Call for small
businesses in the information technology sector to participate in the
EPRI-Start programme
“As a Secretariat we
are aiming to help the commercial sector take advantage of the benefits
of European Union membership. We are doing this by being a contact
point for the self-employed and owners of small businesses who would
like to take to avail themselves of the opportunities offered by the
European Union. We are also bringing together different consultancy
firms that specialise in European Union programmes.” Parliamentary
Secretary for Small Business and the Self Employed, Edwin Vassallo, said
this during a press conference giving details about the EPRI-Start
programme. This European Union programme encourages small businesses to
take advantage of information technology and gives further information
about funds available for this sector.
The Parliamentary
Secretariat for Small Business and the Self Employed is working in
collaboration with the Temi Zammi Foundation to help more small business
participate in this programme. Hon. Edwin Vassallo said that “our aim
is to assist 300 Maltese entrepreneurs to participate in different
European Union programmes. We are therefore working to identify those
self-employed or owners of small businesses who would like to
participate in a European Union programme so that we may find the most
suitable programmes for them. There are two ways in which Maltese
entrepreneurs may participate in European Union programmes, either by
receiving funds and travelling abroad in order to make contacts with
owners of small businesses abroad, or when the programme provides a
technical consultant who comes to Malta in order to help a particular
sector.
“Today’s is the first
public call for those who are interested in being part of the 300 who
will be participating in these programmes. Today we are making a public
call for those who would like to participate in this particular
project. I strongly encourage all those entrepreneurs who think that
they would be able to participate in this or other programmes to contact
us so that we may be able to facilitate their application process.”
A representative of
the Temi Zammi Foundation explained the details of this project, which
is geared towards those SMEs that are active in the Information and
Communication Technology (ICT) Sector, and who would like to carry out
some form of research. He said that “the project will help 300 SMEs
from the ten new member states to participate in European Union
programmes, particularly those of Information Society Technologies,
FP6. EPRI-Start is a ‘Specific Support Action’, being co-ordinated by
the German entity TSA, which specifically targets the needs of SMEs from
new member states. Malta is represented in the project by the Temi
Zammit Foundation, which was founded two years ago by a group of public
and private sector entities in order to provide local opportunities for
e-learning, and to help Maltese organisations participate in European
Union programmes.
“The EPRI-Start
project is the first instance of the collaboration between the
Parliamentary Secretariat for Small Business and the Self Employed
within the Ministry for Competitiveness and Communications and the Temi
Zammit Foundation to help Maltese small businesses and individuals
benefit from European Union opportunities. Thanks to this
collaboration, twenty Maltese enterprises will be assisted to prepare
for participation in European projects, without any payment due for this
assistance.
The German project
co-ordinator, TSA, is experienced in this sector, as it had co-ordinated
a similar project when East Germany had united with West Germany and
joined the European Union. EPRI-Start is also aimed at politicians and
administrators, both local and foreign, in order to help them facilitate
the participation of small businesses in European projects and by
introducing measure that directly tackle the difficulties faced by small
enterprises.
Maltese IT companies
that are interested in participating in European Union research
programmes are to contact the Temi Zammit foundation (jesmond.xuereb@ftz.org.mt)
or the Secretariat (keith.psaila@gov.mt).
For a company to benefit from the services offered by the EPRI-Start
project, it must first register on the project database. Further
information can be found on the web-site
www.epristart.org.
Parliamentary
Secretary Edwin Vassallo went on to say that “as a Secretariat we are
also applying in order to try and receive structural funds, so that we
may be able to help small businesses directly. In our aim to ensure
that the greatest number of small business participate in European Union
programmes, we are working with a number of consultancy firms. Today we
are here with the Temi Zammit Foundation, and in future we will have the
opportunity to offer more programmes. Meanwhile, whoever would like
more information about this and other programmes, or to find out whether
he is eligible to apply for assistance, may contact the Secretariat for
Small Business and the Self Employed. This call is for those who work
in the sector of information technology and computers and who are
carrying out some form of research, such as software developer,
programmers, or web-page designers, for instance.”
Hon. Vassallo
concluded by saying that “it is important that our small enterprises
start to analyse how to expand their business, not only locally but also
abroad. European Union programmes such as the one being launched today,
provide an ideal opportunity to improve their work. In this way, the
Government is continuing in its work to always strengthen our small
enterprises.”
