The Malta Business Bureau (MBB) announces the launch of its new European Social Fund project: ESF 4.245 – Innovation Leaders: Improving Knowledge on EU Direct Funds, with training due to commence in February.

The ESF-funded programme will provide training on the three EU direct funding programmes of greatest relevance to private industry: Horizon 2020, Erasmus+ and Creative Europe. The MBB aims to create a Learning and Exchange Network on EU direct funding programmes in co-ordination with their Brussels-based transnational partner, the European Projects Association (EPA). The EPA is a non-profit organisation focused on research and development, innovation and internationalisation.

MBB CEO Joe Tanti said: “The potential for Maltese business to tap direct EU funding programmes remains relatively unexplored. Through this project, the MBB will be providing specialised training that is responsive to the current and emerging needs of Maltese business. If properly exploited, this will generate economic growth across a number of promising sectors.”

“The MBB’s collaboration with the EPA will bring considerable added value to the project, not only in terms of their extensive expertise in the field of EU funding, but most importantly it will provide participants access to a wide and reputable international network, thereby facilitating the eventual constitution of project consortia with foreign organisations.”

Katarina Sipic, EPA secretary general, said: “In many cases, when this kind of investment is made available to economic operators, we simply do not know what to do with it and this in itself is a serious challenge. We are not speaking about hundreds or thousands of euros but, millions of euros that go back into the EU budgets because people within the private sector are not well enough informed.”

Training will take place in Malta and in Gozo. For more information on eligibility and applying, visit www.mbb.org.mt or contact project coordinator Karla Chetcuti Bonavita on karla@mbb.org.mt.