Malta’s Small Business Act was this week hailed a best practice model at the first informal meeting of the Network of National SME Envoys of the 27 member states in Budapest, Parliamentary Secretary for Small Business Jason Azzopardi told The Times Business.
Dr Azzopardi, who was recently named Malta’s SME Envoy, was invited to make a presentation at the meeting to showcase the island’s Small Business Act which is currently being discussed in Parliament.
“Our law will be the first among the 27 states which is making an explicit reference to the SME Envoy, whose tasks, among others, will be to oversee the implementation of the initiatives of the SBA,” Dr Azzopardi told The Times Business from Budapest on Tuesday.
“Malta’s act has been so highly praised because of its specific reference to the SME Envoy who has been tasked to champion the interests of SMEs which are enunciated in the Act.”
Dr Azzopardi said the Small Business Act was among the first laws in Europe to make specific reference to an SME Impact Assessment. Any legislation impacting on small businesses will have to be sifted through the assessment before going to Cabinet.
The impact assessment is a means to make the public sector more sensitive and responsible to the needs of SMEs. Authorities will be more business-oriented and business-centred than ever before, Dr Azzopardi said.
The culture change will be gradual but all-encompassing, he added.
The fundamental aim of the entire exercise was to improve small firms’ business and operational environment by minimising red tape and giving them greater opportunity to dialogue with government on issues that concerned them.
The Act provided for a College of Regulators – authorities such as the Standards Authority, the Department of Trade, and the Malta Environment and Planning Authority – whose activity impacts SME, to be able to sit at the same table at a forum presided by the Finance Minister.
Dr Azzopardi explained it was a way of ensuring “the right hand knew what the left was doing”.
With small firms of various sizes making up 98 per cent of Malta’s business landscape, Dr Azzopardi conceded the ambitious process would take time but by enshrining such a culture change in legislation, the government was underlining its commitment to SMEs.
“The government is building a long-lasting structure for the future which will provide more certainty and stability for SMEs,” he pointed out. An information campaign and a series of meetings with business organisations and leaders will begin soon after the Small Business Act is finalised.