A further call for projects, with a focus on R&D and Innovation to be co-financed through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) schemes, will remain open until 3 April after almost 100 enterprises were granted around €8.5 million in previous calls.
Details about the ERDF schemes were given during an R&D Seminar organised by Malta Enterprise to highlight the importance of R&D and innovation for any enterprise in its drive to maintain its competitiveness and long-term sustainability.
Around 60 delegates from local enterprises attended the seminar during which they had the opportunity of learning more about the assistance and funding opportunities provided by Malta Enterprise to facilitate projects in R&D and innovation.
This assistance also includes tax credits for the costs of work on R&D, assistance to loan qualified experts or to carry out feasibility studies, as well as the significant fiscal benefit through which income from royalties on patents may qualify for tax exemption.
Alongside this assistance, Malta Enterprise also provides further support through its business advisory service, whereby it assists enterprises in activities not only directly related to R&D, but also in doing other work that is part of the whole process such as patent filing and licensing, market research, manufacturing start-up, tooling and redesign for the manufacturing process.
During the seminar, Malta Enterprise executive chairman Alan Camilleri also announced that the corporation has just been appointed the National Contact Point for the European Commission’s Competitiveness and Innovation Programme (CIP), which aims to encourage the competitiveness of European enterprises and particularly small and medium-sized enterprises.
The CIP contact point joins other offices already hosted by Malta Enterprise such as the Enterprise Europe Network and the EUREKA Network – which assist local companies to find foreign partners to work on cross-border projects with a focus on R&D and innovation – thus enabling Malta Enterprise to offer an even more comprehensive range of support, services and schemes to facilitate the successful operation and growth of local enterprises.
Malta Enterprise is also working on capacity building both in terms of education by assisting further studies in related fields through its Get Qualified scheme, as well as in terms of infrastructure. The BioMalta Campus, which is currently under construction with a €30 million investment co-funded through the ERDF and which will provide facilities for researchers in the life sciences and related industries, is one such prime example.
Further information on all the schemes provided by Malta Enterprise can be obtained by calling Business First on 144 or via email on [email protected].