The Malta Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry has welcomed developments relating to Air Malta and its strategic partnership with Alitalia/Etihad.

The Chamber said it has always underlined the strategic importance of Air Malta to Malta’s economy, not least the tourism sector. Other sectors, such as manufacturing, among others, are completely reliant on a timely and reliable supply of components and raw materials for their competitive operation. Thus the national airline plays a pivotal role in this equation, the Chamber said.

The Chamber said it recognises the efforts and results of the difficult restructuring process to bring the airline’s finances back in the black. “However we must understand that challenges of competitiveness remain real, and these require further improvements in order to achieve complete viability,” it added.

The Chamber called on all parties involved to put the national interest and the long-term interest of the airline as a foremost priority of all considerations in this sensitive matter of utmost long-term economic importance.

It said it was keen to offer all its help to assist in the relocation process of workers if this is at all required. The Chamber said it is confident that the current strong economic climate, coupled with the skills of the workers involved, will contribute towards a swift absorption in the labour market to the benefit of workers and private employers alike.

Student Placement Programme

The Malta Information Technology Agency (Mita) in collaboration with the Parliamentary Secretariat for Competitiveness and Economic Growth, has launched the Student Placement Programme (SPP) for 2016.

The SPP is open to all private and public entities operating in the ICT sector and other organisations that use technology in their operations, such as those that operate in the tourism, education, health or manufacturing sectors.

Through the SPP, employers can be reimbursed for the students they take on in summer.

The co-financing rate for the private sector is 50 per cent of the salary costs while for the public sector it is 100 per cent.

The SPP is also open to non-governmental organisations where the co-financing rate is 100 per cent of the students’ salary.

The programme is flexible in that employers and students can mutually agree on when the placement starts and also on their working hours.

Applications for employers and students are now open online from the website below.

www.mita.gov.mt/spp