The Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry wants the government to provide it with funds to help it develop Malta's franchise sector.

Peter Grima, chairman of the Chamber's Internationalisation Committee said it was important for the service sector to the supported as businesses find ways of expanding beyond the local market.

Mr Grima told The Times Business that the major sectors with the potential to franchise their services are the retail sector such as fashion and accessories, bakeries and confectioneries, household accessories, toys and gifts, as well as catering, English language schools, real estate, ICT and software, and healthcare services.

"We have been talking to Malta Enterprise for the past two years in order to convince them to support the franchise sector. In fact Malta Enterprise was able to secure funds worth £50,000 from the Commonwealth to develop this sector, as well as the services of a franchising expert, Farah Rose, which was great, but we obviously need more," he said.

Mr Grima explained that the Chamber was interested in developing two types of franchises.

"There is a franchise of a Maltese brand or service and then there is an international brand which is represented locally and which is also represented by the same Maltese company in overseas markets.

"An example of the former is Cafe' Jubilee in Budapest and examples of the latter are McDonalds in Malta and the Baltics and the Body Shop in Malta and North Italy," he said.

Mr Grima said it was of crucial importance for Malta to invest in franchising services, because it was a way of allowing Maltese businesses to expand outside the small domestic market.

"We need a package, a support structure for this sector, such as tax breaks or grants and I sincerely hope Finance Minister Tonio Fenech will consider this when drawing up the Budget."

"We would like Mr Fenech to give a specific budget to Malta Enterprise for franchising. We want to generate wealth in our society and I hope the government appreciates that franchising Maltese businesses is one way of achieving this," he said.

Mr Grima said a blueprint for the franchising sector will be launched at a seminar entitled Franchising Your Business Abroad organised by the Chamber next month, to which there has been a strong response.

He said that he was unaware of any EU funds specifically targeted at franchising, as the EU was more geared towards the manufacturing sector because it tended to create more jobs.

Mr Grima also said his committee's next project would be to encourage foreign direct investment into Malta by convincing international franchise companies to re-locate to Malta where they would conduct their research, design and advertising work.

He pleaded with the government to be reasonable with the Chamber's requests for funding: "We are simply asking for a bit more balance, as Malta Enterprise traditionally supports the manufacturing sector. We need support for core Maltese business structures and for Maltese businessmen whose taxes contribute handsomely to the Treasury."

Mr Grima emphasised that franchising and hence, the expansion of Maltese business interests overseas did create benefits for the country. "It generates high value added jobs for Maltese executives and lower costs of sales for Maltese operations. Also large franchise headquarters can re-locate to Malta and there is the ripple effect on the local economy which cannot be ignored," he said.

Franchising is a sector worth supporting, he insisted, adding: "You'll be surprised how many Maltese businesses have gone abroad, mainly to Europe, because of the single market and the rule of law."

"If we look at where Malta should be in 25 years time, our services sector, and particularly the franchise sector, should be an important pillar of the economy."

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