Malta Chamber of SMEs successfully holds its yearly general meeting

The Malta Chamber of SMEs on Thursday 28th April 2022 held its 73rd Annual General Meeting.

In his opening address, President Paul Abela said that while 2021 continued to be significantly impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic, we are now recovering and getting back to normality. Abela also said that a new serious crises has since also developed with the conflict in Ukraine and the SME Chamber is also closely working with members and the effects on businesses.

Mr Abela highlighted that throughout this year, the SME Chamber continued to assist and be of support to thousands of businesses and ensuring they have a trusted partner to rely on.

During this AGM, Malta Chamber of SMEs CEO Abigail Agius Mamo presented the Chamber’s Annual Report for 2021.

Agius Mamo explained several milestones achieved throughout 2021 and said that the Malta Chamber of SMEs has once a year made it impact on businesses this year and highlighted 30 tangible achievements businesses gained thanks to the work the SME Chamber has done.

Amongst these are securing of aid packages for different sectors affected by the pandemic; the extension of Wage supplement and tax deferrals through 2021; the improvement of Covid restrictions to help business function and recuperate; a new round of vouchers; a rent subsidy scheme widened to cater for the difficulties in logistics, and achieving the biggest incentive within the Malta Enterprise portfolio - Smart and Sustainable Grant Scheme.

Other achievements listed included the reducing of the delays with the processing of single work permit; the facilitating of the process of change in employer for TCNs; the restarting of the acceptance of student visa applications; a new agreement for Pharmacy Owners; the right for a bank account; and the extending of the Recovery and Resilience Funds for the benefit of the private sector.

There were among many other achievements for the SME Chamber and its members. Apart from this, the Malta Chamber of SMEs also won two prestigious awards for its support to the business community, one in Malta and one at EU level.

The members of the Malta Chamber of SMEs unanimously approved the organisations’ Annual and Financial reports and commended the SME Chamber President, CEO, Council and the team for the hard work and results achieved.