Chamber, STM Malta sign agreement in favour of pension sustainability

The Malta Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry, and STM Malta Pension Services Ltd have signed a bronze collaboration agreement to further support the policy framework of The Malta Chamber and ensure that pension systems continue to protect older people from poverty and allowing them to enjoy decent living standards and economic independence.

“The Malta Chamber is once again collaborating with local business champions towards a smarter and more sustainable Malta,” said Marisa Xuereb, President of The Malta Chamber, while noting that through the pairing with the ‘Pensions Committee’, STM Malta Pension Services Ltd. will assist the Chamber in increasing awareness through educational initiatives on issues regarding the sustainability of the state pension.

“The aim of this collaboration is two-fold. Through our rigorous policy team, the objective is to educate and assist both the business community and the Maltese population at large on matters related to private and workplace pension schemes. Furthermore, Malta will be promoted internationally as a leading base for international cross-border pension provision,” said Xuereb.

Deborah Schembri, the Managing Director and CEO of STM Malta Pension Services Ltd., said that the financial sustainability of pension schemes is indispensable and given their huge impact on public budgets and labour supply, they must be considered in pension policy.

Schembri highlighted that the main goals of pension and retirement policies are to provide adequate income in old age while ensuring financial sustainability and maximising employment through incentives in support of stable formal work careers and longer working lives for women and men.

“Complementary retirement savings are necessary to secure adequate replacement rates in the future. Supplementary pensions can take the form of occupational pensions, i.e. pension schemes organised at the level of a company or sector and accessed through an employment relationship, or personal pensions, i.e. individual contracts with a pension provider,” said Schembri.

This is relevant both for local pensions provision and also international cross-border pension provision.

The CEO and Managing Director of STM Malta Pension Services Ltd said that supplementary pensions would play an ever-greater role in maintaining the future adequacy of pensions, especially where the adequacy of public pensions is expected to deteriorate.

The agreement was signed by Marisa Xuereb and Mr Chris Vassallo Cesareo as President and Deputy President of The Malta Chamber, respectively, and Deborah Schembri and Aaron Cilia, Managing Director/CEO and Director of STM Malta, respectively.