Some 31 medium to large scale businesses from an array of sectors will be participating in what has been tagged as the “Success Stories Project”, a joint project of the European Commission (EC) Representation in Malta and the Malta Business Bureau.

The project was officially announced during a business breakfast at the premises of the Malta Chamber of Commerce in Valletta yesterday morning.

The Malta Business Bureau represents the Chamber, together with the Malta Federation of Industry and the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association.

Launching the project, Stefano Mallia from the Chamber of Commerce said the Success Stories Project was aimed at having businesses learn from each other; this would give visibility to the stories that would have been a success, and to distill from these a number of good practices that have worked in the Maltese scenario.

The project brings together businesses from the tourism, manufacturing and services sectors among others, with the participation of companies such as Hetronic Malta, Forestals and Actavis Malta.

The objective of the project is to identify a number of success stories in the local business community, while finding out the areas where Malta’s membership in the EU has been a key component.

In fact, participating businesses include companies that have obtained funding from the EU, tapped new markets or others that have simply established new partnerships.

The ultimate aims of the project are to show that success in Europe is achievable, to show that small Maltese companies have already been successful and to entice other entrepreneurs to be proactive and seek to emulate successes achieved by others with the help of Malta’s EU membership.

The project will include a series of events culminating in a national conference on success stories. Planned events include business breakfasts, working lunches and a trip to Brussels to meet officials from the EC with the aim of local businesses making new contacts.

The project is expected to draw to a close towards the end of the year. During this last phase, the project will make visible – to the widest possible audience – the achievements of Maltese entrepreneurship.

This could include a number of audiovisual spots on television, and the publication of a handbook with good practices and tips for more success stories in the Maltese business community.

During yesterday’s launch, Joanna Drake, head of the EC Representation in Malta, said it was not really ingrained in the Maltese bloodstream to share success stories.

“This forms part of our learning curve as EU members. The EC representation wants to be relevant in the local scenario.

“Two similar projects have already been organised for local councils and small and medium enterprises that have benefited from EU funding, and these were very good learning experiences.

Dr Drake said the aim of such projects was to give full proof that success stories exist, make them known and identify areas where improvements can be made. Part of the learning process is that the EU is a framework that helps entities grasp opportunities that are best suited to their needs, she said.