Dalli insists on flexibility in top civil servants' thinking

The Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs, John Dalli, yesterday exhorted heads of government departments and parastatal organisations to add a strong dose of flexibility to their way of thinking when they deal with small enterprises.

The country, he said, needed to invest far more funds in research and remove stumbling blocks that prevented innovative ideas by entrepreneurs from taking shape and yielding results.

"Entrepreneurs cannot be held back for a year-and-a-half by red tape before being given the go-ahead to move along with their initiatives.

"One should not keep citing regulations as if they are divine commandments with which to pour cold water over and kill off initiative.

"The country can no longer afford, for example, the Malta Environment and Planning Authority and the trade department taking too long to issue permits," Mr Dalli argued.

Earlier this week Mr Dalli called on heads of government departments to contain their spending.

The minister was making off-the-cuff comments while addressing a half-day conference at the Metco offices, in San Gwann with the theme "Thinking small in an enlarging Europe". He departed from a prepared speech, which was more of an overview of what the government was doing in the small and medium sized enterprises sector.

The minister said he did not mean to say that one ought to do away with regulation. If, at Mepa, for example, the rules were not suitable, the best thing would be to change them but, at the same time, this did not mean that every architect should have a free hand to lay down his or her own regulations.

"Nobody has his own empire. It is important to dismantle the walls that separate organisations, walls that hamper the efficiency of those who want to work.

"Let us not hinder the people who want to work", the minister entreated his audience.

Earlier, Edwin Vassallo, the parliamentary secretary at the ministry for economic services, focused on the message that government departments and entities could not keep piling burdens they dream of onto small businesses.

Quoting the rural proverb that "a hundred nothing killed the donkey", Mr Vassallo said that the policy whereby small businesses were marginalised and burdened with innumerable burdens was obsolete.

He said he would be dedicating next year to the spreading of the culture of entrepreneurship.

Vince Farrugia, director general at the General Retailers and Traders-GRTU, called on the National Statistics Office to compile data showing the economic impact of SMEs.

Reginald Fava, president of the Chamber of Commerce, likened excessive bureaucracy to a worm that ate into the economy.

The Small Business Efficiency Unit at the finance ministry may be contacted on sbu@gov.mt or through 21226688.