Bank of Valletta is assisting Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) in obtaining tailor-made solutions that contribute to the growth of their business.

The BOV EU and SME desk offers business planning and a mentoring service on a one-to-one basis. This assistance ranges from business planning, financing package opportunities, European Union funding and local Government and agency incentives.

BOV offers its expertise in business development and export and import ventures, including networking with European Union to further enhance the access to finance for SMEs and offer value-added services. This may also include an on-site visit to the better understand the customer’s needs and requirements.

Bank of Valletta has also developed a number of financing and co-financing packages linked to Grant Schemes for rural development, fisheries, tourism and manufacturing amongst others, under the EU Structural and Cohesion Funds for Malta for the programming period 2007 to 2013. Other services offered by the Bank’s EU and SME desk include information about local Government incentives, the European Internal Market and European Union business opportunities.

EU funding Opportunities:

Over €850 million in Structural and Cohesions funds have been allocated to the Government of Malta over the programming period 2007 to 2013. Budget allocations for these funds were as follows: €444million for European Regional Development fund; €284 million for Cohesion Funds; €112million for European Social Funds; whilst €15 million were allocated for the European Territorial Cooperation Programme. Every year, these funds were topped up by the EU to factor in inflation. The EU funding in Malta is being channeled both to the public and private sectors. In the case of the private sector, funds have been allocated for a number of schemes managed namely by: Malta Enterprise, Tourism Sustainable Development Unit within the Office of the Prime Minister , Employment and Training Corporation, Paying Agency within the Ministry of Resources and Rural Affairs and Social Welfare Standards.

SMEs in Malta:

Malta’s economy is dominated by Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), particularly micro enterprises, which represent over 95 per cent of the registered economic operators. Malta had 34,088 registered SMEs employing 88,499 (i.e. 60.8% of the labour supply). With Malta’s integration into the economic and monetary union, SMEs have been faced with increased challenges and opportunities that have resulted in a change in the traditional business model used by domestic operators. Challenges involved increased local and foreign competition; higher regulatory compliance costs; increasingly demanding customers; decreased customer loyalty; increased price sensitivity and a need to focus on quality and service assurance. Opportunities centred on tapping into niche market opportunities within the European Single Market and beyond.

Services offered by the BOV EU and SME desk are free of charge. For more information, please contact BOV’s EU and SME desk on 2275 5779, 2275 3303 or via e-mail on victoria.azzopardi@bov.com or peter.sant@bov.com

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