Government’s commitment towards the generation of jobs has proved time and time again the credentials of its economic policy. We want to give our entrepreneurs the confidence to invest, the confidence to venture into new projects, and be successful.

Government is all for innovative activity which ultimately contributes to the country’s economic cycle. This clear strategy of economic policy has been underlined in the recent past, with the government’s track record in the field of small- and medium-sized enterprises. The schemes and incentives the government launched and sustained over the past couple of years were specifically designed to support and motivate small businesses in order to invest into their ventures, and generate employment.

At the forefront of the government’s commitment to create an ideal climate for investment is the MicroINVEST scheme. In two years of its existence, this scheme has successfully granted 708 tax credits to micro businesses. Thanks to this scheme, these businesses have invested a combined €10.7 million.

The government also chose to discriminate positively in favour of Gozitan businesses in order to stimulate investment within these shores. In fact, while Maltese businessmen could benefit from a tax credit of 40% on their investment, their Gozitan counterparts, are being granted a 60% credit. This clearly identifies government’s drive to motivate SMEs in Gozo. In Gozo alone, around 200 businesses have taken advantage of this scheme, and have benefited from a collective €1.2 million in tax credits.

MicroCREDIT, another government scheme, is a soft loan initiative which forms part of the European Union’s JEREMIE programme, and which is being managed by Bank of Valletta. A €51 million fund is available for SMEs that want to invest in their venture. I am informed that since the scheme was launched in late March of this year, 110 businesses have already invested around €15 million.

Thanks to the European Union’s ERDF Start-Up funds alone, Malta Enterprise has since 2009 to the present day, helped 33 micro companies set up shop. These companies have benefited from €2.5 million. This direct help has generated €8.5 million into the economy. These funds form part of the 2009-2013 European Regional Development Fund package, which Malta and Gozo are benefiting from. This amounts to half a billion euro – all intended to generate employment and investment.

These results give us the motivation to work harder in order to further provide our small businesses with the ideal environment in which to invest and hence generate economic activity. This government’s economic policy has managed to turn around our challenges, translating them into opportunities. In a time when our country is being surrounded by economic and political upheaval we cannot help but notice that our country is faring the waves well, as creation of jobs is on the rise, and unemployment is persisting in its downward trend.

Official figures show how in the past 12 months we have managed to generate 6,000 new jobs. Malta’s rate of unemployment is currently ranked in the 5th lowest place amongst the 27 EU states. Fresh figures divulged by the National Statistics Office last Wednesday claimed how in September, a decrease of 106 unemployed over the same month last year has been registered. In 2010, investment recorded a 40% increase over the previous year, going up by €250 million, to €700 million.

Looking at such results, we understand that we have done well, but more needs to be done. Our commitment towards the sector is to persevere in providing our small businesses with the ideal climate for investment, in order to be motivated into generating more work for themselves, the firms they do business with and ultimately contribute into the country’s economy.

Dr Jason Azzopardi is parliamentary secretary in the Finance Ministry