The Malta Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry affirms that research, technology development and innovation (RTDI) is one of the foremost pillars upon which our country’s lasting economic growth rests.
RTDI can provide Malta with a competitive edge without making painful cost-cutting sacrifices. Indeed, Malta can enhance its competitiveness above that of other regions and states through careful implementation of an RTDI plan. This, in turn, will improve income for Maltese workers as a result of raising value added through innovation.
Establishing an innovation, research and development strategy for start-ups provides a vital avenue that leads to improved long-term competitiveness and enhanced business growth.
It was disappointing to note that successive budgets proposed scarce initiatives, if any, to assist the private and public sectors in investing further in their RTDI capacity. Given the importance the new European Commission is allocating to this area, it was foreseen that the government would be implementing measures in this field as well.
The availability of a proper and sustainable infrastructure in research and innovation provides Maltese industry with a better chance of building and retaining a more resilient and competitive position. Moreover, this is a prerequisite for investment attractiveness in any industry or sector.
In its pre-Budget recommendations to the government, the Malta Chamber has proposed to promote knowledge transfer between industry and academia through knowledge transfer partnerships (KTPs). These have been very successful in the UK and the US in encouraging close collaboration between industry and research institutes through government financial assistance.
Research, development and innovation cannot be dealt with as ancillary matters to the economy anymore
The country also needs to assess and forecast the skills and human resources required for RTDI processes to be in place while facilitating visa applications to allow more third-country nationals to be able to work in Malta as researchers.
The government is also encouraged to promote the concept of ‘living labs’ in Malta on the lines of similar investments made by Vodafone Malta in the past and the recent announced plans by Huawei for Malta. Other sectors which could be attracted to use Malta as a test base for their products/services include green technologies such as renewable energy sources, electric transport solutions and ICT applications (apps), among others.
In its pre-Budget recommendations, the Chamber also shed light on the matter of access to finance. There is a clear need to increase the budget under the MCST national R&I programme which is currently considered to be too low. Further to this, the Chamber looks forward to the 2014-2020 Structural Funds that should allocate a total funding in excess of €72 million under Priority Axis 1, which is specifically intended towards infrastructural investment in this area.
Nevertheless, efforts must not stop solely at national and EU funding sources but must encourage the private sector to invest in start-ups through measures that enhance equity financing. The Chamber proposed to introduce a tax allowance of 200 per cent on RTDI expenditure to companies. This could be further expanded to include investments in innovative start-ups and research activities at the University and Mcast.
Last but not least, the local intellectual property rights registration office within the Commerce Department is in dire need of investment to beef up its resources and enable it to provide a wider range of value-added services to innovative businesses.
We are most satisfied by the feedback from other constituted bodies when we presented our proposals on RTDI at MCESD and we are further encouraged by the fact that, as a result, many kindred organisations recognised the importance of RTDI measures in their proposals for the forthcoming Budget.
We truly believe that research, development and innovation cannot be dealt with as ancillary matters to the economy anymore. We need to place them at the centre of things, where they can truly reach their potential as the motors of tomorrow’s modern economy.
Anton Borg is president of the Malta Chamberof Commerce, Enterprise and Industry.