The road blocks that stopped a business

Recently Frank Salt asked some very pertinent and searching questions on "the two faces of Malta" (October 31).

As far as a country to live, Malta has a lot going for it - the first face of Malta. A wonderfully rich heritage and lifestyle surrounded by blue waters that epitomise the traveller's view of the Mediterranean island. Great weather and crucially a very safe and relaxed way of life, which is full of hustle and bustle!

Look at any village or town on a typical evening and you will find young and old congregating in groups, deep in animated discussion on the day that was. Just one of the many facets that draw us to Malta.

The second face of Malta is encountered when trying to conduct business. Here life begins to get very involved and complicated, needless to say expensive too. Red tape, bureaucracy and antiquated laws have all but made us seriously review our business future here. Why and how can foreign investment be made welcome when it takes months to get simple things achieved? A case in point is the five months it took to obtain our VAT registration.

We found out several months later, having set up our company, registering for VAT etc. following threats from anonymous callers, that we did not have a trading license. Surely when complying with MFSA requirements for the registration of a company, there should be a common consensus by all, as to additional legal requirements, in order for a company to operate.

This seems obvious to us, but here it appears the civil service is made up of hundreds of mini empires within various departments. There is a constant struggle afoot between these empires within departments and so the foreigner, who in most cases does not know anyone on the "inside", is left as we have been, to wander fruitlessly between the empires. These journeys often involve costs; as to get documents or lodge applications costs money, only to be told weeks or months later that you lodged the wrong document with the incorrect department! Surely they can see this when you lodge them?

So after 10 months of effort, research, exploration and investment we are left little choice but to stop our business and pursue other avenues of employment as the concrete road blocks and obstacles placed in our way are of such magnitude that we cannot overcome them, without flagrantly breaking the law in one way or another.

Malta is losing out on the opportunities of innovative products and services, the employment these create and the obvious spin-offs in terms of local companies supplying products, services, property etc. Malta is a great place to live, but not a great place to invest and do business in, unless you happen to fall into an area such as IT, gambling etc.

We are sick and tired of hearing "But this is Malta!". It is no excuse!