Various towns and villages are being branded as commercial centres, and signboards are to be put up to indicate the commercial activity carried out in particular localities, said Parliamentary Secretary for Small Business and the Self-Employed Edwin Vassallo.

For this idea to succeed, he said, local councils had to understand the government’s priority of strengthening commercial activities in different areas. Mr Vassallo was addressing a meeting he had with councillors responsible for the commercial activity in their area.

He said they had published a leaflet two months ago indicating the commercial centres in the country. That had been the first step in the branding exercise. Now they would be putting up the signboards. They would also be publishing a detailed directory of all businesses in each town or village.

Commercial activity raises the value added of a place, said Mr Vassallo. Figures from the National Statistics Office showed there were 37,792 commercial units in the country, with a value added of Lm1.1 million (EUR2.6 million).