Nov 23 – GSLP-Liberals To Enhance E-Government Platform To Assist Business Community
The GSLP-Liberal Alliance will provide Gibraltar’s business community with a full e-government platform by 2017 and a new retail bank, if elected into government.
In addition, the Alliance has also introduced a proposed pension scheme for employees in the private sector as part of their policies on Business and Commerce presented at a press conference on Friday.
The business community can also expect a review of the Fair Trading Act; the opportunity to register employees online, pay for business licences and taxation via the government’s e-portal services; an economic advisory council called ‘Gibraltar 2025’ to help the government develop its economic policy; support for start-ups; a business nurturing scheme for start-ups and tax breaks for innovative industries in the software and IT industries as well as production by television, cinema and music industries.
The Liberal Party leader Dr Joseph Garcia highlighted that it was their government that was the first administration to appoint a Minister for Small Business when they came into power four years ago.
Neil Costa said: “I think the first point to make about small businesses of course, is that collectively they are Gibraltar’s biggest employer, so they are extremely important for our economy.
“The reason why we appointed a Minister for Small Businesses in 2011 was because there was a sense of frustration and feeling by the GFSB and the Chamber of Commerce that their concerns were being neither heard nor addressed and they felt they needed a direct conduit to Government.
“Not only have we maintained a structured way of communication which is the Small Business Board, but we have met regularly with the Chamber of Commerce and the GFSB, and a cross section of the business community.”
The GSLP-Liberals detailed some of their achievements over the past four years like the introduction of the Fair Trading Act, the introduction of the Small Business Advisory Board which works closely with the business community including the GFSB and the Chamber of Commerce, the fact that the cost of water and electricity has been frozen for the past four years and will continue to be frozen and the discounts available on the early payments of rates.
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