Malta Enterprise has launched a Fourth Call for projects to be co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), with applications being received until April 3rd, 2012 for five schemes, namely International Competitiveness, Innovation, R&D, Environment and Small Start-Ups.
In previous calls, around €35 million were approved to around 570 beneficiaries under seven schemes, which also included Energy and eBusiness schemes for which the budget has now been used up.
With a collective budget of €8.5 million, the Fourth Call of the schemes will be assisting even more local companies tap into European funds to carry out projects to improve their products, services or processes as well as finding new markets abroad.
Through the International Competitiveness scheme, enterprises are assisted to extend their activities in new markets or to introduce a new service or product in an existing market, thereby reducing their dependence on the local market and facilitating the exploration of opportunities for cooperation with foreign companies. Click here to view the Incentive Guidelines.
The Innovation scheme seeks to encourage projects related to innovative products and services, process innovation, as well as organisational innovation. Click here to view the Incentive Guidelines.
Through the R&D scheme, grants are given to enterprises carrying out industrial research and experimental development activities leading to the development of new or significantly improved products, processes or services. Click here to view the Incentive Guidelines.
The Environment scheme supports SMEs to invest in improving their environmental performance through eco-innovation, thereby contributing to environmental sustainability by addressing issues such as water and air quality, waste streams, as well as resource utilisation. Click here to view the Incentive Guidelines.
The Small Start-Up scheme is aimed at assisting new, innovative enterprises while they are setting up, which is often a challenging period as they seek to maximise the use of their resources and find their feet in the business environment. Click here to view the Incentive Guidelines.
Further information can be obtained from http://www.20millionforindustry.com or by contacting Business First on telephone number 144 or via email on [email protected].