SMEs essential to Malta's economic and social progress, Prime Minister says

Small and medium-sized enterprises were the mainstay of Malta’s economy and essential to the country’s economic and social progress, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat has said.

He said it was important not to overlook the potential of family businesses. "We have come to understand that a one-size-fits-all system does not work for Malta. Our own business model has led to unprecedented economic success," the Prime Minister said.

Muscat was delivering the keynote speech at the World Federation of Exchanges SME conference at the Malta Stock Exchange on Monday. He said that in Malta’s small and tight-knit community, SMEs generated around two-thirds of the country’s value added.

 The Malta Stock Exchange had a role to play in initiatives that allowed SMEs to access the market at a very reasonable cost.

"Having a small business requires passion, and a drive to invest all waking hours into it," he said, adding the government had decided to provide better help to enter the market. "We trusted businesses to take the leap."

Muscat said this helped facilitate more foreign direct investment and led to the country’s first fiscal surplus, last year. "It has also wiped out our deficit and made Malta one of the fastest growing economies in Europe."