Investment in the local furniture manufacturing industry has grown substantially over the past four years, so it is important to maintain a high level of excellence, said parliamentary secretary for small business and the self-employed Edwin Vassallo yesterday.
He was speaking to the media after visiting a number of workshops in the Mosta industrial estate.
Notwithstanding fears that the local furniture industry could have been at a disadvantage following the removal of tariffs in 2003, it has in fact been doing very well since then, he said.
Malta Enterprise representative Martin Bowerman compared the situation of the manufacturing sector in 2005 to what it was in 2000.
The report published in 2000 shows that there was insufficient development in the furniture manufacturing industry, he said, adding that it was characterised by low profits and low investment, with a static turnover and uncertainty among those working in the sector.
At the time, this industry’s only hope was in the export market, because the local market had not been growing and the removal of levies had made it even smaller.
The gap between local and foreign companies had grown, with the result that local companies had to stop manufacturing furniture and instead distribute imported furniture.
Mr Bowerman said that the figures for 2005 show that the situation has changed. Salaries in the furniture manufacturing industry are among the highest in the whole manufacturing sector, and while investment in the manufacturing industry increased from Lm1,077 million in 2001 to Lm4,134 in 2005, 9.2 per cent of this increase was contributed by the furniture manufacturing industry.
Although the number of employees in the furniture manufacturing industry had fallen from 2,026 in 1998 to 1,656 in 2005, Mr Vassallo said this scenario was normal when one considered the investment made to make the sector more competitive.
A Maltese carpenter who spoke to Mr Vassallo and journalists said the furniture that is manufactured in Malta is of a very high quality and compares well with foreign products.
“The skill that goes into the work of Maltese carpenters is something that is becoming quite rare,” he said.
This carpenter recently had the opportunity to visit a number of furniture manufacturers in Italy as a participant in an EU programme.
“We want to continue helping these carpenters to work together in a way that enables them to share costs and participate in a number of overseas fairs,” said Mr Vassallo.
The parliamentary secretariat is working to further improve the infrastructure of the Mosta industrial estate and others in Mriehel, Zebbug and Handaq in Qormi.
The secretariat has also published a directory of businesses found at the Targa Gap and Tas-Sriedak industrial zones in Mosta. Other business directories will be published shortly, said Mr Vassallo.
The directory may also be accessed at www.smemalta.com