BusinessToday Previous Editions

3 NEWS 2.6.2022 FinanceMalta back on the road to promote Malta internationally FINANCEMALTA has been very ac- tive in the last months promoting Malta as an international financial services centre through its participa- tion in a series of events in Europe and the Middle East. Following the easing of the pandem- ic restrictions, FinanceMalta restarted its international engagements across 12 major events between March and June 2022. In the coming weeks, FinanceMal- ta will be participating in two major events, namely Money 20/20 Europe and Global ABS. The three-day long Money 20/20 Europe, one of the most prominent Fintech conferences, will be taking place in Amsterdam on 7-9 June. It promotes innovation in pay- ments and financial services for con- nected commerce. During the event, FinanceMalta will be showcasing Mal- ta as the ideal jurisdiction for Fintech operators, including payment service providers. The Global ABS conference in Barce- lona will kick off on 14 June. The con- ference informs and engages Europe's securitisation industry and facilitates one-on-one investor and issuer meet- ings, whilst serving as a major catalyst in structuring product deal flows in Europe. FinanceMalta will be joined by the Malta Stock Exchange in this event. On 1 June, FinanceMalta will par- ticipate in EMex Europe in Zurich, which connects allocators, emerging managers and operational expertise. The Foundation and its members will close an intense month of June with three conferences in London, namely the Family Office Forum organised by Prestel & Partner, Spears 500 and the "Opportunities in Institutional- ising the Digital Frontier" event or- ganised by leading media platform Hedgeweek. The London events will wrap up the first half of 2022, which also saw the Foundation participating in a seminar in Prague with the theme "The Mal- tese Fund Jurisdiction: Solid Histo- ry, Bright Future". FinanceMalta was invited to open the event, organised by four leading Maltese firms which joined efforts to promote Malta as a Fund Management jurisdiction. FinanceMalta was also present, to- gether with Malta Enterprise, at the Innovate Finance Global Summit held in London on 4-5 April, and at the 2022 edition of London's City Week held on 25-27 April, providing visibil- ity to the jurisdiction and an opportu- nity for its members to network dur- ing the three-day event. Wealth management was the leading topic for three initiatives undertaken in May, namely the CEE Wealth Sum- mit in Vienna on 4-5 May, the Cross Border Planning event in Dubai on 11 May and the Transcontinental Trusts - Geneva conference on 18-20 May. A panel session held during a day-long seminar in Prague with the theme "The Maltese Fund Jurisdiction: Solid History, Bright Future" FROM PAGE 1 It noted the high rate of employment achieved over the past few years, par- ticularly after 2014 with policies that actively encouraged people to work rather than stay on benefits or be un- productive. "Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Maltese labour market achieved practically full employment and eco- nomic growth was facilitated by the importation of foreign labour given the demographic characteristics of the Mal- tese population," the report noted. Government's 'Make Work Pay' pol- icy introduced in 2014 encompassed various measures including the taper- ing of benefits, in-work benefits for low income earners, free childcare for working parents and programmes such as the ICT4all, the Community Work Scheme, the Youth Guarantee Scheme, the Training Pays Scheme, and the Work Programme Initiative. "e goal of these policies was to ad- dress the poverty trap by making the prospect of being in employment more attractive than being dependent on social benefits. ese policies led to a substantial increase in the expenditure on employment incentives and labour market services while at the same time, expenditure on support declined," the CBM analysts said. is shift in labour market spending helped raise participation rates and skills, lowering of youth unemployment and the duration of unemployment. However, the CBM report noted that problems related to skills gaps remain and have to be addressed if the country is to maintain its growth trajectory. "ere is now an opportunity and a strong need to upskill the labour force with a particular focus on transferable skills - skills that could be used in a va- riety of roles, thus making jobseekers more attractive to prospective employ- ers," the report said. It acknowledged that an active labour market policy is limited in its ability to address challenges in basic education but well placed in creating incentives to improve on training and other edu- cation. e CBM report emphasised the need for policies that are designed well to ensure their success, including accred- itation. "It is important that all training undertaken is recognised and appropri- ately credited," the report said, adding this is in line with the European Com- mission's 2020 Skills Agenda which aims at a standard European approach to micro-credentials. "Having tangible qualifications and credentials leads to improved job finding." It also emphasised the need for appro- priate targeting to ensure positive em- ployment effects. e CBM analysis tallies with the find- ings and recommendations made in October last year when Finance Minis- ter Clyde Caruana unveiled an employ- ment policy for the next eight years. e employment policy emphasised the need to improve educational and training outcomes to address skill gaps in the market. It recognised that the next challenge is to ensure that Maltese workers have better skills to be able to earn better in- comes. An economic and labour market anal- ysis that accompanied the recommen- dations showed how Malta has among the lowest rates of people who spend time in education across the EU. A worker spends an average of 16 years in education in Malta, whereas in Ireland the average stands at 20 years, which means people enter the labour market with a more extensive skill set. But although the employment poli- cy sought a better-skilled workforce it warned foreign labour is still needed if the country wanted to maintain the same level of growth. CBM says all training must be recognised and credited

• Cover