Investments Minister Austin Gatt said yesterday he had asked Malta Enterprise to examine ways of assisting the Film Commission develop Malta into a centre for the film industry.

Speaking during the launch by Malta Enterprise of two grant schemes through which local enterprises can benefit from a total of €2.8 million, the minister said Malta Enterprise should concentrate heavily on the film sector.

Dr Gatt also spoke of challenges ahead in manufacturing and the role of Malta Enterprise in generating investment in the country.

He said the strong sense of entrepreneurship in the 1960s and 1970s had diminished recently. Malta Enterprise's function should be to revive the sense of entrepreneurship among the Maltese.

To make this possible it had to change its working methodology and identify sectors where Malta could be sold and concentrate on them. There had been success in certain target areas, such as pharmaceuticals and IT, but not in others.

The minister said Malta Enterprise should focus more on research to see where the opportunities lay, target those sectors with attractive packages and reduce bureaucracy to realise that investment in a much faster period than at present.

Malta Enterprise chief executive officer Philip Micallef said the agency was trying to analyse how to cluster companies, seeing, for example, how industries like ST, which bought many products for their operations, could get their supplies from local industries.

The schemes launched yesterday are part of the 2004-2006 structural funds programme for Malta and the call for project submissions will be opened to the public on September 13.

They are part financed by the EU's European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the government and are intended for micro-enterprises and SMEs in the manufacturing and related sectors with a growth potential.

One of the aid schemes is to improve business results and access to new markets through market development and internationalisation.

The other scheme is aimed at supporting enterprises upgrade their operations.

Thirty-five per cent of the cost will be financed by the ERDF, 25 per cent by the government and 40 per cent by the private sector. The maximum project value per enterprise is Lm5,500.

Applications for the schemes will be assessed on a competitive basis on a predetermined scoring system. The first applications must be submitted to Malta Enterprise by October 29, with other application dates being opened every two months, depending upon availability of funds.

Application forms and guidelines will be available for download on the Malta Enterprise website.

www.maltaenterprise.com