Small companies that carry out research and development in Malta to develop successful products are Malta’s true success stories, Investment, Industry and Information Technology Minister Austin Gatt said yesterday during a visit to Uniblue.

Uniblue CEO Bosse Malmberg told Minister Gatt that Uniblue has seen its sales volume through the internet triple since mid-2005, “both for existing products and for new products launched this summer.”

When Uniblue started in 2003, it employed three people, he said.

“This time last year we increased to 15 employees and today there are a total of 31 employees – 70 per cent of our staff is Maltese.”

Mr Malmberg said the number of employees is expected to increase to at least 60 within a year.

Dr Gatt said that companies like Uniblue are an example of what the Maltese government is trying to achieve.

“Economic stability, use of English, warm climate and high quality of education are all important factors that attract foreign investment,” Dr Gatt said.

The government is working to continue providing more people with a level of education that will help to continue attracting more companies, he added.

Mr Malmberg congratulated Dr Gatt for Malta’s achievement in securing a commitment to set up the SmartCity project, “which we believe is hugely significant and beneficial” for the ICT industry in Malta.

Dr Gatt said small companies represent the true Maltese success stories and he pointed out that 70 per cent of Uniblue’s sales are to the US and that, contrary to what critics say, these results can be achieved.