Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1526919
2 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 22 SEPTEMBER 2024 NEWS NICOLE MEILAK nmeilak@mediatoday.com.mt OUTSOURCING/ TEMPORARY LICENSE Natán Jáñez Carro declares the inten4on for the company to register for an Employment Agency License in accordance to L.N. 270 of 2023 EMPLOYMENT AND INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS ACT (CAP.452) Employment Agencies Regula4ons, 2023. The ac4vi4es proposed to be carried out focus on the provision of workers with a view to making them available to a third party including: 1. Temporary work services involve providing workers to a third party. 2. The third party assigns tasks to the temporary workers. 3. Outsourcing services involve providing workers to a third party. 4. The outsourcing agency, including contractors and subcontractors, supervises, directs, and controls the workers. Official Registered Address: 40, Santa Marija Sliema, Malta. Opera4ng Address: Level 2, Tower Business Centre, Triq Luigi Onofrio, c/w Triq it-Torri, c/w Triq il- Graffi_ Navali, Swatar, Birkirkara Company registered number: 631849629 What the pre-Budget document tells us about Malta's 2025 plans IT'S that time of year again. Social partners lobby with the government to make sure their proposals feature in the finance minister's Budget 2025 speech next October. And as is customary, a pre- Budget document last week has also provided an analysis of the Maltese economy, the government's initiatives over the years, and hints at what is to come in 2025. Here, MaltaToday takes a detailed look at the document and picks out the five most salient points that come out from the pre-Budget overview. A new labour market strategy The pre-Budget document recognises the importance of foreign workers when it comes to filling in critical skills gaps and supporting economic growth. It also says that for- eign labour allows local work- ers to move into higher-skilled roles. However, the document al- so states that the government is currently revising its labour migration policies. According to the document, the new poli- cy will strive to better align mi- gration with the actual needs of the labour market. The strategy will be guided by four key principles: prioritis- ing the needs of those already contributing to the economy while encouraging upskilling and reskilling, safeguarding workers' dignity, promoting stability and retention, adopt- ing a skills-based approach that identifies which industries need additional workers and which are adequately staffed. Tourism priorities Through MTA, new markets are being targeted in the USA, Japan, Australia and the Gulf to ensure a consistent flow of tourists year-round and make stronger arguments as to why Malta has the poten- tial to be air-connect- ed with these markets. Meanwhile, the pri- orities for 2025 and beyond are to attract higher quality tour- ists by strengthening Malta's hospitality of- fer, improving public cleanliness, solidifying primary source mar- kets, targeting long haul markets, integrating sustainability and pre- serving Malta's heritage. National Transport Master Plan The last NTMP was pub- lished in 2016 with an aim of addressing major transpor- tation issues by 2025. Most of the issues haven't been ad- dressed, but this won't stop the government from trying again. According to the pre-Budget document, work on a new NT- MP is ongoing, and it will in- troduce several measures to a d d r e s s traffic congestion and low- er greenhouse gas emissions while encouraging the use of alternative modes of transport. Taxes, taxes, taxes During the pre-Budget press conference, finance minister Clyde Caruana confirmed that negotiations are still underway at EU level on the measures Malta could introduce in line with the global minimum cor- porate tax rate. These negoti- ations have been lengthy, so there's unlikely to be any spe- cific budget measures to this effect come October. Meanwhile, the Malta Tax and Customs Administration is undergoing a review of the Revenue Management Acts, including those for Customs, to develop one Consolidated Revenue Management Act to ensure consistency, alignment and uniformity in the adminis- tration of all tax types, includ- ing interest and penalties. A Large Taxpayer Office is al- so being set up to provide sup- port and monitor large taxpay- ers and High Value Network Individuals (HVNIs). It turns out that large taxpayers and HVNIs represent 80% of total revenue collected. Subsidies here to stay (for now) Cereals and energy subsidies will not be going anywhere, and not even the European Commission can tell us otherwise. Caruana said at the pre-Budget launch that as long as Malta is reaching its debt and deficit goals, the blanket energy sub- sidies will remain in place. Earlier this year, the European Com- mission recom- mended opening a deficit-based ex- cessive deficit pro- cedure for Mal- ta, among other countries. In its recommendation, the Commission also suggested that Malta "winds down" its emergency energy support measures by this winter, so that any measures are targeted towards supporting vulnerable families and companies. Government forecasts indi- cate Malta will reach its deficit and debt goals even with these aid schemes in place. Indeed, public spending on the food and energy subsidies as a per- centage of GDP will stand at 0.7% in 2025, down from 1.4% in 2023. Clyde Caruana said at the pre-Budget launch that as long as Malta is reaching its debt and deficit goals, the blanket energy subsidies will remain in place and not even the European Commission can tell Malta otherwise