Business Reports for SMEs Grant Scheme (Malta)

The focus areas of this scheme include a Process and Systems Review aimed at improving operational efficiency and a Business Plan designed to support proposed investment initiatives and enhance overall competitiveness.

This initiative offers a lump-sum grant of €4,000, representing 80% aid intensity of eligible costs, to part-finance consultancy services procured from external providers registered with the IB, ensuring they are independent and not linked to the beneficiary undertaking.

The support covers the preparation of either a business plan or a process and systems review, both intended to assist undertakings in making informed strategic and operational decisions. The consultancy services must be fully external, independent, and unrelated to the undertaking applying for support.

Eligible undertakings include micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises engaged in economic activity, regardless of legal form. Entities without separate legal personality are required to be registered under the Second Schedule of the Civil Code (CAP 16 of the Laws of Malta).

Undertakings are not eligible if they are subject to insolvency proceedings or meet national insolvency criteria at the request of creditors, or if they are under an outstanding recovery order related to illegal and incompatible state aid.

Eligibility is also excluded where obligations from recovery orders issued by MSD remain unfulfilled. Further exclusions apply under EU de minimis aid regulations, including undertakings involved in their own provision of the eligible consultancy services, those with internal capacity to produce such services, and enterprises whose main activities relate to holding companies, agriculture, tobacco manufacturing, gambling and betting, illegal economic activities, or public sector bodies carrying out non-economic functions.

For more information, visit FONDI.eu.