MBR_ISSUE 42_LowRes

Malta Business Review
NEWSMAKERS
“SME Initiative will help over 600 SMEs” -
Parliamentary Secretary Aaron Farrugia
Addressing the conference ‘Leveraging EU
Funds: A Development Bank Perspective’,
Parliamentary Secretary Aaron Farrugia said the
SME Initiative is already achieving significant
success in Malta, “so far, EUR 50 million have
been committed in loans to 460 SMEs”.
Dr Farrugia added that for Malta to get more
value, more ‘bang for our buck’, in the next
MFF post 2020, leverage is crucial. “Across
the EU it is likely that the traditional mix
of ESIF and government- owned funds to
finance projects will not be enough to sustain
the growth momentum, especially as most
governments remain fiscally constrained.
Even though my government’s position is that
financial instruments should complement
grants, we recognise that the use of financial
instruments will assume greater importance
in the next EU budget”.
On the future role of the Malta Development
Bank, Dr Farrugia said, “I am pleased that
the Government of Malta is now working
to address the market failure and funding
gap through the establishment of the Malta
Development Bank. National development
bank models have long been used across
Europe - Germany, France, and the UK are
the obvious examples - but also successfully
in smaller member states, particularly
Hungary. There can be no sustainable growth
if infrastructure development is slowed down
or paused. EU cohesion funds have and will
continue to play an important role in this.
However, leveraging of scarce resources
through better finance blending from the
Malta Development Bank and private sector
will play an important part in keeping our
growth momentum”. MBR
Source: The Parliamentary Secretariat For
European Funds And Social Dialogue
Photo: DOI - Kevin Abela
Photo: DOI - Kevin Abela
Bitbay, one of Europe’s largest cryptocurrency
exchanges, to relocate in Malta
Parliamentary Secretary for Financial Services,
Digital Economy and Innovation Silvio Schembri
welcomes the decision by Bitbay—one of
Europe’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges—
to domicile in Malta.
“Bitbay’s announcement follows similar
decisions other companies such as Binance,
Okex, and ANX International took in the past
weeks soon after our vision ‘Malta – A leader
in DLT Regulation’ was launched. The three
bills—the Malta Digital Innovation Authority
Bill, the Virtual Financial Asset Bill, and the
Innovation Technological Arrangements Services
Bill—are now in the second reading stage in
Parliament and will be enacted into law in
the coming days. This will eventually kickstart
the application process for licensing that will
provide legal certainty that operators within
this space are looking for”, said Schembri,
while adding that Malta, the Blockchain
Island, is clearly establishing itself as the go-to
place within this sphere of operations.
Bitbay’s decision came after conducting an
analysis regarding the ideal jurisdiction that
provides services related to cryptocurrencies
in the European Union. After productive
discussions with Parliamentary Secretary Silvio
Schembri, the Maltese jurisdiction was seen as
a natural choice by Bitbay’s management.
Bitbay is one of the biggest cryptocurrency
exchanges in Europe. It was established in
2014, provides access to 29 digital currencies,
has over 800,000 active users, and processes
125 transactions per minute with more
than 200 employees, making it the biggest
cryptocurrency business in Poland. MBR
Source: The Parliamentar secretariat For
Financial Services, Digital Economy And
Innovation
Seven new companies and entities achieve
NCPE’s Equality Mark
During the 14th Annual Conference of the
National Commission for the Promotion of
Equality, Minister for European Affairs and
Equality Helena Dalli thanked the National
Commission for the Promotion of Equality
(NCPE) for its work on the gender pay gap last
year, and said that consultations have been
carried out with Iceland and Australia on
this issue in order to find the best model for
Malta. She explained that one of the ways in
which the government is tangibly addressing
this issue is through setting up an appropriate
structure in the Department for Industrial and
Employment Relations to compile necessary
information in order to investigate complaints
of unequal pay.
“The Gender Pay Gap is a multifaceted
reality. When you look at a woman’s career
longitudinally and compare it to a man’s—who
has the same experience and qualifications—
it is most likely that the woman has earned
less throughout her career because of career
breaks, at times missing out on promotions,
or has worked reduced hours due to family
responsibilities”. The Minister explained
that this affects both pay and pensions.
There could also be outright discrimination
in salaries and also mentioned the fact
that more women entering in low paying
employment compounds the situation.
Minister Dalli said that the Government is
committed to continue promoting a feminist
agenda that addresses work-life responsibilities
through legislation and fiscal incentives.
She also referred to the launch of the
consultative council on women’s rights,
which is facilitating dialogue between the
government and civil society to improve
policies and laws that further promote
women’s rights.
While listing the various initiatives that the
NCPE undertook in 2017, Minister Dalli noted
that the Commission’s work is very much in
line with the Government’s commitment
to continue safeguarding equality, not only
by developing or by strengthening legal and
policy frameworks, but also by ensuring
that these rights are translated into reality
for everyone. She also said that the Equality
Act and the Human Rights and Equality
Commission Act which are being finalised,
will set up a fully independent human rights
institution in line with the Paris Principles
and will fall under the remit of Parliament. In
light of this, the NCPE will become a National
Human Rights and Equality Commission,
strengthening its remit.
During the annual conference, seven new
companies an-d entities were awarded the
NCPE’s Equality Mark and 14 were re-certified.
This award is given to companies that enable
work-life balance for workers with caring
responsibilities, making gender equality one
of their values, and whose management is
based on the recognition and promotion of
the potential of all women and men. To date,
there are 85 certified organisations. MBR
Courtesy: The Ministry For European Affairs
And Equality
Photo: DOI -
Clodagh Farrugia O'Neill
Photo: DOI -
Clodagh Farrugia O'Neill
58