Why did Lufthansa Technik choose to invest in such a large repair facility in Malta?

I can tell you what the chairman of Lufthansa said last week in Malta. He said they came to Malta because they could find the right skills in an English-speaking workforce in an EU member state. He also mentioned the commitment of this government to be a strong and reliable partner to business. I think he was testifying to our hard work and he was confirming that there’s no way a country can attract business if its government is ambivalent or hostile to it.

Lufthansa is part of a chain of successes attributable to our work. We have attracted some of the best global names in their respective sectors. Lufthansa (a name known world-wide with a well-deserved reputation and record of excellence and safety) decided it can rely on Malta to provide it with the level of excellence and safety it promises its customers. This is a feather in our nation’s cap.

What will the Lufthansa project in Malta mean for Malta’s economy?

One word: jobs.

We work to attract investment because investment creates jobs. An economy that lacks natural resources must rely on human resources and measures its success by the employment it creates.

There are at least two other foreign-owned companies involved in the aviation maintenance sector in Malta. Today the sector employs nearly 300 persons. Through this project, Lufthansa are contractually obliged to create over 500 new jobs. This means that the sector will be employing nearly 850 people over the next few years. This is the establishment of a new industry. The project will essentially establish Malta as a hub for aviation maintenance, just as we have a Freeport which is a hub for trans-shipment and soon a SmartCity that confirms our status as a hub for ICT.

We are realising the vision for our country which eight years ago our opposition ridiculed as delusion. Who’s delusional now?

It is all well and good to create new jobs in engineering and technology. But what is going to happen to the people seeking jobs with qualification in the lower level of the skills chart? Surely, ex-VF employees will not become engineers overnight.

Tourism does not give jobs only to highly-qualified cooks. Neither does the aviation sector only employ high-flying engineers. There’s nothing wrong with high-flying engineers (and talented cooks) finding well-paid jobs in our economy. But they will need staff.

The new Lufthansa facility will create over 500 new jobs, 400 of which will be at the technical levels. The great thing about this industry is that it requires different levels of expertise from engineers to mechanics. The jobs will vary from aviation engineering to basic mechanics. Those with an “O” level certificate in physics or maths (or English) could study to become basic mechanics; those who do not have these qualifications can follow a foundation course prepared by MCAST. In this industry, a person can start as a mechanic and benefit from training and progression opportunities to become qualified to inspect and certify aircraft. There is a chance for everyone, as long as there is the right attitude and willingness to work. Lufthansa is committed to create over 500 jobs, and they will be well-paid jobs in an industry Malta can sustain.

When will the new Lufthansa Hangar be completed and what will it be doing?

The new hangar will be ready to accept the first aircraft in the last quarter of 2008. Lufthansa already have aircraft scheduled to use the hangar. The new facility will be able to do what the industry calls “D” checks, which are essentially total overhauls of the aircraft, on the latest aircraft available including the Airbus A330 and A340.

What has the role of MCAST and other government entities been?

We have driven and coordinated all relevant branches of government to get this deal off the ground. I think it is this sense of focus and coordination that most impressed the Lufthansa people.

The key to economic success is rapid reaction and coordination between the needs of industry on the demand side and the provision of aid, training and education on the supply side.

We brought together MCAST, Malta Enterprise and Malta Industrial Parks. MCAST has immediately reacted to this new need and aided by Lufthansa knowledge, European funding and flexible government coordination, new learning and career opportunities are being made available to the younger generation. By the end of 2008, MCAST will have trained a total of 286 students ready to work at the various levels of the aviation maintenance industry

On its side, Malta Enterprise handled the fiscal and other incentives that are part of the deal and Malta Industrial Parks is in charge of facilitating the building of the actual hangar. One of the benefits of Malta as a small country is exactly that: we coordinate the various stakeholders and can mobilise and deliver a solution fast.

In your speech at the foundation stone laying ceremony, you talked about our economy in transition. What do you mean by that?

I mean with Malta’s standard of living and working conditions, we cannot sustain low added value industries any longer. We have to have the courage to aggressively attract companies like Lufthansa which operates in such a high added value sector and other industries where our cost structures are still competitive. Who can deny that the loss of jobs in the textile and traditional manufacturing industries is a tragedy for those directly involved?

But we are not ones to shy away from the truth and the truth is that Malta is part of a global economic reality, where low added value companies are moving to low cost countries. This is a reality we have to be ready to manage rather than deny as some seem only willing to do.

This is our economy in transition: and the direction of this government is “ahead and forward”. It is not a transition without pain. The shutting down of the last textile factories is not cause for celebration. It is a difficult time for the workers affected and their families. They go through more than apply for training grants and look for the next job. They suffer a lack of confidence and blame themselves when they really should not.

It is not a matter of blame. It is a matter of change which is global, inevitable and necessary.

But it’s a change for the better. With Lufthansa, hundreds of people at all levels of academic preparation will work in a sector in which we can compete and succeed. Though these people will not feel that way right now, we have much cause for optimism. The opening of the Lufthansa facility is another link in the chain of this country’s success: in the transformation of our economy.