MaltaMedia.com

The Malta Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry has recently announced to its members important achievements resulting from persistent negotiations it held with the Authorities with respect to Utility Tariffs.

Following the latest tariff revision last December, the Malta Chamber has been engaged in intensive discussions with Government with a view to agreeing on solutions that will mitigate the negative impact on the competitiveness and viability of our members. The discussions - away from the limelight and the cameras - included several meetings with Minister Tonio Fenech, Malta Resources Authority and Malta Enterprise, besides our representations at MCESD.

As expected, these talks proved difficult, not least because of the constraints in public finances and the limited room for maneuverability. On the other hand, our Chamber’s representation of business is very widespread and the needs of companies vary according to size and sector.

Negotiations on behalf of the manufacturing sector, whilst difficult, could be concluded first due to the fact that the required assistance, once negotiated and agreed, could then be targeted at a relatively small number of companies.

But the Malta Chamber was not satisfied with achieving assistance for one sector whilst ignoring the plight of the other sectors found within its membership.

Throughout all discussions, it was acutely aware of the needs of the whole spectrum of its membership - the vast majority of which are micro-enterprises. Throughout the consultation process, it sought to ensure that during the difficult year ahead, they will receive support which could go beyond the important support-measures that were announced in the 2010 Budget Speech by way of tax credits on new investments, access to micro credits and extended Malta Enterprise, ERDF-financed schemes.

In this regard, the Malta Chamber has consistently insisted that the mitigating measures which have been made available to the heavy users of energy in the manufacturing sector are also made available to all those businesses, irrespective of sector, that will be drastically affected by the new tariffs.

President, Mrs Helga Ellul announced to all Chamber members last week that as a result of the Chamber’s endeavours, the Minister of Finance has now confirmed that Government was willing to consider extending support to other commercial entities (besides manufacturing companies) that are, or will be facing serious difficulties as a result of the hike in the energy tariffs. The Chamber agreed that such assistance will be channeled via the existing Task Force mechanism and in line with the existing framework that has been successful since it was set up early last year. It was also agreed that all assistance would be granted subject to the necessary evaluation process as has been the case with the manufacturing industry during 2009.

Clearly this is an important development which will continue to help protect jobs, investment and future growth. The Malta Chamber will however continue to engage with the authorities on a technical and administrative level for the implementation of other mitigating measures including the extension of the night-tariffs scheme. In addition, the Malta Chamber continues to urge Government to open up a structured and holistic dialogue on the sustainability of energy generation in Malta. It must continue to stress that the competitiveness of our business community must be safeguarded if the private sector is to continue contributing to Malta’s prosperity by investing and creating more jobs.