BusinessToday Previous Editions

19.03.2020 4 NEWS Malta Enterprise to support businesses with Covid-19 measures THE support measures to minimize the effect of COVID-19 on businesses and self-employed will be administered by Malta Enterprise which will be supporting businesses during these challenging times. ese measures along with their applica- tion process will be available via the email address covid@maltaenterprise.com or by calling 144. e webpage covid19.maltaenterprise. com will be updated regularly with the lat- est information on business support meas- ures. e first set of measures announced by Government which will be administered by Malta Enterprise are described here. Fiscal assistance – Postponement of payment of certain taxes is incentive shall lead to a two-month extension for enterprises, including self-employed, to pay Provisional Tax, VAT and National Insurance Contribution on Salaries. is will apply for taxes owed till end of April. All tax forms should be submitted ac- cording to normal deadlines. e incentive is primarily aimed, but not limited to, the tourism and hospitality, entertainment, transport and manufacturing sectors that are being affected by COVID-19. For up- dates and more details please follow our webpage covid19.maltaenterprise.com. Facilitation of Teleworking activities is call supports Employers/ Self-em- ployed to invest in technology that ena- bles teleworking and to partially cover the costs of teleworking solutions. Support shall be limited up to €500 per telework- ing agreement and €4,000 per undertak- ing. e grant shall be awarded against 45% of the eligible cost. is call is eligi- ble for costs incurred between 1st March and 30th March 2020. Total support un- der this call shall be capped at €2M. e link to the incentive guidelines and claim forms can be found on covid19.maltaen- terprise.com. Apart from these two initiatives Malta Enterprise will continue its exercise of cli- ent outreach in order to continue to take stock of the situation. Malta Enterprise will also assist companies through its var- ious support measures as can be found on maltaenterprise.com/support. Malta Enterprise will do its utmost to as- sist each and every company that needs as- sistance, especially at this particular time. However, in line with directions by health authorities and in order to safeguard its cli- ents and employees, Malta Enterprise are currently discouraging face to face meet- ings and encouraging assistance via video- conferencing or phone. is applies to all its offices including Malta Enterprise Headquarters in Pie- ta, Business First Offices in Mrieħel, Life Sciences Park in San Gwann and the Kor- din Business Incubation Centre. Clients are encouraged to either call 144, send an email on covid@maltaenterprise. com or to contact their Client Relationship Officer at Malta Enterprise. EU leaders have agreed on a 30 day trav- el ban to and from Europe as they fight to contain the deadly coronavirus. European Commission President Ur- sula von der Leyen said the proposal had strong support from member states and that it was "up to them now to im- plement. ey said they will immediate- ly do that." At a press briefing on Tuesday night, World Health Organization regional di- rector for Europe Hans Henri P. Kluge, said that 152 countries were now af- fected by COVID-19. is has created a "new reality" for millions of people across the world, he said. "Europe is the epicenter of the first pandemic of coronavirus and every country, with no exceptions, need to take their boldest actions to stop or slow down the virus spread. Boldest ac- tion should include community action. inking that "this does not concern me" is not an option," he said. Italy now has nearly a third of the world's deaths from coronavirus as Rome announced 345 more fatalities on Tuesday, taking the countries death toll to more than 2,500. Global deaths from the outbreak which has moved from China to Eu- rope, are inching closer to 8000 and currently stand at around 7,800. Italy's civil protection agency said there had been a further 3,500 new in- fections and that intensive care beds were full in Bergamo, a city in the worst- hit region of Lombardy. Italy, which has the world's sec- ond-oldest population after Japan, has been hit full-force by the virus, which seems to be deadlier for the elderly and infirm. e entire country remains on a strict lockdown, but this has so far failed to stop the tide of new infections. France began its own lockdown on Tuesday, joining its neighbour Spain. e UK - which saw 400 new cases in just 24 hours - has urged its nationals to practise social distancing and stay away from bars, clubs and restaurants. But, unlike some other European countries, they remain open, as do schools. On Tuesday, the UK announced €360 billion in loans and credit to British businesses to protect them against any fallout from the coronavirus pandemic. Madrid announced its own €200 billion euro stimulus package. e UK's NHS has stopped all non-ur- gent elective surgery to increase hos- pitals' capacity for coping with an in- crease in infections. In the meantime, tests on an experi- mental vaccine to protect against the new coronavirus have begun in the United States, the first of many efforts around the world to create a vaccine as cases contin- ue to grow. But experts warn it could take up to 18 months to finalize. EU agrees on 30-day travel ban to slow coronavirus spread

• Cover