Deputy Minister Louis Grech together with Parliamentary Secretary Ian Borg launched a new SME initiative through which around 850 enterprises will benefit during the next five years. Through this initiative, Malta will benefit from around €60 million of funding allocated for this purpose.
Mr Grech revealed this information to those present for the launch of this initiative. The funding will be sourced from the European Structural and Investments Fund, the EU Horizon 2020 Programme and the European Investment Bank. Various major financial institutions as well as other important stakeholders and members from European institutions were present for the event.
The deputy minister also pointed out that Malta was the second EU member state after Spain to launch this initiative. Jyrki Katainen, the European Commission vice president responsible for jobs, growth and competitiveness as well as Carlos Moedas, commissioner responsible for research,science and innovation endorsed Malta for leading by example and congratulated on being the second member state to embark on this venture.
Improving access to funding for SMEs was one of Malta's top country-specific recommendations for 2015 issued by the European Commission for Malta's economic growth. Dr Borg said that financial initiatives such as the one that was launched will facilitate this access to funding, thus helping Malta achieve its economic goals.
Furthermore, Dr Borg stated that this initiative complements existing initiatives taken by the Maltese government in this regard and is not the only one that the government plans to undertake, having plans to introduce another scheme of around €22 million in the near future.
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