Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1482086
4 NEWS maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 19 OCTOBER 2022 4 NEWS Announcement – 19 th October 2022 Business Enhance Call 2 SME Digitalisation Grant Scheme and Call 2 Digital Intensification Grant Scheme Call 3 SME Digitalisation Grant Scheme and Call 3 Digital Intensification Grant Scheme Recovery and Resilience Plan for Malta The Measures and Support Division, within the Ministry for the Economy, European Funds and Lands (MEFL), is the institution in charge of the implementation of investment C3-I4 'Rolling out measures to intensify the digitalisation of the private sector'. The management structure is established by Council Implementing Decision on the approval of the assessment of the Recovery and Resilience Plan for Malta 11941/21 and supporting Annex ADD 1, by Regulation (EU) 2021/241 and of the European Union Recovery Instrument set up by Council Regulation (EU) 2020/2094. The Measures and Support Division would like to announce the launch of the following calls: Call reference Date of issue Closing date Call 2 SME Digitalisation Grant Scheme Call 2 Digital Intensification Grant Scheme 19 October 2022 Noon of 18 November 2022 Call 3 SME Digitalisation Grant Scheme Call 3 Digital Intensification Grant Scheme 19 November 2022 Noon of 16 December 2022 Further information on these calls including the respective Guidance Notes and the Guidelines for Implementation may also be obtained from https://businessenhance.gov.mt or by contacting the Measures and Support Division on msd.eufunds@gov.mt or 2555 2635. Announcement – 19 th October 2022 Business Enhance Call 2 SME Digitalisation Grant Scheme and Call 2 Digital Intensification Grant Scheme Call 3 SME Digitalisation Grant Scheme and Call 3 Digital Intensification Grant Scheme Recovery and Resilience Plan for Malta The Measures and Support Division, within the Ministry for the Economy, European Funds and Lands (MEFL), is the institution in charge of the implementation of investment C3-I4 'Rolling out measures to intensify the digitalisation of the private sector'. The management structure is established by Council Implementing Decision on the approval of the assessment of the Recovery and Resilience Plan for Malta 11941/21 and supporting Annex ADD 1, by Regulation (EU) 2021/241 and of the European Union Recovery Instrument set up by Council Regulation (EU) 2020/2094. The Measures and Support Division would like to announce the launch of the following calls: Call reference Date of issue Closing date Call 2 SME Digitalisation Grant Scheme Call 2 Digital Intensification Grant Scheme 19 October 2022 Noon of 18 November 2022 Call 3 SME Digitalisation Grant Scheme Call 3 Digital Intensification Grant Scheme 19 November 2022 Noon of 16 December 2022 Further information on these calls including the respective Guidance Notes and the Guidelines for Implementation may also be obtained from https://businessenhance.gov.mt or by contacting the Measures and Support Division on msd.eufunds@gov.mt or 2555 2635. Announcement – 19 th October 2022 Business Enhance Call 2 SME Digitalisation Grant Scheme and Call 2 Digital Intensification Grant Scheme Call 3 SME Digitalisation Grant Scheme and Call 3 Digital Intensification Grant Scheme Recovery and Resilience Plan for Malta The Measures and Support Division, within the Ministry for the Economy, European Funds and Lands (MEFL), is the institution in charge of the implementation of investment C3-I4 'Rolling out measures to intensify the digitalisation of the private sector'. The management structure is established by Council Implementing Decision on the approval of the assessment of the Recovery and Resilience Plan for Malta 11941/21 and supporting Annex ADD 1, by Regulation (EU) 2021/241 and of the European Union Recovery Instrument set up by Council Regulation (EU) 2020/2094. The Measures and Support Division would like to announce the launch of the following calls: Call reference Date of issue Closing date Call 2 SME Digitalisation Grant Scheme Call 2 Digital Intensification Grant Scheme 19 October 2022 Noon of 18 November 2022 Call 3 SME Digitalisation Grant Scheme Call 3 Digital Intensification Grant Scheme 19 November 2022 Noon of 16 December 2022 Further information on these calls including the respective Guidance Notes and the Guidelines for Implementation may also be obtained from https://businessenhance.gov.mt or by contacting the Measures and Support Division on msd.eufunds@gov.mt or 2555 2635. MATTHEW VELLA INTERNATIONAL refugee charities and NGOs have ac- cused the Maltese armed forc- es of having instructed a mer- chant ship carrying 23 rescued people, to disembark the peo- ple in Egypt rather than to the safest and nearest port of call. Alarm Phone, Mediterranea Saving Humans, Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) and Sea-Watch said that the people were sent to Egypt on 26 September 2022 on the instructions of the Rescue Coordination Centre (RCC) of Malta, after being rescued in the Maltese search and rescue region by the merchant vessel Shimanami Queen, which flies the Panama state flag. At the time of the rescue, those on board the small boat had already been at sea for four days, in poor weather condi- tions and with very limited supplies of food and water. "In line with maritime con- ventions, RCC Malta is legally responsible for coordinating any rescue operations in the event of an emergency or ac- cident within its SAR region," the NGOs said. "In this specif- ic case, RCC Malta instructed merchant vessels in the im- mediate vicinity of the boat in distress either to continue their voyage or merely to stay on standby, therefore delaying the rescue significantly." The NGOs said te lack of clear guidance and unnecessary de- lays in coordinating the rescue deliberately put the lives of the 23 people on board at immi- nent risk. "This is a common practice by the Maltese author- ities to avoid having to engage in a rescue operation them- selves and to prevent arrivals in Malta, as witnessed and docu- mented in several cases by civil SAR organisations." The NGOs accused the RCC of using the delays to "enforce the hostile migration policies of Europe, and of Malta itself, by instructing the ship to take the rescued people to Egypt." They said Malta or Italy were the closest places of safety to the position where the 23 peo- ple were rescued, at 144 and 159 nautical miles respective- ly. Instead, the rescued people were forcibly taken 760 nau- tical miles to Egypt. Egypt is a signatory to the 1951 Geneva Convention, but the country also lacks an adequate national legal framework for the pro- tection of refugees and asylum seekers. "As organisations engaging in SAR activities at sea, we de- nounce the forcible transfer of these 23 people to Egypt and call for consequences to Mal- ta's blatant violations of mar- itime and international law," the NGOs said. Malta sends rescued boat migrants to Egypt despite nearest port of call Track of the Shimanami Queen from position of rescure to Port Said in Egypt International NGOs accuse Malta of deliberately delaying rescue coordination and diverting merchant vessel 760 miles away to take rescuees to Egypt