Frendo calls for red tape reduction for SMEs

Nationalist MP, Dr Michael Frendo has called for Parliament to set up a process of scrutiny of legislation to audit the impact on SMEs of regulatory procedures in order to minimise on bureaucracy in business.

Speaking at the adjournment, Dr Frendo said that the government has already taken serious measures to contain the bureaucracy for SMEs and in particular made reference to a more simplified and easier licensing procedures.

However, he said, as Malta becomes more sophisticated in its legislation as a modern state, it is important to bear in mind the impact that the bureaucracy associated with regulatory procedures can have on small businesses.

Dr Frendo called for a regular process of Parliamentary scrutiny of the bureaucratic burden on SMEs caused as a consequence of necessary legislation to modernise governance. "This must be an on-going process which focuses on the needs of small and medium-sized businesses, which constitute the overwhelming majority of businesses not only in Malta but also in the European Union, where this exercise is also being carried out with regard to European law," he explains.

He added that proper regulation creates certainty and assists investment. Today’s legislature has a duty to ensure that regulation is kept lean so that full space is given to the creativity and inventiveness of the entrepreneur.

Earlier in his speech, Dr Frendo emphasised the important role that entrepreneurs in all sectors of society, in tourism, in industry, in services, have for the development of the country.

He said it is wrong for segments of our society to depict businessmen and businesswomen as though they are hard-nosed profit-motive driven leaches on society.

"Gone are the days when government was the sole provider of labour and the sole impetus for economic growth", Dr Frendo added, "Today, all countries, including Malta, have to give full support to their captains of industry, to their entrepreneurs, to their hoteliers, to their industrialists, to their business men and women, who are major players in economic growth.

"There needs to be, in our country, a true national partnership between the worker, the employee, the entrepreneur and those serving in political life to take our country forward.”