SMEs National Forum 2022

SMEs National Forum 2022 – Main Conference –part 1 & part 2

SMEs National Forum 2022 – post-event video production

In line with its remit to offer guidance and leadership to the Maltese business community, the Malta Employers’ Association (MEA) in collaboration with the Ministry for the Economy, European Funds and Lands, and other stakeholders, once again organised a national event during the SME Week in November 2022.

As part of the PROAction initiative, this SMEs National Forum was dedicated to “Ensuring the Skills for Future Competitiveness”, a theme deemed by the Association to be of critical urgency and importance to Maltese Employers in all business sectors. A combination of demand and supply factors has led to a shortfall of skills in the local labour market which has afflicted Malta-based companies, posing serious risks to their business continuity and competitiveness position.

The event proposed by the MEA, therefore, aimed at taking stock of the current situation and proposing concrete and lasting solutions to avoid further hardships. At the same time, the event discussed the importance of alignment between industry and academia as well as forecasting techniques to ensure a steady flow of human resources with relevant skills for Maltese companies in the years to come.

To this end, an extensive research and consultation process was planned in advance of this November event. In this regard, during the summer months, the MEA held a series of focus groups aimed at taking stock of the challenges and priorities in terms of skills availabilities in key economic sectors.

The stakeholders’ meeting followed and a dossier was compiled

Then this was scrutinised by four experts and during the SMEs National forum 4 workshops were conducted whereby the discussion continued.