Unemployed people eager to set up their own business ought to be made eligible for up to one year’s worth of income support, the Chamber for Small and Medium Enterprise, GRTU said.

Would-be entrepreneurs could use the year to get the appropriate training and get their businesses off the ground.

The proposal is among the GRTU’s suggestions for making Malta, the country with the EU’s lowest rate of entrepreneurship, more start-up friendly.

Employment and investment support schemes should not be deadline-constrained, the GRTU argued, as SMEs often could not time their needs with scheme deadlines.

The union also called on the Government to put greater faith in SMEs and hand them grants in instalments rather than one lump sum at the end of a project.