Association of Catering Establishments welcomes proposed €30 million fund for restaurants

The Association of Catering Establishments (ACE) has welcome the proposed establishment of a €30 million fund that restaurants can tap into to improve their offering, describing it as a “positive and needed” change.

The proposal was announced by Deputy Prime Minister and Tourism Minister Ian Borg during a press conference at the Hyatt Regency in St Julian’s.

Restaurants would be able to receive a maximum of €300,000 per establishment to improve their product, the client experience, and workers’ skills, as well as for general renovation.

Speaking to BusinessNow.mt, ACE President Michelle Muscat says the association has long argued that restaurants need access to such Government support.

“In practice, other sectors can access many funds that are available to them. Restaurants, on the other hand, and as the numbers show, do not use funds,” she says.

This means that many restaurant owners resort to using their own money or securing outside financing to make the necessary improvements to their establishments.

“So it is certainly positive that there is now an electoral promise so that restaurants will finally have the possibility of applying to a fund,” continues Ms Muscat, while cautioning that details about the proposal are still scant.

“We need to know more, but this sounds like a much-needed development.”