The cultural and creative industries have the potential to significantly contribute towards Malta’s future economic growth while at the same time offering the Maltese economy an avenue to diversify. This was the central theme of a workshop which brought together stakeholders in the creative sector as well as business.
The event was organised by Bank of Valletta and the European Commission Representation in Malta together with the Malta Business Bureau and the Creative Economy Working Group.
“Ideas are the capital of this sector and their value should be maximised,” said Martin Bugelli, head of the European Commission Representation in Malta, in his introductory speech.
Mr Bugelli introduced Sylvain Pasqua from the European Commission’s Directorate General for Education and Culture, who gave a presentation on the opportunities the EU provides to the creative industry sector, specifically the new Creative Europe programme. New forms of financing for the creative industries, particularly financial engineering instruments through EU Structural Funds, were explained by Mark Scicluna Bartoli, head of BOV’s EU Business Development Department.
Mr Scicluna Bartoli explained the bank’s proactive role in improving access to finance and EU financing for Maltese creative industries through its EU Representation Office in Brussels and its Malta EU Business Development Department.
Peter James Sant from BOV explained the bank’s Jeremie financing package and highlighted possible EU funding streams for the Valletta 2018 European Capital of Culture.
A presentation by Caldon Mercieca gave a snapshot of the creative industries in Malta, highlighting the existing challenges as well as their growth potential. This broad overview was also discussed in the context of V.18 – Valletta as European Capital of Culture 2018, the state of play of which was explained by David Felice, chairman of the Valletta 2018 Foundation.
Participants had positive comments on the fact that various contact points for different EU funding programmes were represented. These were followed by concrete case studies of start-ups and projects that would potentially benefit from funding under the Creative Europe programme.