Annual Report - 2019/2020

MALTA BUSINESS BUREAU ANNUAL REPORT 2019 | 2020

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MALTA BUSINESS BUREAU ANNUAL REPORT

OFFICIAL SPONSORS OF THE MBB ANNUAL REPORT

BUSINESS AGENDA N E W S PA P E R P O S T

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MALTA BUSINESS BUREAU ANNUAL REPORT 2019 | 2020

Contents 23

Foreword by the CEO

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Enterprise Europe Network

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On embracing change and rebuilding the EU post-COVID-19

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MBB Projects

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A message from the Minister for Foreign and European Affairs

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Foundation for the Promotion of Entrepreneurial Initiatives

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Shining light on solidarity and a need for a deeper EU

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Calendar of Events

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The Business of Sustainability

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EU Policy and Lobbying

PUBLISHER

Content House Group 3, Level 2, Mallia Buildings Triq in-Negozju, Zone 3 Central Business District, Birkirkara, CBD 3010 T: +356 2132 0713 E: info@contenthouse.com.mt www.contenthouse.com.mt

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EDITOR: Joe Tanti EDITORIAL COORDINATORS: Sarah Abdilla, Martina Said DESIGN: Nicholas Cutajar DIRECTOR OF SALES & BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT: Matthew Spiteri

CORPORATE SALES & BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER: Bernard Schranz CORPORATE SALES & BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT EXECUTIVE: Matthew Mizzi OPERATIONS & CLIENT RELATIONSHIP MANAGER: Elena Dimech

The Annual Report of the Malta Business Bureau is distributed to all the members of the Malta Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry, all the members of the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association and to leading public and private institutions in Malta and Brussels.

HEAD OFFICE: 64, The Exchange Buildings, Republic Street, Valletta VLT 1117, Malta Tel: +356 2125 1719

info@mbb.org.mt www.mbb.org.mt

MBB Board and Executive Team

BRUSSELS OFFICE: Malta Business Bureau, Rond-Point Schuman 6 Level 7, 1040 Brussels, Belgium Tel: +32 2234 7942

REPRESENTING

MALTA BUSINESS BUREAU ANNUAL REPORT 2019 | 2020

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Foreword by the CEO >

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MALTA BUSINESS BUREAU ANNUAL REPORT 2019 | 2020

S

eeing as sustainability is at the heart of the European Commission’s new term, with a strong focus on the European Green Deal and Sustainable Development Goals, I am delighted to present our Annual Report 2019/2020 which focuses on the role of businesses in driving sustainability forward.

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the long-term climate objectives will remain a priority and the challenge now is to outline the impact that the crisis has on sustainability objectives, and how to make it work taking into account the more difficult post-crisis economic scenario. This is what we seek to analyse throughout this year’s publication.

This publication also provides an overview of the organisation’s work over the past year, including our efforts to safeguard Maltese business interests in EU developments, by assisting our parent organisations (The Malta Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry and the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association) in contributing to the formulation of the Maltese business perspective on EU policies and legislation.

In Brussels, we continued to be active in EU policy working committees of the biggest pan-European business organisations: BusinessEurope, HOTREC and EUROCHAMBRES. This enables us to stay updated about EU policies and to feed Maltese business’ views back to Brussels. Our team also conducts advocacy work on priority legislation for Maltese business with key legislators within the EU Council and the European Parliament.

The MBB also continued to tap into EU-funding opportunities for the benefit of the local business

community, with various project initiatives relating to energy efficiency, food waste, training in financial, digital and people skills, and business support services. I am proud that we managed to reach out to hundreds of employers and employees in the process. On this note, I wish to express my acknowledgment to all those stakeholders for their ongoing collaboration without whom we would not have been able to carry out our project initiatives.

Next year, the MBB will be celebrating 25 years since its foundation. The organisation has gone a long way since its inception with a head office based in Valletta, and a representation office in Brussels.

Thanks to the support of successive governments, we are the only Maltese private sector organisation with a permanent presence in Brussels, continuing to identify opportunities at EU-level as well as to build a network of reliable partners to cooperate on work areas of common interest. For this, I would like to thank the Ministry for Foreign and European Affairs for its support throughout the years.

In conclusion, I would like to thank the MBB President and Board of Directors, as well as the Malta Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry, and the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association for their trust, guidance, and support. A special thanks also goes to the MBB executive team for their sterling work and commitment to continue being of service to the Maltese business community.

I hope you enjoy reading through this publication!

Joe Tanti CEO Malta Business Bureau

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PHOTO : AL A N CA RV I L L E

“This experience should start a discussion on whether a review of the Treaties is required for the EU to have stronger means to coordinate such future crises in a transparent and democratic way.”

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On embracing change and rebuilding the EU post-COVID-19 President of the Malta Business Bureau, SIMON DE CESARE, chats with RAY BUGEJA about the organisation’s achievements over the past year, the goals set out by the von del Leyen Commission, as well as the efforts needed to rebuild the EU post-COVID-19.

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he Malta Business Bureau, which focuses on pushing advocacy efforts at EU level for the benefit of local businesses and on tapping into EU funds to create projects for Malta, deems 2019 to have been a very successful year. For Simon De Cesare, President of the MBB, the most important achievement during the past year was a study on the impact of the European Single Market on Maltese businesses, which shows how much Maltese businesses benefitted, and highlights the administrative and legislative burdens they face.

“We were pleased to see that some of the suggestions pushed by the MBB were taken up by the European Commission in its ‘Action Plan for Better Implementation and Enforcement of Single Market Rules’.

Key among these recommendations were the better transposition of existing rules, improved access to information on rules and requirements for businesses, preventing barriers to providing goods and services in the Single Market, and reinforcing SOLVIT to make it more attractive and useful as a tool for Single Market dispute resolution,” Mr De Cesare notes.

In its continuous efforts to provide funding and project-based benefits to Maltese businesses, the MBB embarked on five new initiatives over the past 12 months: the

Business Energy Cluster, LEADER, INVEST+, the Business Against Food Waste Campaign, and Funding Innovation.

More recently, it also played an active role after the COVID-19 outbreak to ensure Maltese businesses are kept fully updated about the EU’s initiatives. “We will, of course, keep fighting for the business’ interests in the EU on this, as well as other matters of importance,” the MBB President pledges.

Reflecting on the von der Leyen Commission’s programme for 2019-2024, which stresses six key priorities, Mr De Cesare welcomes the Commission’s swift response to the crisis, announcing it will update its work programme and political priorities to reflect an appropriate response to the pandemic. However, he admits it is also concerning that member states took so long to pull together to agree on a rescue package, however insufficient it could be, considering the magnitude of the crisis.

Mr De Cesare also deems extremely worrying the lack of coherence by member states in the effort to contain the pandemic, saying it does not bode well for a future coherent response, simply because the EU has no competence delegated to it by the Treaties in such matters. “This experience should start a discussion on whether a review of the Treaties is required for the EU to have >

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stronger means to coordinate such future crises in a transparent and democratic way,” he states.

In many sectors, the MBB President points out, demand plummeted to zero, and the economy literally ground to a sudden halt without any warning due to the nature of the pandemic.

Business plans and financial projections had to be rewritten from scratch and remain uncertain, considering that the economic reality keeps changing for the foreseeable future, he adds.

“Given the unprecedented nature of this crisis, the rebuilding effort will require solidarity and responsibility, but there is no doubt that citizens and businesses, as well as the economy in general, should be empowered to reach the levels of growth they were experiencing before the pandemic struck.”

“Financial assistance is a good lifeline to ensure their survival in the short term,” the MBB President adds, “but we must already be thinking of the exit and recovery phase. We believe that the rebuilding effort should be a balance of policies that enable growth and pursue the EU’s ambitions of enabling a green and digital transformation, while ensuring the competitiveness of business.”

A revised EU budget for 2021-2027 will need to address the transition to the long-term objectives but also to inject all the liquidity possible in an economy that risks ending up in a prolonged deep recession, he explains. The MBB President hopes that funds under the new Multiannual Financial Framework proposal would be ready to be deployed as soon as the next programming period comes into effect in 2021.

“The last financial crisis a decade ago,” Mr De Cesare recalls, “taught us that social inequality fuels nationalism and populism with serious risks for European integration; a project that has provided long-lasting peace and collective

“The rebuilding effort should be a balance of policies that enable growth and pursue the EU’s ambitions of enabling a green and digital transformation.”

prosperity. There is no doubt in my mind that Europe remains the best place to live, work and do business in.

We must not allow this crisis to change this, which makes solidarity and responsibility more important than ever.”

The President asserts that European and national leaders need to stand up and be counted. “They will be defined by the reforms actioned today to resolve and recover from the current crisis, and to cushion future ones.” The MBB believes the Commission’s declared priorities reflect the long-term challenges Europe faces as a continent. Climate change and the digitalisation of the economy require a transition that needs to start as from today, and the pace by which we need to adapt is evidently very ambitious, Mr De Cesare says.

In terms of climate objectives, he continues, one must keep in mind that Europe is not in isolation and its actions will be insufficient unless complemented by other continents that happen to be global competitors. So, with respect to prioritisation, the MBB expects that, while implementing legislation that could be very burdensome to European businesses, the EU must step up efforts internationally and use its leverage to ensure that international commitments, such as the COP21 Paris Agreement, are adhered to by all signatories, and to continue its efforts to bring other partners, like the United States, back into the framework.

Mr De Cesare deems the digital transition a matter of survival because Europe has to be on the forefront of technology, innovation, and home to a digitally skilled population. He calls for more public funding and a cultural educational shift to reflect the economy and labour market needs of the future.

The COVID-19 crisis, however, demands a rebalancing of the set priorities and, in his opinion, a complete reassessment is required of the legislative roadmap for the coming year or two to determine the urgency of specific initiatives. He feels that, considering the impact of the pandemic on the operational capacity of governments’ administrations and private stakeholders, the EU should consider postponing or substantially extending deadlines for public consultations.

The application dates of newly agreed rules should also be reviewed to avoid any additional burden on businesses during this sensitive time. >

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Focusing on the domestic front, Mr De Cesare notes that the EU’s budget provides for funding programmes that Maltese businesses should take more interest in than in the past. “After 15 years of EU membership, we need to overcome the stigma of being new members and that we lack experience in navigating the EU funding web. There is plenty of publicly available information and other coaching opportunities to pursue funding for projects by local businesses.”

“There is also the golden opportunity of partnering with other European partners and building knowledge and experience over time. As the share of EU funds distributed to member states individually decreases, it is more important that our companies step up a gear in tapping EU direct funding,” Mr De Cesare asserts. “The process is challenging and highly competitive, but EU money is being invested in companies to help Europe manage this green and digital economic transition, and it is worth pursuing.

If our businesses don’t, others will.”

“After 15 years of EU membership, we need to overcome the stigma of being new members and that we lack experience in navigating the EU funding web.”

He also thinks that a deepening of the EU is necessary, adding that reforms should be ongoing, though, of late, they have not been sufficiently ambitious.

Still, Mr De Cesare stresses that the EU has been an “incredible success”, noting that a 2019 survey by the MBB found that 89 per cent of businesses said they are better off since Malta joined the EU. However, it also showed that the EU still has a lot to do in terms of deepening the Single Market because, despite the obvious benefits to Malta and its businesses, local enterprises struggle to exploit the full potential of the Single Market.

Businesses, he continues, are always faced with challenges ranging from excessive administrative procedures to legislative barriers when attempting to access markets across borders. The study also showed that businesses are concerned about the implementation of legislation at a national level, with 35 per cent expressing dissatisfaction with the ineffective enforcement of EU law in Malta and another 26 per cent complaining about inefficiency in implementation.

“We believe that deepening the Single Market is an ongoing process. But we also note it is equally important for EU legislators to adopt smart legislation, for member states to implement it correctly, and for the European Commission to enforce it adequately,” says Mr De Cesare. “With this in mind, the MBB has submitted several concrete recommendations to the Commission and other policy-makers based on our findings. These recommendations entail measures that should make life easier for businesses when attempting to provide goods and services across borders.”

He adds that the MBB is pleased to see that its findings and recommendations tallied with similar studies conducted by other organisations across Europe, “and the Commission published its action plan on better implementation and enforcement of Single Market rules back in March, committing to many of the recommendations made.”

He has no doubt that the rest of 2020, and probably also 2021, will be characterised by the response of the EU and member states in the rebuilding effort from the economic asymmetric shocks of COVID-19.

It is still unknown whether any legislation will be put on hold at EU level until the crisis is dealt with, something that the MBB would like to see happening so business can regain a sense of normality to be in a position to provide input to EU consultations and the legislative process.

Nevertheless, assuming the timeline in place is maintained, the MBB Brussels office will be prioritising the EU Green Deal, a package of initiatives that will transform the way industry goes about its business and enabling it to do so in a more sustainable way.

It will also be active on the Digital Services Act, which, Mr De Cesare notes, will be the flagship legislation that completely revamps the way goods and services are made available online and the way consumers access those products. Additionally, he concludes, the MBB will continue working on locallyand EU-funded projects while embarking on new ones to help align the EU’s vision and the interests of Maltese businesses.

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A message from the Minister for Foreign and European Affairs EVARIST BARTOLO >

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015 marked a defining year for sustainable development worldwide. At the 70th UN General Assembly, the world leaders adopted a new global sustainable development framework: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, having at its core the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The 17 SDGs altogether provide 169 qualitative and quantitative objectives for 2030 – a blueprint to prepare ourselves for the future and work towards a healthy planet in addition to fair and resilient societies with prosperous economies. The EU’s vision was instrumental in shaping and advancing the global 2030 agenda, both within the Union itself, and with third countries. The EU has worked to incorporate the SDGs into the institutional landscape to tackle the existing policies and has lately been aligning itself through its frameworks and mechanisms.

As recent as last December, the European Commission went a step further and published its Communication on the European Green Deal. This is envisaged as a new growth strategy which includes all policy areas, that aims to transform the EU into the first climate neutral continent by 2050, with a modern, resource-efficient and competitive economy where economic growth is decoupled from resource use.

At the same time, the European Green Deal calls for this transition to be both just and inclusive, and calls for a change on how we produce, consume and trade. One of the tools to achieve this will be the new circular economy action plan, which is being put forward as part of the EU Industrial Strategy.

The circular economy package will, among other actions, include a ‘sustainable products’ policy to support the circular design of all products, with a focus on reducing primary resource use and promote further the reuse of materials.

The new action plan aims to make Europe’s economy fit for a green future, strengthen our competitiveness while protecting the environment, and give new rights to consumers.

By addressing root causes, the concept of a circular economy holds particular promise for achieving multiple SDGs, including SDGs 6 on energy, 8 on

economic growth, 11 on sustainable cities, 12 on sustainable consumption and production, 13 on climate change, 14 on oceans, and 15 on life on land.

It is evident that succeeding in the circular economy will require the full contribution of EU industries, and the Green Deal thus outlines ambitions to encourage industries and companies to integrate circular economy elements in their business models.

On this front, it is imperative that Malta, along with the other EU member states, strive to build a climate-friendly, circular business model and turn this big challenge into an opportunity. As part of the wider European Green Deal package, the newly put forward EU Industrial Strategy promotes improved competitiveness, ‘green’ jobs, economic growth and cleaner air, among others. It is without a doubt that this increase in ambition should be accompanied by the necessary tailor-made solutions, including through financial incentives, that address the different specificities and starting points of each member state. The European Green Deal has the potential to be the cornerstone for implementing the SDGs in the EU. Due to the global structure of industrial and services value-chains, there needs to be cooperation, exchange of best practices and the pooling of resources between enterprises and research centres of different member states. Research and development, as well as the development of new technologies, can stimulate and accelerate the transition phase.

Businesses must ensure the uptake of innovation friendly ecosystems so as to ensure that these remain competitive on both the regional and the global scales.

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Shining light on solidarity and a need for a deeper EU

The outbreak of the coronavirus is, possibly, not only the biggest test for solidarity but also stresses the need to deepen the European Union, according to two former Maltese European Commissioners, JOE BORG and KARMENU VELLA, who chat to RAY BUGEJA about the major challenges currently facing the EU, and their thoughts on what lies ahead. >

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The COVID-19 crisis is, possibly, the biggest test for the EU’s solidarity,” Karmenu Vella, who served as European Commissioner for the Environment, Fisheries and Maritime Affairs between 2014 and 2019, states.

Malta’s first European Commissioner, Joe Borg, an advocate of a deeper EU, does not mince words: “if you ask me whether the need to deepen the EU is still a priority (even as the coronavirus wreaks havoc), my reply is very simple and straightforward: now more than ever.”

Dr Borg, who was European Commissioner for Fisheries and Maritime Affairs from 2004 till 2010, notes that, even when faced with such a huge problem as the outbreak of the coronavirus, there still is “acrimony” between member states with regard to the assistance they expect.

“The bickering that has taken place has not helped the image of the EU out there. It has certainly played into the hands of those whose interest is to throw as much dirt onto the EU and its institutions as possible. It has served as fodder for the evergrowing populist politics we are experiencing within individual member states of the EU.” In his opinion, huge efforts will be required on all fronts to regain normality and restore the lost momentum on an economic and social front. “In my view, the major problem experienced by the European institutions in making the necessary decisions relating to this pandemic have been twofold: first, the length of time needed to come to a final decision and second, the subservience of the European interests to the national ones,” says Dr Borg, who, as then-Foreign Minister, had conducted Malta’s EU accession negotiations.

He notes that too much time passes from when a problem arises to when a decision is made on how to deal with it, and too many different national considerations come into play. This is what happened in the case of immigration, among many others, where member states look at matters differently or have varying interests, he adds.

PH OTO: T Y LER CALLEJA JACKSO N

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“Whether we would like to swallow the pill or not, the solution is to have a deeper union that will speak with one voice.”

JOE BORG

“Although, almost invariably, we put the blame on the EU and on the European Commission (the ‘Brussels bureaucracy’) in particular for the present state of affairs within the EU, the reality is that, more often than not, it is the individual member states that cause delays and put spokes in the wheels of decisions being made one way or the other,” Dr Borg asserts. “We have to accept to live with this and with the negative image it portrays of the EU, unless we go for a deeper Union where the individual member states will not be able to block decisions in their own interests at the expense of the overall interest, the common good,” the former European Commissioner insists, acknowledging that “this is easier said than done”. >

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“The bickering that has taken place has not helped the image of the EU out there. It has certainly played into the hands of those whose interest is to throw as much dirt onto the EU and its institutions as possible.”

JOE BORG

Dr Borg highlights “the risk of a Europe of multiple speeds, that had been discussed in the past, a Europe of concentric circles, which is still there”. He explains that what would result is an EU with a core group subscribing to everything, and pockets here and there, accepting some things but not others. “It’s already there, but the matrix would become much more complex. Do we want that? It may lead to it,” he asserts. “If the key players in the EU, particularly those wanting a deeper Union, a sort of a federal structure, see no other way forward and deem it the better way ahead, then they might also be willing to do it on their own, deepen to that extent. The others will not be left in the dark but will have the option to declare what they are ready to take on board, and then a working relationship can be established accordingly.”

Dr Borg hopes Malta would be part of the core group, even if it might have a price to pay, such as its neutrality. A pro-deeper union frame of mind exists among quite a number of European leaders and, probably, among some circles too, such as academics and the military, he continues. However, he strongly believes the European citizen must be engaged too.

“If the EU wants to succeed in its mission of becoming deeper, it cannot do it on its own and impose it on the electorate,” he adds. “If there is information sharing and discussion with citizens, there will be a better chance of success – perhaps not to the full extent that certain political leaders would want, but to a good extent.”

Dr Borg highlights other matters that need attention: immigration, internal security, a Green deal, a Europe fit for the digital age, an economy that works for people, a new push for European democracy and promoting the European way of life. These are priority issues for the present European Commission or, at least, were before the COVID-19 struck.

The real problem facing the EU, he points out, is that Europe cannot speak with one voice and, therefore, its relevance on the world stage and its powers to take effective action suffer. “Whether we would like to swallow the pill or not, the solution is to have a deeper union that will speak with one voice. Yes, you would lose some of your own national sovereignty, but you gain a lot of shared sovereignty with others.”

The ultimate decision, Dr Borg concludes, may have to be submitted to a popular Europe-wide vote through a European referendum.

Sharing his views on the Commission’s current priorities, Karmenu Vella notes that the COVID-19 outbreak forced the European Commission to put most of its plans temporarily on the backburner to focus on the repercussions brought about by the virus, making this challenge its main priority.

Over the last few years, the EU’s solidarity was put to the test by issues such as Brexit, migration, and the rule of law, but the COVID-19 crisis is possibly the biggest test of all. “It is very important for the EU to show a level of solidarity and a supporting role to mitigate the socio-economic COVID-19 effects,” Mr Vella insists. >

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He notes that, within the EU, member states were not affected in the same manner and reacted differently, adding that this non-common approach is due to the fact that, on health issues, the competency lies with the member states themselves. Still, the former European Commissioner adds that the EU’s top priority remains to safeguard the health of its citizens, and the EU and member states are working together to reinforce national healthcare systems to combat the spread of the virus.

The EU’s institutions’ response to COVID-19, he notes, aims at priority areas: limiting the spread of the virus; ensuring the provision of medical equipment; promoting research for treatments and vaccines; and supporting jobs, businesses, and the economy.

These priorities were agreed to by the EU Council that endorsed a €540 billion package of three safety nets for workers, businesses and member states.

He adds, however, that the pandemic is not merely an EU challenge but a global one, demanding a world response, and it was for this reason that Brussels, together with international partners, led a pledging event that raised €7.4 billion for a global COVID-19 response.

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“Around the world, the EU is seen as a beacon of hope, a guardian of peace and a source of stability.”

KARMENU VELLA

Beyond the health, economic and social effects of the coronavirus, Mr Vella notes the von der Leyen Commission, like those before it, must meet other unplanned threats too, apart from addressing the priorities it set for itself. This new Commission, he goes on, will still have to deal with the long-term EU-UK negotiations, continue handling international migration, and work towards upholding the unity of the present 27 member states.

During his stint in Brussels, Mr Vella remarks, the Union’s resilience was tested time and again. Given the three most significant crises it had to face – Greece, migration, and Brexit – it was no easy ride.

“These, together with terrorism strikes, populism and the political turbulence caused by the struggle between international forces to set the agenda, made things incredibly difficult.” Yet, Mr Vella proudly comments, every time, the Union proved and showed its solidarity and unity when these counted the most.

In many other areas, he says, Europe proved to be a global player and a positive force for change. “Around the world, the EU is seen as a beacon of hope, a guardian of peace and a source of stability. These were five years that got Europe back on track, with a stronger economy, a greater leadership role in the world, resolving every crisis along the way,” he asserts. >

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In his view, Europe is in a better place now than it was in 2014, with the EU getting back on track during the years 2014-2019. It also strengthened its position as the world’s trade superpower. Mr Vella points out that the latest data shows that trust in the EU is at its highest in a decade, and last year’s European elections saw the highest turnout in 20 years, as well as a sharp decline in the number of parties advocating to take their countries out of the euro area or out of the EU. Like many EU citizens, Mr Vella strongly believes that any economic growth must be fair and balanced, and both economic and environmental sustainability are crucial for the EU’s present and future growth.

“Sustainability is not a luxury. It is crucial for our economic future. I have learnt this during my time as Tourism Minister in Malta. Tourism contributes 33 per cent of Malta’s GDP, but tourism itself depends 100 per cent on the environment: clean beaches, safe unpolluted waters and clean air, to mention just a few.”

“Sustainability is not a luxury. It is crucial for our economic future. I have learnt this during my time as Tourism Minister in Malta. Tourism contributes 33 per cent of Malta’s GDP but tourism itself depends 100 per cent on the environment.”

KARMENU VELLA Looking ahead, Mr Vella says that the Juncker Commission prepared a solid foundation for its successor. While the priorities of the two Commissions might appear drastically different, he remarks, there are certainly many similarities, or a good degree of continuity of the work started by the Juncker Commission. Malta, he recalls, was always one of the beneficiaries of the previous Commission’s success.

“The transition from one Commission mandate to another is not about trashing or discarding initiatives brought forward by previous Commissions but, rather, to continue on previous achievements. It is about tabling new initiatives, building on and reinforcing existing ones, or even changing where necessary,” Mr Vella concludes.

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The Business of Sustainability Achieving sustainability isn’t going to be easy, but COVID-19 has given us some insight into what can be accomplished when the stakes are high. With the EU’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development now set in motion, JO CARUANA learns more about the role businesses will play in driving sustainability forward.

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f you thought society couldn’t change to order, the last few weeks will have probably shifted your opinion.

2020 has – so far – been an unapologetic assault on the way of life we took for granted.

Three months ago, if it was suggested we couldn’t do something because it wasn’t for the good of our community, most people wouldn’t have gone ahead anyway. Today we live in a world where businesses are facing unprecedented challenges following a period of forced closure, children are being home-schooled, and international travel is paused – all because a virus is threatening lives. >

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But what if I told you that lives were already being threatened – and severely impacted – long before COVID-19 came along?

Figures published by the Swiss Sustainability Management School show, for instance, that 3.6 billion people live in water-stressed areas – and that is expected to rise to 5.7 billion by 2050. Nine out of every 10 people breathe polluted air – and 7 million people die from air pollution every year. In Europe alone, between 20 and 30 per cent of people live below the poverty line.

“Market demands will deliver a mind-set that respects our resources and will enable us to effectively drive expected quality products and services in a resource-efficient manner.”

DAVID XUEREB Of course, this knowledge has been in the public eye for a long time, and the EU’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and their related 169 targets are at the heart of the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. But the changes needed will be far-reaching and, some believe, challenging to meet – but the ongoing pandemic has highlighted society’s ability to adapt when the status quo isn’t an option. Could it signal the start of some real progress for the sustainability agenda too? And will we be able to transform our economy into a more sustainable one by 2030?

“Making predictions is tricky, especially when trying to foresee a future which is determined by innumerable variables,” says Malta Chamber of Commerce President David Xuereb. “When considering the first months of 2020, in fact, it is easy to see how just a few weeks changed the course of the planet’s economy irreversibly.”

“What I can say is that, as a Chamber, we are working hard to seek what lies beyond the crisis, to wave the fog away as efficiently as possible, and to see how we can fashion ourselves a competitive and sustainable post-crisis economy, in the most efficient and intelligent manner possible.”

According to Perit Xuereb, beyond buzzwords and sound bites, resilience is the most important goal for businesses if they want to remain sustainable and develop in an ever-demanding operational landscape, and guarantee their healthy development into the future.

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At this critical time, he believes that social values are becoming more evident and focused. “Market demands will deliver a mind-set that respects our resources and will enable us to effectively drive expected quality products and services in a resourceefficient manner. This will help us to address the true challenges differently, streamline operations and ultimately achieve new and stronger success,” he explains.

Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association (MHRA) President Tony Zahra is in agreement, and he believes that more and more companies have recognised that the climate crisis is a common challenge that must be contributed to collectively.

“Beyond that, clients are increasingly conscious of sustainability issues and expect to buy goods and services from operators that adopt high standards,” he says. “The good news is that, through innovation and technology, sustainable solutions are becoming more economically affordable. I am confident that this trend will continue to grow in the years to come.”

Of course, the EU’s drive to shift national policy and legislation to meet sustainable goals is going to help, but is enough being done to provide businesses with the support they need to be more sustainable? >

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as costly, accompanied with an arduous process that seemingly adds little to the bottom line, which in part can be true,” he says. “To compound the issue further, law-abiding companies are constantly competing with operators that are trying to cut corners. The lack of enforcement of these rules by the relevant authorities creates an unlevel playing field for those who do their part and ‘rewards’ businesses that take the risk and do not abide by the rules.”

Still, with compliance in mind, Mr Zahra explains that each sector will face its own challenges in this area and that some are more volatile than others. “The current unprecedented crisis we are in because of the pandemic has shown how sectors on the frontline, such as tourism, can be more vulnerable. Therefore, we need to ensure that such sectors are more resilient in the future,” he asserts.

“The way of thinking in the EU has shifted towards a green economy, which is a positive thing,” continues Mr Zahra. “The upcoming European budget will be focused, more than ever, on supporting those green initiatives – even though this will now need to be re-balanced to address the post-COVID economic recovery.”

“But, nevertheless, the EU will still continue to invest substantially in research and innovative sustainable products. It will keep training workers to transit to a green and digital economy, and encourage green financing through the EU taxonomy for sustainable activities.”

Mr Zahra adds that the next step is to ensure that these broader policies and funding opportunities become accessible to companies on the ground. “This will guarantee that public authorities and financial intermediaries make funding available to businesses through attractive schemes and simplified procedures, which is key for their successful take-up.”

The Chamber President, meanwhile, believes that two key matters that should drive policy are the reduction of compliance costs and increased enforcement.

“The environmental sector, especially at EU level, is highly regulated and legislated upon, and these policy drivers aim to influence the modus operandi of public and private organisations, leading to a reduction of environmental impacts, improvement in performance, a more sustainable behaviour, and a society that becomes more resilient,” Perit Xuereb asserts.

“While this has been achieved in some sectors – and there are several examples – unfortunately, many private-sector investors and operators in Malta still view compliance with environmental requirements

“Changes in business models or practices required by EU and national legislation must be measured without undermining the financial position or operational capacity of businesses. If this isn’t done then some companies, and particularly the small and medium ones, will be unable to ride the wave when the external economic shocks arrive.”

“Through innovation and technology, sustainable solutions are becoming more economically affordable. I am confident that this trend will continue to grow in the years to come.”

TONY ZAHRA As for whether the EU’s 2030 sustainably goals will be met, Mr Zahra is unsure, especially given recent setbacks caused by the pandemic. “We are still riding the storm and need to assess the economic damage while shaping the recovery,” he says. “I believe the trend to move to more sustainable practices will remain, but the timeline for certain policies may need some adjusting. We need to work collectively to come out of this crisis together and as swiftly as possible in order to focus once more on achieving our common medium- and long-term sustainable goals.”

Perit Xuereb, meanwhile, offers his advice to businesses on the issue of sustainability, and says the key is to be honest, fundamental and realistic. “Don’t wait for the crisis to be over, seek the signs of the times to come in your sector and while living with this pandemic, take those measures that need to be taken today. This applies to our current situation with COVID, and sustainability in the longer term,” he concludes.

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EU POLICY AND LOBBYING

A new EU legislature and a new European Commission The year under review proved to be an interesting blend for the policy field, with the European Commission and the co-legislators under pressure to conclude all outstanding legislative proposals still under negotiation by the end of the legislature in May 2019 and the Juncker Commission’s mandate in November 2019.

As usual, the MBB’s Brussels Representation Office kept up the pace with the developments in order to ensure that Maltese businesses were kept fully up to date with proceedings, and at times even endeavouring to push for amendments in proposals that were deemed to be particularly sensitive. >

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EU LEGISLATION UPDATE Regarding the Single Market and consumer affairs, work continued on the so-called ‘New Deal for Consumers’, through which the Commission proposed two legislative proposals. The first proposal was a general revision of the consumer acquis, which proposed substantial changes to the ‘Unfair Contract Terms Directive’, ‘Unfair Commercial Practices Directive’, ‘Consumer Rights Directive’, and the ‘Price Indication Directive’. The Commission had pursued this flagship project to address the increasing rate of e-commerce in a digital economy, and thus ensure that the rules are fit for purpose for today’s needs. After intense negotiations on the several legislations included in this package, particularly with regards to penalties and sanctions in case of infringements of consumer law, an agreement was reached, and the proposals were adopted by the co-legislators.

Another important aspect of the ‘New Deal for Consumers’ focused on the introduction of a muchneeded pan-European framework for Collective Redress, which would allow collective actions to be brought forward against companies infringing the rights of consumers, anywhere in the EU. This proposal hit significant stumbling blocks in both the European Parliament and the Council, and the MBB worked actively with the legislators in order to ensure an equitable balance was found between the needs of consumers in order to increase their trust in businesses, as well as the rights and legal certainty for businesses themselves.

More recently, the European Commission made a renewed push addressing rules governing digital services, as well as non-digital services and goods provided through digital means.

This led to the new brainchild that is currently being called the ‘Digital Services Act’, published towards the end of 2020. The Act is earmarked to replace the 20-year-old E-Commerce Directive, which the Commission claims needs to be brought up-to-date in order to ensure that the legal framework regulating services provided online keeps up with technological advancements and new industries being formed because of this.

From a Maltese perspective, it is expected that the biggest issue would be the protection of the country of origin principle currently enshrined in the E-Commerce Directive. If this is revisited, there is the risk of profoundly impacting rules governing applicable law and jurisdiction for the economic operator. This is currently at the very beginning of the legislative process, but as a rough timeline, it is expected that the Commission will work on an impact assessment between September and November 2020.

The Commission’s proposal is expected to be adopted in December 2020. >

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PH OTO : CLAUD I O CE N TO N Z E

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THE VON DER LEYEN COMMISSION As from December 2019, since the new College of Commissioners took office, the European Commission rolled out a plan based on the Commission President’s six-point political guideline, which gave an outline on what to expect during this mandate.

2020 is exceptionally busy with the launch of strategies for different policy areas, with the most prominent and somewhat linked to all others being the European Green Deal. The Green Deal is the Commission’s growth strategy and is therefore linked to other parallel strategies that have been published in the first half of 2020, including a ‘Sustainable Investment Plan for Europe’, a ‘Circular Economy Action Plan’, a ‘New Industrial Strategy’, a ‘New SME Strategy’, a ‘Farm to Fork Strategy’, and a new ‘Consumer Agenda’.

The Commission is also focused on other areas with a role to play in economic growth, including a ‘New Skills Agenda’, ‘A Strategy for Europe fit for the Digital Age’, and a continued ambitious trade agenda. It is also expected to continue breaking the Single Market barriers through a Single Market Enforcement Action Plan.

The Commission will once more retain a strong social programme, with expected actions to ensure fair minimum wages in the EU, a gender equality strategy, and a policy that will ensure a socially just transition for communities affected by the transformation towards a green and digital economy. >

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COVID-19 After an extremely fast start by the Von der Leyen Commission, things took an unexpected turn with the sudden outbreak of the novel coronavirus.

In scenes not seen before in modern history, life ground to an abrupt and unceremonious halt, with businesses being forced to work remotely at best or close at worst, as well as anything in between. People all over the world being put on lockdown meant that demand plummeted across all sectors.

Despite health care being strictly the competence of member states, the EU mobilised itself quickly to enact measures to support member states implement emergency policies, while also putting forward economic and fiscal initiatives which were meant to act as life support to a booming economy which suddenly had all of its major arteries cut.

The first business-related measure put forward by the Commission was the ‘Corona Response Investment Initiative’, which allows member states to keep unspent EU funds, while also leveraging them for a further top-up. Malta’s allocation amounts to €48 million, which are eligible to be directed towards healthcare systems, SMEs, labour markets and other vulnerable parts of the economy. The Commission followed up with the ‘Support mitigating Unemployment Risks in Emergency’ (SURE), which is a scheme to help preserve jobs and support families, providing financial assistance of up to €100 billion to member states in the form of loans granted on favourable terms. In addition, the Commission provided guarantees to the European Investment Fund to allow it to incentivise banks to provide liquidity to at least 100,000 European SMEs hit by the economic impact of COVID-19, with an estimated available financing of €8 billion.

With member states scrambling to contain the outbreak, many internal borders in the EU were closed to non-essential travel, which member states can do for reasons pertaining to public health. In order to ensure the continued respect for rules pertaining to the free movement principles of the Single Market, the Commission issued guidelines for internal border management – a move meant to ensure continuous security of supply for goods and services during the crisis. The guidelines ensured that professional travel should continue while guaranteeing the supply chain of essential goods.

Freight transport was also given priority through the enactment of ‘EU Green Lanes’, which opened border crossings to all freight traffic, and imposed a 15-minute limit for any checks and health screenings.

The European Central Bank also provided its own boost to the economy by proposing a plan to mobilise up to €40 billion in emergency financing, which will go towards bridging loans, credit holidays and other measures designed to alleviate financial difficulties faced by SMEs and mid-caps. A few days later, they followed up by announcing a new Pandemic Emergency Purchasing programme with a massive envelope of €750 billion – amounting to 7.3 per cent of euro area GDP.

Given the exceptional circumstances, the European Commission issued a Temporary State Aid Framework for member states to provide direct support for hardhit companies with measures such as subsidised guarantees, direct grants and subsidised interest rates, among others. Through this relaxation of state aid rules, the Commission has approved a Maltese Government state aid scheme of €350 million (at the time of writing) to provide loan guarantees to commercial banks backing up working capital to aid businesses. In addition, the Commission and the Council also activated the emergency escape clause of the strict ‘Stability and Growth Pact’ for the first time ever, giving the freedom to member states to enact stimulus measures to prop up their businesses.

Critics will say that the EU’s response to the crisis has been slow, but there is no doubt that it has been strong. Firstly, a €540 billion rescue package was agreed upon, with member states agreeing to guarantee funds through the European Stability Mechanism, the European Investment Bank, and the European Commission’s SURE programme for shorttime work schemes.

Another flagship initiative came in late May when the Commission proposed a €750 billion recovery plan, aiming to support member states’ recovery, kickstarting the economy and boosting private investment, while also increasing the resilience of the EU for future health crises. Most of this massive sum will go towards a mix of grants and loans to support member states to address economic recovery, linked to the European Semester. This is in addition to the €1.1 trillion long-term budget for 2021-2027, which has since been amended and reinforced to allocate resources to the hardest hit sectors of the economy and society.

It is not only the scale of this package which is unprecedented, but also the process by which the €750 billion recovery plan will be raised, which will be borrowed from the international capital markets, to be repaid by 2058. This debt will be repaid by the Commission, which as a result is proposing to increase its own-resources through the introduction of new EU taxes, building on EU priorities and policies, aiming to address climate change and a fair business environment. As always with taxation measures, the negotiations promise to be very tough and intensive as they will require unanimous approval by the member states.

During this crisis, the MBB has kept its parent organisations, their members and the business community as a whole updated about the EU’s initiatives at this difficult juncture, and commits to keep fighting for their interests in the EU on this as well as other matters of importance.

For more information, contact MBB Brussels Office on +32 2234 7942 or infobrussels@mbb.org.mt

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ENTERPRISE EUROPE NETWORK

Business support on your doorstep The Enterprise Europe Network (EEN) is the world’s largest support network for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), uniting 600 member organisations in more than 60 countries.

Through the Network’s services, MBB has been able to help hundreds of Maltese SMEs to scale up, innovate, access funding and finance, understand EU legislation and find potential business partners across Europe and beyond! >

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D

ue to an ever-evolving business environment with new challenges and demands, the various activities and initiatives carried out throughout the year were aimed to encourage the target business community to become more innovative in terms of products and services offerings, and enhance their international operations, whilst adapting to the numerous challenges brought about by the Single Market.

In 2019, as part of its business matchmaking role with EEN, MBB successfully coordinated an outgoing company mission to Cork, offering six Maltese companies the opportunity to establish business ties with some of Ireland’s most reputable cluster organisations, businesses and innovators. The aim was to encourage ambitious Maltese businesses to forge business relations with companies abroad so that they can advance their business and facilitate growth overseas.

MBB has continued to transform activity results into tangible outcomes in order to increase the quality, efficiency and follow-up of services to its Maltese business clients. It has done so by taking full advantage of the Network’s available innovation management training and certified Business Mentor masterclasses which have since increased MBB’s capacity to offer the best quality innovation services to start-ups, scale-ups and SMEs. Together with the EEN Malta consortium’s business mentors, this training will further enable MBB to deliver upon the increase of EEN business support services as committed for the next two years.

As of 2020, MBB has been leading EEN Malta’s communications efforts and it shall now continue to focus on increasing the Network’s promotional activities and service recognition at a local level, by constantly updating and sharing information on its online platforms, keeping enterprises abreast with numerous businesses’ news, activities and commercial profiles from all over the world. EEN’s services remain accessible to support and advise business even during times of crisis. MBB in collaboration with the other EEN Malta consortium partners has the necessary business continuity measures in place and is continuing to offer its business clients the tailored support they need.

2020 will certainly be a year of transition for the Network, with a new European Commission and a new set of political priorities now in place.

Looking ahead, EEN Malta will be developing its vision for post-2020, ensuring that its services and structures will continue to evolve to meet the future requirements of the SMEs. As Network partners, MBB together with its local and foreign counterpart organisations shall explore ways to introduce as many elements of this vision and strategy into the delivery of its EEN services.

Consistent with this vision, the EEN Malta consortium of partners will also remain at the helm of the latest emerging priorities with a special focus on the transition to sustainability. This key area has clear potential to drive SME growth within the Single Market and beyond by encouraging SMEs to offer more sustainable products and services.

The Network’s service providers shall thus support and reflect the EU’s SME strategy by helping SMEs to address the challenges of sustainability in terms of up-front investments, new regulations and support to make them more competitive vis-à-vis larger companies that benefit from economies of scale.

It will also play a valuable role in this transition by integrating the sustainability dimension across its portfolio of services.

For more information, contact EEN Project Executive, Michele Agius on magius@mbb.org.mt

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MBB Projects

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MBB PROJECTS

Supporting businesses with green initiatives Companies around the world are prioritising sustainability more than ever before. The MBB has worked extensively over the past year to help local businesses adopt green practices, particularly focusing on energy efficiency and food waste reduction.

LIFE FOSTER Towards the end of 2018, the MBB announced its participation in the LIFE FOSTER project, which is a collaboration between Maltese, French, Italian and Spanish partners, funded by the EU LIFE programme. The objective of this project is to help raise national capacity to reduce food waste in restaurants through the education and training of students in participating educational institutions (in Malta’s case, the Institute of Tourism Studies – ITS), as well as engagement with professionals already working in the hospitality sector.

In March 2019, two ITS lecturers travelled to Italy to receive expert training designed and delivered by the University of Gastronomic Sciences of Pollenzo (Italy).

Following this week-long intensive training course, the two lecturers organised a ‘Train-the-Trainer’ course at ITS for a further three lecturers.

The group of five lecturers have now started incorporating what they have learned into the curriculum taught at ITS for the 2019/2020 academic year and beyond, targeting an initial pilot group of 70 students working in kitchens. The number of lecturers and students who receive this food waste reduction training will increase over 2020 and 2021.

Apart from this bottom-up approach, in 2020, the project will start engaging with restaurants and professional chefs through several masterclasses focusing on food waste reduction in commercial settings. Naturally, the COVID-19 has forced the project team to rethink its strategy. Online measures such as webinars and live streams have been selected as the optimal way forward.

The MBB and ITS have already hosted an information seminar on LIFE FOSTER with hospitality businesses in June 2019, with participants ranging from professional chefs and Food & Beverage managers to c-suite personnel.

Visit www.lifefoster.eu to find out more.

For more information, contact Sustainable Development Executive, Gabriel Cassar on gcassar@mbb.org.mt >

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BUSINESS AGAINST FOOD WASTE In October 2019, the MBB launched a national awarenessraising campaign called Business Against Food Waste (2019-2021), which brings together local strategic partners. This is being led by the MBB, in collaboration with ITS and the HSBC Malta CSR Institute, and with the support of Wasteserv, the Malta Tourism Authority and the Ministry for Tourism. This campaign is targeting enterprises and their employees, with the objective of raising national awareness on the issue of food waste, and how each of us can do our part to address this challenge.

While more efficient practices in restaurant and hotel kitchens will greatly reduce food waste levels, we must concede that a large part of food waste is generated at the consumer stage (leftovers).

This necessitates a cultural and behavioural shift on the side of customers since establishments can only do so much to reduce waste in storage and preparation. This concern has also been reiterated to the MBB by local hospitality establishments.

The campaign features four main actions: • Food Waste Cafes: Special activities with campaign ambassadors (professional chefs), who will deliver demonstrations of innovative recipes which cut down on food waste.

• Food Waste Reduction Awareness Sessions organised by the MBB and HSBC Malta CSR Institute.

• Masterclass Training Sessions with professional chefs.

• National Food Waste Competition amongst ITS students on food efficient recipes.

So far, we have organised six half-day awareness seminars and four webinars, attracting over 300 participants, including employees from different business sectors, post-secondary schools, government departments and the general public.

For more information, contact Sustainable Development Executive, Gabriel Cassar on gcassar@mbb.org.mt

BUSINESS ENERGY CLUSTER In July 2019, the MBB announced a Business Energy Cluster which aims to support the companies’ implementation of energy and water measures.

While certain energy efficiency projects are well within many businesses’ grasp, there are others with which businesses encounter barriers to implementation. The barriers include difficulties in sourcing specific technical expertise, financing of larger projects, and administrative or bureaucratic hurdles.

To tackle these issues, the MBB set up an Energy Cluster which offers individual consultations to identify company needs. The MBB’s national and international network of energy and water specialists would then be tapped to overcome barriers. The network includes companies with experience in implementing projects, suppliers of various technologies, as well as national authorities and institutions.

Through the Business Energy Cluster, companies are supported in the following ways: • Knowledge provision through knowledge-based workshops, direct consultation and networking with knowledge operators.

• Support in financing solutions, ranging from advice on existing schemes, linking with ESCO-type suppliers and supporting the development of new national financing schemes.

It is extremely important that energy efficiency is not considered as just another target introduced by the European Union and which must be abided to. Energy efficiency is more than just a compliance measure – it is an important evolution in Malta’s business sectors, towards increased commercial sustainability and ultimately higher productivity.

For more information, contact Business Energy Cluster Manager, Geoffrey Saliba on gsaliba@mbb.org.mt >

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MBB PROJECTS

Promoting soft skills’ development As digital natives chiefly accustomed to the online world enter the workforce, soft skills training is more important than ever. For this reason, MBB has sought to promote soft skills’ development through the following European projects.

INCOME INCOME Tourism is an Erasmus+ Knowledge Alliances Project, seeking to develop and incorporate soft skills into higher education curricula and to actively cooperate with businesses, ensuring that learning opportunities in the ‘real’ world are provided to tourism graduates.

In the early phases of the project, the partnership conducted a thorough literature review and analysed in depth the current requirements of the tourism industry and the state of tourism curricula in the participating countries and regions, including Malta, Croatia, Germany, Italy, Portugal and Spain. Based on the results of this analysis, the partners set out to structure and implement a cooperative learning model, with the active involvement of students, academics, and incompany tutors.

Following the implementation of preparatory workshops and the formulation of learning trios (one student, one academic and one in-company tutor per trio) in each country, the model’s pilot activity kickedoff in November/December 2019. Halfway through the pilot activity – in March 2020 – the learning trios were supposed to be brought together in Ravensburg, Germany to directly learn from the dual German model and network with fellow students, academics and in-company tutors, thus maximising the learning exchange.

With the outbreak of COVID-19 in Europe, however, the INCOME Team was left with no choice but to put this mobility programme on hold, for the safety and wellbeing of all partners and participants.

Visit http://income-tourism-project.eu to find out more.

For more information, contact Senior EU Funding Executive, Marija Elena Borg on mborg@mbb.org.mt >

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LEADER LEADER Together with six other organisations based in Denmark, Romania, Spain and the Netherlands, MBB launched LEADER. LEADER is an Erasmus+ project aiming to support students in Vocational Education and Training (VET) to develop appropriate soft skills, allowing them to take control of their careers.

Soft skills refer to the competencies needed to communicate, cooperate and work productively. In most competitive job markets, employers do not only look for technical ability and specialist knowledge.

Instead, they seek candidates who can become leaders, and leadership itself depends on both technical and soft skills. Exposing students to a comprehensive skill set thus increases their chances for professional success.

Training in soft skills is, however, far from straightforward as these competencies tend to be complex and vary from one situation to another.

This is where the students’ motivation becomes an increasingly important factor, coupled with the employed training method and delivery.

For this reason, LEADER has set out to develop an innovative serious game which will help VET students acquire insight into their qualities and allow them to develop the skills required to occupy a rightful place in the labour market. The LEADER game will include realworld, decision-making scenarios demonstrating how specific skills work in different situations.

In addition, educators and trainers will also be trained to make sure they are well-equipped to teach soft skills and leadership skills. A strong and thorough research will be undertaken to make sure the LEADER project meets the criteria of both VET students and employers in business.

Visit www.leadertheproject.com to find out more.

For more information, contact Senior EU Funding Executive, Marija Elena Borg on mborg@mbb.org.mt >

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MBB PROJECTS

Fostering digital skills and financial literacy The new digital era is changing our lives, our jobs, how we run our businesses and manage our money. This means that having financial and digital skills is increasingly essential to help individuals progress and prosper both on a personal and professional level.

VITA In July 2019, the MBB in collaboration with the lead project partner MECB Ltd., held a business breakfast to launch the final version of the VITA Digital Literacy Toolbox, which is essentially a free repository of all the training material that adult trainers can use to engage and help adult learners catch up with digital skills.

This Digital Literacy Toolbox is the ultimate output of the VITA project, funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union. Its content is based on the following Modules: • Module 0.0 An Introduction to the VITA Trainers’ Course • Module 1.0 An Introduction to Digital User Interfaces • Module 2.0 Basic Communication in Digital Environments • Module 3.0 Creating, Handling and Storing Basic Digital Content • Module 4.0 An Introduction to Virtual and Augmented Reality Technology

These Modules are all featured or linked to the following Toolbox features: • The curriculum designed by project partners • The learning framework providing guidance to form training paths • A series of Augmented and Virtual Reality case studies • The E-learning Management System • The repository with raw content that can be customised for specific uses.

Visit www.mecb.com.mt/vita to find out more.

For more information, contact Senior EU Funding Executive, Marija Elena Borg on mborg@mbb.org.mt >

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DIFME DIFME is an Erasmus+ Knowledge Alliances project with the objective of developing a curriculum to meet the real needs of entrepreneurs in the areas of financial literacy and digital skills. Managed by the Malta Business Bureau, the result-driven partnership is made up of five Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) and six business organisations based in Malta, Bulgaria, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, and the Netherlands.

Following an in-depth analysis carried out in the past few months, several existing gaps in entrepreneurs’ skills were identified. Particular attention was given to the digital and financial literacy skills, which have become fundamental for businesses to internationalise. All the project partners were involved in liaising and researching feedback from businesses to assess the current situation and training needs, as well as the potential effectiveness of e-learning and online tools used for training both start ups as well as established businesses.

Based on the research analysis, the project partners are now cooperating closely together to identify a set of financial and digital competences. These fundamental competences will be compiled in a curriculum and uploaded on an e-learning platform.

Access to the e-learning platform and signposts to other valuable information sources will be made available through an online SME HUB with the objective to assist entrepreneurs in strengthening their financial and digital skills, enabling them to broaden their networks, enhancing their efficiency overall and thus, facilitating their internationalisation process. The SME HUB will be a community-driven open-source repository of solutions which will encourage start-ups and established SMEs to share experiences and solutions with each other. The SME HUB will also foster greater interaction between academics and entrepreneurs alike.

Visit www.difme.eu to find out more.

For more information, contact DIFME Project Manager, Marika Huber on mhuber@mbb.org.mt

INVEST+ In September 2019, MBB together with the HSBC Malta Foundation launched INVEST+, a project seeking to improve the levels of financial literacy in Malta through mentoring sessions and workshops on finance, business planning, accounting, savings and investment.

The objective is not to turn participants into financial experts, but to give them an understanding of crucial concepts, therefore allowing them to become financially independent on a personal and professional level.

This project is a follow-up initiative to a past EU-funded project that successfully developed a free financial literacy online toolkit, accessible to the public via www. investproject.eu. The ultimate objective of INVEST+ is to ensure that the financial content which has been collected and developed in this past project reaches as many people as possible, through an interactive educational and mentoring programme.

Since the project’s launch, the INVEST+ team organised multiple mentoring sessions led by knowledgeable and experienced HSBC employees. All sessions were wellreceived by participants coming from all walks of life (i.e. students, entrepreneurs, employees, and society at large).

Between December 2019 and February 2020, the project team also ran a competitive call for young people (18 to 30-year olds), encouraging them to submit opinion pieces that answer the following: Why do you think financial literacy is important? What steps should be taken to improve the level of financial literacy, especially amongst young people? Christoph Schwaiger, Claire Bezzina, David Muscat, Marcus Sammut, Maria Mizzi, Melanie Vella and Thomas Camilleri were subsequently recognised as the authors of the top seven submissions, rendering them eligible to participate in an all-expenses-paid study visit in Brussels.

With the outbreak of COVID-19 in Europe, however, the INVEST+ team felt that it was its duty to revise the project’s work programme, in line with the restrictions that were imposed during these challenging times.

While the Brussels study visit had to be postponed, the delivery of both mentoring sessions and thematic workshops was adapted to target current needs more exclusively.

For more information, contact Senior EU Funding Executive, Marija Elena Borg on mborg@mbb.org.mt >

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MBB PROJECTS

Strengthening businesses’ capacity to tap EU funds Various funding opportunities exist to stimulate business innovation and development; however, experience has shown that the take up of EU Direct funds by Maltese businesses remains very low. There are many reasons behind this, with the most evident being a lack of knowledge and resources and therefore, it is a priority for the MBB to address this issue.

FUNDING INNOVATION Launched in 2019 as a follow-up initiative to MBB’s past ESF 4.245 ‘Innovation Leaders: Improving Knowledge on EU Direct Funds’ project, Funding Innovation is a platform to help build and strengthen enterprises’ capacity to tap into direct EU funding themselves, by offering them expert advice on access to finance. EU direct funds are a golden opportunity for local businesses to partner up with other local and foreign companies who share the same vision.

As part of this platform, the MBB is providing enterprises with professional training, covering areas of topical interest linked to specific EU funding streams. The first training programme was held in October 2019 in collaboration with the Brussels-based Out of the Box International and the European Projects Association, and with the support of the Malta Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry. A total of 11 participants from nine local businesses had the opportunity to learn more about the EU COSME Funding Programme.

Local businesses are highly encouraged to contact the organisation should they need guidance on such matters.

It is MBB’s ultimate objective to support businesses in their development.

For more information, contact Senior EU Funding Executive, Marija Elena Borg on mborg@mbb.org.mt

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FOUNDATION FOR THE PROMOTION OF ENTREPRENEURIAL INITIATIVES

More Crowdfunding Success for FPEI in 2019 Founded by the Malta Business Bureau and the University of Malta, the Foundation for the Promotion of Entrepreneurial Initiatives (FPEI) establishes new initiatives and provides the tools and resources required by local entrepreneurs to thrive.

ZAAR As the first offering by FPEI, the online crowdfunding platform ZAAR has repeatedly exceeded all expectations since launching, supporting all forms of entrepreneurship in Malta, from high tech ventures to social enterprises. By making available to the local community such an accessible form of alternative finance, ZAAR has grown in popularity and success with each passing year – with 2019 being no exception, during which ZAAR raised more than €155,000.

The platform now generates more than 100 leads and hosts an average of 30 crowdfunding campaigns annually, six of which are business start-ups, while the remaining projects are community-based or originate from the creative sector. When compared to other donation/reward-based crowdfunding platforms internationally, ZAAR’s ongoing achievements are even more impressive. While other reward-based platforms around the world tend to obtain an average of 53 per cent success rate, in 2019 ZAAR registered an 85 per cent success rate for campaigns launched on its platform that year, also topping its own 2018 figure of 82 per cent.

ZAAR’s achievements, and the team’s formidable expertise in the crowdfunding arena, were also internationally recognised in other ways in 2019.

The European Crowdfunding Network (ECN) reconfirmed ZAAR as a gold member, with membership awarded when a platform adheres to the Network’s code of conduct and transparency requirements. As a gold member of the ECN, ZAAR is being directed to contribute to significant activities such as crowdfunding-related policy debates, surveys, publications, and events such as CrowdTuesday. This is an ECN initiative that encourages the European crowdfunding and alternative finance industry to engage in discussions and share their best practices.

As Malta’s only online donation/reward-based crowdfunding platform, in 2019 ZAAR also began exploring what the local demand may be in the future for other types of crowdfunding. In a survey carried out with more than 100 established investors and would-be investors, ZAAR studied the appetite for, and the existing knowledge regarding, investment-based crowdfunding and alternative finance. Due to this valuable information and feedback garnered via this survey, ZAAR now plans to inform the creation of a new investor club and investment-based platform. >

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Amid COVID-19 pandemic, ZAAR hosted two community crowdfunding campaigns designed to meet the crisis head-on. These are further proof that, with just a small donation, everyone has the chance to make a huge difference to the lives of those in their community, at a time when they need it the most. As the coronavirus pandemic continues to impact businesses financially, ZAAR can help start-ups and SMEs create a fundraising campaign to raise money and improve their current cashflow.

Local businesses going through a tough time and wishing to remain afloat are encouraged to contact ZAAR on www.zaar.com.mt.

While ZAAR was set up by FPEI predominantly to address what it believes to be one of the key barriers to entrepreneurship – that of finding finance – the Foundation also supports local entrepreneurs through other ventures.

THE THREE QUESTIONS MODEL OF DEVELOPING SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURS (T3QM) In October 2019, FPEI successfully completed its EU-funded project: ‘The Three Questions Model of Developing Social Entrepreneurs’ (T3QM). This online tool, aimed at amateur entrepreneurs or simply anyone with an innovative idea, is intended to help them transform their idea into a sustainable, impactful and profitable business enterprise by answering the three key questions of what they are selling, to who, and for how much. While the T3QM project is mainly directed towards budding entrepreneurs, it also offers innovative materials that adult educators or mentors may use to offer high-quality business coaching to start-up founders.

CREATING OPPORTUNITIES FOR ADULT LEARNERS (CORAL) In 2019, FPEI embarked on another EU-funded project, together with another eight European partners from the Adult Education arena: ‘Creating OppoRtunities for Adult Learners’ (CORAL). Through establishing the key skills and competences regularly utilised by self-employed entrepreneurs, this project aims to develop various training tools that will assist adults who are considering moving into self-employment or embarking on entrepreneurship.

Looking ahead, through the focused, combined efforts of the FPEI in Malta, and by extension ZAAR, entrepreneurs in Malta can continue to access the expertise, training or funding they may require to grow and realise their ideas and create a business enterprise that will ultimately help to drive Malta ever further into the future.

More information about the FPEI can be found online at www.fpei.mt.

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ENVIRONMENT

ERA embraces new technology for the environment

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s the national regulator on the environment, the Environment and Resources Authority’s (ERA) philosophy is to maintain consultation with stakeholders for sound environmental management. A tough job in a normal fast-tracked world. It’s an even tougher task when bringing people from different walks of life together, to discuss and shape an environmental policy, happens during a pandemic. But the show must go on, and that is what ERA did, all while respecting restrictions on large gatherings and overcoming social distancing hurdles.

ERA managed to rise to the challenge, whether with its employees, its stakeholders or the general public, because it was well-prepared, with investments from day one that enabled it to remain agile as a new normal unfolded. A famous person once said that failing to plan is planning to fail.

Being a young authority with foresight saw ERA investing in the right infrastructure to enable mobile working, with laptops for everyone and remote connectivity as needed from day one. Couple this with the Authority’s support for family-friendly measures and the result is a demanding but smooth shift of all its 240 employees to remote working in record time, despite being under the siege of COVID-19. The novel scenario caused minimal disruption to the flow of internal processes and to the services ERA provides to the public.

This hi-tech journey that ERA is taking will see it further embrace additional and more innovative solutions in the near future, while increasing ERA’s presence on various social media platforms to support a revamp of our website. Also look out for the upcoming facility to attend public hearings and consultations from the comfort of your home, through Online Conferencing Systems. For our key stakeholders, there is another feature to look forward to – the ERA MIS, which is an online platform

that will incorporate several facilities such as online permit applications, payments, case status notifications, e-id login, and more.

For more information about the works undertaken

by ERA, visit era.org.mt

LOOKING BACK AT ERA’S KEY ICT INVESTMENT SUCCESSES A decision to make use of a number of MITA services rather than full investment in other ICT systems, in order to maximise the use of expertise and public funds Investment in efficient and reliable systems, onestop shop online service, including eWASP (an online platform for waste permit applications) for both the public and stakeholders Embracing and utilising already-available online services such as Cloud Storage (One Drive), Online Web Conferencing (Teams), Webmail, VPN Focusing on green initiatives, such as the ERA MIS (Management Information System) and ERA PRS (Purchase Request System), which offer paper-free permitting and procurement systems.

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Calendar of Events

APRIL 2019 24TH APRIL: SME INTERNATIONALISATION AND EXPORT MANAGEMENT TRAINING In their capacity as Enterprise Europe Network (EEN) service providers, MBB CEO Joe Tanti and EEN Project Manager Ana Vella, successfully completed the University of Malta accredited ‘Go Global’ SME Internationalisation and Export Management training course organised by Trade Malta.

Joining local practitioners, they were able to gain further knowledge on key aspects which could assist local companies to develop their business abroad when providing EEN services to local clients. Local experts, seasoned entrepreneurs and experienced panellists were invited to share their knowledge and provide useful insights on the key strategies and skills required when attempting to export a product or service.

Several presentations on topics ranging from strategic financing and risk management, value proposition and marketing strategy, managing an international

enterprise, pricing practices, market intelligence, e-marketing, as well as accounting and contractual issues were delivered, all of which provided a better understanding of how businesses may overcome obstacles when tapping new markets.

MAY 2019 21ST-22ND MAY: FACILITATING A NATIONAL DESIGN ACTION PLAN In her capacity as MBB’s stakeholder representative for Design4Innovation project, Senior Executive Ana Vella was invited to participate in the sixth Design4Innovation project partnership meeting. Ana was also joined

by Malta Chamber of Commerce Communications Manager, Edward Bonello, and Visiting Professor at the University of Malta, Dr Ann Laenen, to support discussions on the development of national design action plans. The key theme for the event was ‘building capacity for design in business support organisations’, but it also reflected on all good practices learnt by the partners so far.

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project for the fourth partners’ meeting in Malta. The previous meeting had enabled the partners to finalise a way forward in terms of the piloting of a cooperative learning process that brings together higher education institutions and businesses in the tourism industry.

The first two days of the delegation visit, held between 4th and 6th June, served as a platform for the whole consortium to finalise the structure of the newly developed cooperative learning process that will be piloted during the next academic year (2019-2020). On the third and final day, the hosts organised a targeted workshop with the aim of enhancing the degree of collaboration between the project partners and tourism companies from Germany, Italy, Portugal, Spain and Malta.

The visiting tourism professionals were also given the opportunity to attend two company visits at the Westin Dragonara Resort and the Eden Leisure Group respectively.

Design4Innovation is a collaborative project running between 2017 and 2021, funded under the Interreg Europe Programme of the European Commission. It aims to help SMEs create more desirable products and services, be more profitable and grow faster, ultimately enhancing the competitiveness of European SMEs. Locally, the project is being driven by the Valletta Design Cluster.

JUNE 2019

12TH JUNE: MBB ORGANISES FOOD WASTE REDUCTION SEMINAR

4-6TH JUNE: MBB HOSTS TOURISM DELEGATION IN MALTA

Following a meeting held in February 2019 of the Erasmus+ INCOME project partners in Bergamo, MBB, together with Malta University Consulting (MUC), hosted over 50 representatives of the INCOME Tourism

Following the announcement of the collaboration between MBB and the Institute of Tourism Studies (ITS) in a press conference held in February 2019, the partners hosted a food waste reduction seminar at the ITS campus in Luqa in June 2019. The objective of this event was to introduce local hospitality businesses to the LIFE FOSTER project, and to introduce the significant training opportunities which this project presents.

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The three-year project aims to help build national capacity on food waste reduction in the hospitality sector through the training and education of existing professionals and current trainees, as well as the engagement of businesses and policy-makers in the sector. Throughout its duration, the project shall offer free masterclass sessions, during which a number of food waste reduction experts will showcase practical techniques that restaurants may use in their daily operations to reduce food waste and to cut down on costs. These sessions will be conducted by ITS lecturers who have undergone specialised training by the University of Gastronomic Sciences in Pollenzo, Italy.

JULY 2019 1ST JULY: JOHN A. HUBER APPOINTED MBB VICE-PRESIDENT

The seminar was organised in collaboration with the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association.

27-28TH JUNE: MBB’S DIFME PROJECT MEETING IN DUBLIN MBB CEO Joe Tanti and Project Manager Marika Huber attended the second project partners meeting of DIFME, an Erasmus+ Knowledge Alliances project led by the MBB. The meeting served as an opportunity for the project partners to analyse and discuss the online SME HUB, which aims to assist both micro and largerscale entrepreneurs to find digitally innovative ways to develop and internationalise their business. The twoday meeting was hosted by Technological University, Dublin.

Whilst in Dublin, Mr Tanti had the opportunity to meet up with EEN Network partners including Enterprise Ireland, Dublin Chamber of Commerce, and the Local Enterprise Office.

In July 2019, John A. Huber was appointed VicePresident of the Malta Business Bureau. Mr Huber, managing consultant at John Huber & Associates, has previously served as President of the organisation between 2010 and 2012. He takes over the role of Vice-President following the resignation of Frank V. Farrugia who was appointed Chairman of the Malta Broadcasting Authority.

Mr Huber was also elected to the EUROCHAMBRES Board of Directors by the organisation’s General Assembly on 9 June 2020. EUROCHAMBRES is a pan-European organisation of national Chambers of Commerce and Industry, representing collectively millions of small and medium enterprises in Europe.

The MBB Board is composed of Simon De Cesare (President), John A. Huber (Vice-President), Anthony P. Tabone (Director), Brian Muscat (Director), Sergio Vella (Director), Claudienne Harb (Director), and Malcolm Jones (Director).

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The VITA Toolbox comprises the curriculum designed by the project partners, learning framework providing guidance to form training paths, Augmented and Virtual Reality case studies, the VITA e-learning management system, and a repository with raw content that can be customised for specific uses.

Users are encouraged to exploit the content available in this open toolbox.

17-18TH JULY: SHARING OF BEST PRACTICES IN IRELAND AND THE NETHERLANDS Start-up and development support to SMEs was the aim of a learning best practice visit MBB Senior Executive and Enterprise Europe Network (EEN) Project Manager Ana Vella made to Groningen last July, hosted by her EEN Dutch counterparts at the Hanze University Centre of Expertise Entrepreneurship.

Such visits do not only serve to share best practices among the EEN partners but also to help them identify synergies and encourage future collaboration that could lead to new opportunities for the Network’s SME clients as well as improved business support services.

Prior to Ana’s visit to the Netherlands, MBB CEO Joe Tanti was hosted in Cork between 17th and 21st June

by Professor in Entrepreneurship, Thomas Cooney, and EEN partners who organised a series of meetings with high-calibre regional stakeholders. Meetings were held with game-changers and leaders of the business support ecosystem such as Cork Innovates, the Cork Institute of Technology, Rubicon, UCC and the Cork Chamber of Commerce. During the visit, stakeholders within the Centres of Excellence shared insights into their work and expertise in the spheres of innovation within enterprise and research.

19TH JULY: LAUNCHING VITA DIGITAL LITERACY TOOLBOX A digital literacy toolbox was launched at a business breakfast co-organised by the MBB and MECB Ltd as part of the Erasmus+ VITA project. The VITA Toolbox is a free repository of all the training material adult trainers can use to engage and help adult learners catch up with digital skills.

24TH JULY: MBB HOSTS FINANCING ENERGY EFFICIENCY CONFERENCE The MBB, in collaboration with the Energy and Water Agency, organised an Energy Efficiency Conference at the Malta Life Sciences Park, San Gwann. Local and international experts were invited to discuss available funding for energy efficiency investments in businesses as well as potential opportunities in this area.

During the event, a Business Energy Cluster was also launched. This brings together experts, clients and suppliers in the field of energy, facilitating the exchange of best practice and knowledge transfer, as well as helping to identify the challenges (and potential solutions) businesses are facing on energy.

The event also served as a helpful reminder to nonSMEs on their obligation to undergo a certified energy audit by December 2019.

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AUGUST 2019 19TH AUGUST: INTRODUCING FUNDING INNOVATION

In August 2019, MBB launched Funding Innovation – a platform to support and train local businesses on EU Direct Funds. Through this platform, the MBB is providing enterprises with professional training, covering areas of interest linked to specific EU funding streams.

The first training programme focused on the competitiveness of enterprises and SMEs, namely, the EU COSME Funding Programme. This was held in October 2019, when 11 participants from nine local businesses participated in an introductory webinar followed by a three-day workshop in Brussels. During the Brussels workshop, the participants were also given the opportunity to attend a study visit at EASME, the EU’s agency in charge of the COSME programme, responsible for projects in the field of innovation, energy efficiency, environment and maritime affairs, with a particular focus on SMEs. All sessions were delivered by EU funding experts Marko Paunovic and Dino Babic, from Out of the Box International and the European Projects Association, respectively. The three-day workshop in Brussels was hosted by the Permanent Representation of Malta to the EU and addressed by H.E. Daniel Azzopardi and MBB CEO Joe Tanti.

The first three full-day mentoring sessions were held at the Ghajn Centre, in Rabat, in October and November 2019, and reached over 40 participants.

They were followed by further sessions held in 2020, training over 100 people ranging from entrepreneurs to intrapreneurs and tertiary-level students.

OCTOBER 2019 1ST OCTOBER: INTRODUCING LEADER PROJECT

SEPTEMBER 2019 18TH SEPTEMBER: LAUNCHING INVEST+ MENTORING PROGRAMME TO BOOST FINANCIAL LITERACY INVEST+, a project seeking to improve levels of financial literacy in Malta through mentoring sessions and workshops on finance, accounting, savings and investment, was launched by the MBB together with HSBC Malta Foundation in September 2019. The objective of this project is not to turn participants into financial experts but to give them an understanding of crucial concepts, thereby allowing them to become financially independent on a personal and professional level.

In October 2019, seven organisations based in Denmark, Malta, the Netherlands, Romania and Spain launched LEADER, an Erasmus+ project aiming to support students in Vocational Education and Training (VET) to develop appropriate ‘people skills’, allowing them to take control of their careers. ‘People skills’ refer to the

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competencies needed to communicate, cooperate and work productively.

LEADER sets out to develop an innovative serious game that will help VET students acquire insight into their qualities and allow them to develop the skills required to occupy a rightful place in the labour market. The LEADER game will include real-world, decision-making scenarios demonstrating how specific skills work in different situations. In addition, educators and trainers will be trained to make sure they are well-equipped to tutor on leadership and people skills.

CEDEFOP is one of the EU’s decentralised agencies that supports the promotion, development and implementation of EU policies in the field of Vocational Education and Training (VET) as well as skills and qualifications policies by working together with the European Commission, EU member states and the social partners.

The first management board meeting was held in October, in Thessaloniki, Greece.

7-8TH OCTOBER: MBB EU AFFAIRS MANAGER ATTENDS EUROCHAMBRES ECONOMIC FORUM MBB EU Affairs Manager Daniel Debono participated in the third European Economic Forum in Rome with Malta Chamber’s Vice-President and MBB Director at the time, Frank V. Farrugia.

The event included a series of plenary and parallel sessions on current EU and business challenges, including digital transformation, the financing need for the sustainable transition of SMEs, the necessity of continuing to break barriers in the Single Market, and more market access for companies internationally.

2ND-4TH OCTOBER: EEN TOURISM & CULTURAL HERITAGE AND ICT SECTOR GROUPS COLLABORATE IN TURIN Ana Vella, co-Chair of the EEN Tourism and Cultural Heritage Sector Group, co-organised and participated in the group’s second 2019 meeting, held in Turin.

For the first time in the sector groups’ history, an official collaboration with the ICT Sector Group kicked off at a Lego Serious Play workshop event. Members of the two sector groups, comprising over 50 international experts, collaborated in a joint strategic workshop to co-create an effective joint plan of action and a set of new joint deliverables between the groups.

In working closely with the ICT Sector Group, it will become increasingly easier for the Tourism Sector Group to find technology suppliers for their tourism clients (SMEs), which can provide useful technologies to support the integration of tourism SMEs into global digital value chains. This goal falls directly in line with the Tourism Sector Group’s strategy which aims to foster the cooperation of SMEs across sectors to innovate and face key challenges such as digitalisation.

3RD-4TH OCTOBER: MBB CEO NOMINATED AS MEMBER OF CEDEFOP BOARD MBB CEO Joe Tanti was nominated as an alternate member of the CEDEFOP management board, representing Maltese employers, together with Joe Farrugia, the permanent member for Malta.

Some of the recommendations suggested were to intensify the exchange of best practices of digital tools and services by business support organisations for the benefit of members, to reduce more barriers for the provision of cross-border services, and to promote more mobility both within and from outside the EU to address the current skills crisis.

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15-17TH OCTOBER: MBB PARTICIPATES IN EUROPEAN SKILLS WEEK MBB CEO Joe Tanti participated in the fourth edition of the European Vocational Skills Week, held in Helsinki, Finland, in October. Organised annually by the European Commission, the Skills Week provides visibility and recognition for vocational education and training, offering European actors in the field, including businesses, a chance to network and engage in dialogue.

This year’s theme was VET for All – Skills for Life, focusing on the way jobs and ways of working are transforming, as well as skills and learning practices. During the Skills Week, Mr Tanti had the opportunity to meet up with Giorgio Sbrissa, President of the European Vocational Training Association and Cesare Onestini, Director of the European Training Foundation.

10TH OCTOBER: LAUNCH OF THE BUSINESS AGAINST FOOD WASTE CAMPAIGN Together with the HSBC Malta CSR Institute and Institute of Tourism Studies, MBB has extended its efforts on food waste reduction through a national awareness-raising campaign for businesses and their employees: Business Against Food Waste Campaign.

As part of this campaign, a series of food waste reduction training and awareness sessions are being organised, providing participants with practical tips and techniques on how to reduce food waste. More than 250 participants have attended these sessions, with most of the participants coming from businesses such as Farsons, HSBC, Westin Dragonara Resort, Ramla Bay Hotel, ST Microelectronics, Vodafone, and Tipico, among others. As this is a social responsibility exercise, the MBB has also welcomed participants from the public sector and NGOs. This campaign is being held with the collaboration and support of Wasteserv, the Malta Tourism Authority and the Ministry for Tourism.

21ST-22ND OCTOBER: ENTERPRISE EUROPE NETWORK ANNUAL CONFERENCE IN HELSINKI Ana Vella participated in this year’s EEN Annual Conference – the project’s main event – held in Helsinki, Finland. The event brought together hundreds of business advisers and Network partners from across the world as well as representatives from the European institutions and key external stakeholders.

European SMEs and the Network that supports them are facing several challenges, from major shifts in the political environment to the rapid rate of industrial and technological change. In light of these challenges, the overarching theme for this year’s event was ‘Addressing future needs of SMEs’. The theme was addressed in a number of sessions covering a number of topics ranging from industrial policy and sustainability, to the Single Market, innovation support, internationalisation, access to finance and scale-ups and digitalisation, including Artificial Intelligence (AI).

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NOVEMBER 2019 12-14TH NOVEMBER: PILOTING THE TOURISM PROJECT LEARNING MODEL

The 2019/2020 academic year is hosting the implementation of the INCOME Tourism project piloting programme among first-year students reading for a Bachelor’s degree in Tourism Studies at the University of Malta. Partner universities and higher education institutions (HEIs) in Italy, Croatia, Spain and Portugal are implementing a similar programme with their selected pool of tourism students.

Echoing Germany’s dual education system, the project’s piloting programme is seeking to expose students to a combination of theory and training embedded in a reallife work environment. In Malta, Eden Leisure Group, Westin Dragonara Resort, Grand Excelsior, Robert Arrigo & Sons Ltd and MHCS Ltd are collaborating with MBB on this project.

The INCOME Tourism project partners convened in Girona, Spain, in November to evaluate the measures taken by all participating organisations in the implementation of this EU-wide piloting programme.

MBB was represented by Senior Executive Marija Elena Borg.

20TH NOVEMBER: MBB RELEASES STUDY ON THE SINGLE MARKET The MBB released a comprehensive study on the impact of the European Single Market on Maltese businesses.

The report provides tangible evidence showing how much Maltese businesses have benefitted within the Single Market, while pointing out the administrative and legislative burdens they face when operating in the Single Market. The report also strives to offer suggestions to decision-makers to alleviate these burdens on businesses and to ensure that local businesses exploit the benefits of the Single Market.

On 20th November, an MBB delegation – led by MBB President Simon De Cesare and accompanied by Board of Directors and representatives from the Malta Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry, and the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association – presented the Single Market study to then Minister for the Economy Chris Cardona. On the same day, a business seminar was held on ‘Doing Business in the EU’ which delved deeper into the benefits of the Single Market, while discussing how things can be improved for businesses.

The study, carried out by Grant Thornton, was only possible with the direct feedback of Maltese businesses through a wide-ranging survey and face-to-face consultations.

To view the full report, visit www.mbb.org.mt.

21ST-22ND NOVEMBER: LIFE FOSTER PROJECT PARTNERS MEETING In November 2019, the MBB hosted its EU partners collaborating on food waste reduction for the LIFE FOSTER project meeting in Malta. The objective of the meeting was to assess the work conducted over the last year, while setting out a strategy for the following one.

The first half of the project focused on research into the best methods to reduce food waste in restaurant kitchens and has led to the development of a curriculum which is currently being implemented in the participating European VET centres. Throughout the rest of the project, the partners will work to share this knowledge and support hospitality businesses through expert training and other activities.

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28TH NOVEMBER: EEN SECTOR GROUP CHAIRS MEET IN BRUSSELS Ana Vella was invited to represent the Enterprise Europe Network (EEN) Tourism & Cultural Heritage Sector Group at this year’s Annual Chair’s meeting organised by the Executive Agency for SMEs (EASME) in Brussels.

JANUARY 2020 21ST-23RD JANUARY: MBB DELEGATION PRESENTS SINGLE MARKET STUDY IN BRUSSELS

Every year, the meeting brings together sector specialists to learn about new developments and priorities which will set a context for the implementation of the Network’s vision in the year to come. Announcements regarding new roles for the 17 key expert Sector Groups when supporting SME capacity building and future funding opportunities for SMEs were also made during the meeting.

DECEMBER 2019 In January, an MBB delegation led by President Simon De Cesare and including CEO Joe Tanti, EU Affairs Manager Daniel Debono, and Senior Policy Advisor Mark Seychell, met with several key EU legislators in Brussels to present their study on the benefits of the Single Market to Maltese businesses. The meetings also presented an opportunity for MBB to give an update on its work and discuss other relevant issues relating to sustainability and digitalisation, among others.

The MBB delegation met up with MEP Roberta Metsola; MEP Alex Agius Saliba; Malta’s Permanent Representative to the EU, Ambassador Daniel Azzopardi; EUROCHAMBRES CEO, Arnaldo Abbruzzini; MEP Andreas Schwab; European Commission Director for Goods, Joaquim Nunes de Almeida; and HOTREC President, Jens Zimmer Christensen.

10-12TH DECEMBER: MBB ORGANISES OUTGOING COMPANY MISSION IN CORK As part of its business matchmaking role within the Enterprise Europe Network, MBB coordinated an outgoing company mission to Cork, Ireland, together with the Cork Chamber of Commerce and the Cork Innovates Partnership. The mission offered six Maltese companies the opportunity to establish business ties with some of Ireland’s most reputable cluster organisations, businesses, and innovators.

Several bespoke B2B meetings were organised based on the Maltese companies’ requests. The aim was to encourage ambitious Maltese businesses to forge business relations with companies and to take the next step and grow their business overseas.

As a result of this company mission, the MBB succeeded in establishing four cross-border partnership agreements between Maltese and Irish companies.

This capped a months-long lobbying effort, during which lower-level technical meetings were held to ensure that the MBB’s messages and several recommendations were included in the European Commission’s Single Market Barriers report and the Action Plan on Better Implementation and Enforcement of Single Market rules.

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24TH JANUARY: MBB CEO ADDRESSES UNIVERSITY OF MALTA STAKEHOLDER SEMINAR In January 2020, the University of Malta’s Institute for Tourism, Travel and Culture (ITTC) organised a seminar for stakeholders, as part of ITTC’s Periodic Programme Review for the Bachelor of Arts (Hons) Tourism Studies programme. Due to the Institute’s collaboration with MBB on the Erasmus+ Knowledge Alliances project (INCOME Tourism), MBB CEO Joe Tanti was invited to deliver a keynote presentation to those present. Two HR Directors who are also working closely with MBB during the ongoing piloting phase were asked to join the panel of experts and contribute to the discussion.

It is very encouraging to note that the internal changes proposed by the Institute are perfectly in line with the MBB’s INCOME Tourism Project and its objectives.

FEBRUARY 2020 1ST FEBRUARY: MBB EXECUTIVE APPOINTED AS EEN MALTA COMMUNICATION CHAMPION

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through training workshops. MBB was represented by Gabriel Cassar, Sustainable Development Executive.

12TH FEBRUARY: MBB BUSINESS ENERGY CLUSTER HOLDS FIRST KNOLWEGDE SHARING WORKSHOP In February, the MBB held its first technical energy efficiency workshop as part of its Business Energy Cluster. The event consisted of technical presentations on highly efficient systems in place in Malta, as well as working sessions exploring the potential to implement similar systems on other industrial sites. It was moderated by MBB Project Manager, Geoffrey Saliba, and featured presentations by De La Rue and FMCore.

This workshop was the first of a set of planned actions by the Business Energy Cluster aimed at supporting companies to identify, plan and implement energy efficiency projects.

MBB Executive Sarah Abdilla has taken on the role of a ‘Communication Champion’ within Malta’s Enterprise Europe Network consortium. She will continue to drive the Network’s promotional activities and service recognition, by managing and producing content for EEN website and social media platforms, and by developing and implementing communication plans for EEN Malta. Between 24th and 25th February, Ms Abdilla attended her first Communication Champion Training in Brussels. This was an intensive two-day workshop on the future communication strategy of the Network, including the 2020 EUOpen4Business Maltese campaign.

11-12TH FEBRUARY: MBB EXECUTIVE ATTENDS LIFE FOSTER PROJECT MEETING IN MILAN The LIFE FOSTER project partners met up in Milan in order to review the project’s progress and prepare for the upcoming activities. An update was provided on the student training at the participating VET centres, which kicked off in October 2019. The partners have started preparations for the engagement of professional chefs

17TH FEBRUARY: MBB SENIOR EXECUTIVES COMPLETE PUBLIC SPEAKING TRAINING Between 12th and 17th February, MBB Senior Executives Ana Vella and Marija Elena Borg had the opportunity to participate in a three-day training course on masterful public speaking. Led by public speaking coach and trainer Michelle Fenech Seguna, the training provided the ideal platform for all participants to learn how to speak up eloquently, present powerfully and communicate strongly in the professional environment.

Together, Ana and Marija discovered a number of techniques, enabling them to become exceptional business communicators. This initiative is a testament to the MBB team’s eagerness to continuously challenge themselves to strive to do better.

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19TH FEBRUARY: MBB ANNOUNCES INVEST+ COMPETITION WINNERS In December 2019, MBB launched a Call for Opinion Pieces that answer the following questions: “Why do you think financial literacy is important? What steps should be taken to improve the level of financial literacy, especially among young people?”. The call was issued as part of INVEST+ project which is being led in collaboration with HSBC Malta Foundation.

Subsequently, in February 2020, the MBB announced the top seven individuals who have shared their ideas on financial literacy. Christoph Schwaiger, Claire Bezzina, David Muscat, Marcus Sammut, Maria Mizzi, Melanie Vella and Thomas Camilleri were awarded the prize of an all-expenses paid study visit to Brussels, which had to be postponed due to COVID-19.

26-27TH FEBRUARY: MBB CEO COMPLETES EEN TRAINING IN MADRID MBB CEO Joe Tanti attended a three-day Master Class Training Workshop in Madrid, as part of the Certification of Enterprise Europe Network business mentors. The highprofile sessions were delivered by over 14 international industry experts in different mentoring and business-related topics. The certification was awarded to the business mentors following a practical mentoring session and a written exam. Mr Tanti obtained a Certificate with Distinction.

outbreak of COVID-19, most partners participated in this meeting online. Together, they discussed the ongoing and upcoming project deliverables, including the research which the project partners have done to analyse soft skills both from a business and VET students’ points of view. This will result in a practical, easy-to-use and easy-to-adapt information and resource package for trainers regarding soft skills and young leadership skills development. The so-called ‘Implementation Guide for Teachers and Trainers’ will be freely accessible to any trainer through the project website (www.leadertheproject.com), and will include a set of activities which can be used in a VET context (at schools and workplaces).

5TH MARCH: MBB ATTENDS BUSINESSEUROPE DAY

MBB has aligned its activities to complement the main orientation of the Network’s services for 2020 and 2021. Together with the local consortium’s business mentors, this training will further enable MBB to deliver upon the increase of its EEN services as committed for the next two years.

The EEN is encouraging EEN service providers to take full advantage of the free innovation management training such as this one, to increase its capacity to offer the best quality innovation services to start-ups, scale-ups and SMEs.

MARCH 2020 3RD-4TH MARCH: SECOND LEADER PROJECT MEETING The second LEADER transnational project meeting took place in Copenhagen in March 2020. Due to imposed precautionary measures linked to the

MBB EU Affairs Manager, Daniel Debono, participated in the flagship BusinessEurope Day Conference in Brussels. Under the slogan ‘Prosperity, People, Planet’, the conference included high-profile EU officials, legislators, senior company officials and stakeholders who debated trending topics such as how to shape the future European industrial strategy and SME policy in a truly integrated Single Market; how to foster effective investment in innovation and digitalisation; how to organise an economically and socially sustainable transition to a low-carbon economy; how to equip people with the necessary skills and modernise social policy; how to improve economic governance to deliver necessary reforms; and many other matters.

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12TH MARCH: TOURISM PROJECT VIDEO CONFERENCE WITH INTERNATIONAL PARTNERS AND LEARNING TRIOS In March, the INCOME Tourism project partners and national learning trios were supposed to meet in Ravensburg, Germany for a week-long programme of activities and dissemination of best practices linked to the German dual system of education. Due to the outbreak of COVID-19, however, it was decided that the event – which was expected to bring together over 90 people from Croatia, Germany, Italy, Malta, Portugal, Spain and the Netherlands – had to be postponed until further notice. Instead, the project partners and national learning trios shared their ongoing piloting experiences using video conferencing facilities.

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from a ‘modular micro factory’ to a ‘natural language processing system for medical reporting’. The winning solutions in each challenge area were then invited to join a European Innovation Council COVID Platform to facilitate connections with end-users (such as hospitals), and provide access to investors, foundations and other funding opportunities from across the EU. 30TH APRIL: MBB ORGANISES EU GREEN DEAL WEBINAR

APRIL 2020 24-26TH APRIL: MBB CEO PARTICIPATES IN EUROPEAN COMMISSION HACKATHON In collaboration with the European Commission Representation in Malta, the MBB organised a webinar on the European Green Deal to discuss the challenges and opportunities of transiting to a green economy and reflect on the COVID-19 crisis’ impact on the long-term EU objective of becoming climate neutral by 2050. The need to support sustainability is as urgent as ever, as this will also help to generate economic growth as we come out of the pandemic.

The webinar – moderated by MBB EU Affairs Manager, Daniel Debono – saw the participation of over 100 people from all sectors of the Maltese economy. It was addressed by Joanna Drake, Deputy Director General at the European Commission’s DG Environment as well as the heads of the respective Maltese delegations in the European Parliament: MEPs Miriam Dalli and Roberta Metsola.

MBB CEO Joe Tanti participated as a mentor in the EUvsVirus pan-European Hackathon aimed at providing solutions for various COVID-19 related challenges, such as health, business continuity, social cohesion and education, among others. Organised by the European Commission, this unique hackathon connected civil society, innovators, partners and buyers to develop innovative solutions to overcome these challenges.

Over 20,900 participants from across the EU and beyond joined the hackathon and simultaneously worked together to hack the coronavirus – which is believed to be the worst tragedy of our generation.

Over 2,150 solutions were submitted, which range

Different sectorial topics considered pillars of the European Green Deal were an integral part of the discussion, covering the circular economy, sustainable tourism, smart mobility and investing in the green economy. For this part, local stakeholders with expertise in these areas contributed to the discussion.

These included Adrian Mallia, Managing Director at Adi Associates and Chairman of the Malta Chamber’s Sustainability Committee; George Micallef, tourism consultant and MHRA Council member; Konrad Pule, General Manager of Malta Public Transport; and Joseph Darmanin, Chief Business Development Officer of the Malta Development Bank.

The webinar event was supported by the Enterprise Europe Network.

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MAY 2020 4TH MAY: MBB HOSTS CONSULTATION SESSION ON NEW EU RULES ON E-COMMERCE

sized companies in Europe. Participants shared ideas on how to further support SMEs during the COVID-19 pandemic, not only financially but also by giving back opportunities by opening borders and having a ‘COVID-19 Tourism Season’. This is needed to avoid too many failed companies and too high a loss of GDP in Europe.

Referring to the Maltese situation, Mr Tanti stated that like many other countries, hospitality and tourism have seen the most significant impact from COVID-19. As one of Malta’s main economic pillars and following several years of large increases in arrivals, the industry is now facing an unprecedented challenge, which requires constant monitoring to ensure proper understanding and sound decision-making.

The European Commission will be proposing legislation to reform the way goods, services and content are made available online. This initiative is being called the ‘Digital Services Act’ and will become the legal framework for the EU in all digital developments, thus affecting all companies that offer goods or services online, as well as those that host online content or provide access to online content. In addition, there is the possibility that this new legislation will replace the current E-Commerce Directive.

27TH MAY: MBB EXECUTIVE SPEAKS AT EUROPEAN YOUTH WEEK EVENT

In view of this, the MBB hosted an online consultation session with Maltese businesses on the ‘Digital Services Act – New EU rules for e-commerce’, moderated by MBB Senior Policy Advisor, Mark Seychell. This consultation session was organised in collaboration with MEP Alex Agius Saliba who is leading the negotiations on this crucial matter in the European Parliament.

During the session, local businesses gave their opinion on how they believe that access to goods and services online should be regulated. This allowed the MBB to create a strong position with which to lobby the EU institutions once negotiations on the new rules are underway.

The online consultation session was supported by the Enterprise Europe Network.

15TH MAY: MBB CEO ADDRESSES EUROPEAN ENTREPRENEURS CEA-PME MEETING

MBB CEO Joe Tanti addressed a web-meeting organised

by European Entrepreneurs CEA-PME, a Brusselsbased business confederation of small and medium-

As part of her Communication Champion role for Enterprise Europe Network (EEN) Malta, MBB Executive Sarah Abdilla was invited to speak during one of the European Youth Event online sessions on ‘Entrepreneurs during the COVID-19 crisis: How can the EU help?’, organised by the European Parliament. Sarah presented the EEN’s services for businesses and shared some practical examples of how EEN can help SMEs, even amid the pandemic!

The EYE Online offers young people from all over the EU the opportunity to virtually meet and inspire each other, share their stories and exchange their views with experts, decision-makers, activists and influencers. The EYE Online also addresses young people’s concerns about the actions and role of the EU in the context of COVID-19 crisis, echoing a strong civic responsibility message to young Europeans as part of the #EuropeansAgainstCovid19 campaign.

MALTA BUSINESS BUREAU ANNUAL REPORT 2019 | 2020

JUNE 2020 5TH JUNE: MBB HOSTS CONSULTATION SESSION ON TOURISM INDUSTRY The tourism industry is one of the hardest hit sectors by the coronavirus pandemic. In view of this, the MBB, with the support of the Malta Hotels and Restaurant Association (MHRA), organised an online consultation session with MEP Josianne Cutajar on ‘Placing Tourism on the EU Agenda’. Contributing to the discussion were also MBB President, Simon De Cesare and MHRA VicePresident, Angela Attard Fenech.

The session – moderated by MBB Senior Advisor, Mark Seychell – covered three key topics: the Digital Services Act which is likely to profoundly change the way bookings are made online; the SME Strategy which aims to improve the business environment for SMEs; and post COVID-19 measures that may be implemented by authorities and businesses in order to speed the recovery process.

The online consultation session was supported by Enterprise Europe Network.

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Board of Directors 2019/2020

SIMON DE CESARE President

JOHN A. HUBER Vice-President

CLAUDIENNE HARB Director

ANTHONY P. TABONE Director

SERGIO VELLA Director

MALCOLM JONES Director

BRIAN MUSCAT Director

Contributors to the Board:

JOE TANTI CEO, MBB

KEVIN J. BORG Director General, Malta Chamber

ANDREW AGIUS MUSCAT CEO, MHRA

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Executive Team

JOE TANTI Chief Executive Officer

DANIEL DEBONO EU Affairs Manager & Head of Brussels Operations

MARK SEYCHELL Senior Policy Advisor

ANA VELLA Senior Executive – Business Support

MARIJA ELENA BORG Senior Executive – EU Funding

SARAH ABDILLA Executive – Communications

GABRIEL CASSAR Executive – Sustainable Development

CYNTHIA GRECH MCCORMICK Office Coordinator

Project-based team members:

MARIKA HUBER DIFME Project Manager

GEOFFREY SALIBA Business Energy Cluster Manager

MICHELE AGIUS EEN Project Executive