Today, the Minister for the Economy, Investment and Small Business, Dr Chris Cardona had a formal discussion on Female Entrepreneurship with Ms Zita Gurmai PES Women President and Former MEP

Minister Cardona said that the story in Malta is a similar one to many countries; the position of women has advanced in recent years but there is still a lot to do.

“The active participation of women in the world of work and entrepreneurship is an essential ingredient to meet our objective of creating economic growth that reaches everyone. If we don’t harness the skills of women we, as a society, as an economy, are under performing” said Minister Cardona.

Dr Chris Cardona said that the Government is now designing a national platform to promote female entrepreneurship. He stressed that this needs to be a continuous strategy, consistent and coordinated, not just sporadic initiatives taken once in a while.

“We need all stakeholders on board. As part of this strategy a number of ambassadors from various backgrounds will be appointed to promote entrepreneurship among young people, especially girls and young women” said Minister Cardona.

Minister Cardona referred to the early success obtained by the policy of free childcare for parents in work or education and said that this is a very heartening development in this area, especially when one considers that this initiative was launched just four months ago and 2,400 children are already benefiting from it. “This gives freedom to parents to work, while my colleague, the Education Minister, is ensuring that centres aren’t just places to park youngsters -- the children get a stimulating programme of activity too.” said Minister Cardona.

Dr Cardona stated that initiatives encouraging women to enter the work force have also been acknowledged by Standard & Poor’s as one of the elements helping the Maltese economy to continue growing: “A recent report by Standard & Poor’s affirmed that the Maltese economy is stable and expected to continue growing in the coming years and this is in part due to the reforms the current government has been implementing such as initiatives aimed at encouraging women to enter the work force."

Ms Gurmai was accompanied by a delegation from Nisa Laburisti led by the President and former MEP, Ms Claudette Abela Baldacchino.