink is coordinated by the Malta Council for Science and Technology (MCST) and the Parliamentary Secretariat for Small Business and the Self-Employed. The project has distributed Lm36,599 among the participating enterprises.

“The secretariat feels that entities such as MTTA can take on the intermediary work done by the secretariat in bringing the funds closer to the Maltese businessmen,” said Mr Vassallo, adding that the secretariat has aided over 300 enterprises.

Mr Farrugia said he was proud that two tenants of the technopark have been successful in the project.