The government will, in the next five years, be giving €210million in incentives in order to aid Maltese and foreign enterprises that operate in Malta, said Investments, Industry and IT Minister Austin Gatt.
Speaking yesterday during the launch of these incentives, Dr Gatt said the incentives were a direct result of the recent upheaval of the Malta Enterprise Act, which was revitalised in October in order to reflect today’s globalised and ever changing world.
Dr Gatt explained that the older version of the act was limited to providing incentives as it was backdated. A case in point, he said, was the ever-diminishing distinction between the manufacturing and services manufacturing sectors.
To this end, he said, the government will encourage all firms that will invest in boosting the country’s value, regardless of whether they were SMEs, or big companies.
Most incentives, €150million, said Dr Gatt, will take the form of tax credits in favour of enterprises willing to invest more. “We are killing bureaucracy by implementing a user friendly tax environment,” said the minister.
Paul Baldacchino, from the Malta Enterprise, gave an outline of the incentives that are divided into themes. These are small and medium enterprises, research and development, enterprise support, investment aid and access to finance.
Eligible sectors include the manufacturing, research and development, software and development of ICT, eco-innovation, innovative start-ups and industrial services.
He reminded those present that the Employment and Training Corporation and the Business Promotion Act incentives were still standing, and businesses could still apply for funds.
Federation of Industry president Martin Galea praised the act for enabling flexibility and its thematic structure, while Chamber of Commerce and Enterprise director-general Kevin Borg said the schemes address the changing scenarios offered by a globalised world, where big companies were outsourcing their functions in order to benefit from advantages given by operating from different countries.