There were over 42,000 companies registered in Malta, and every month 200 new companies were being registered, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said. Over 7,500 worked in the financial sector and with the sector’s expansion Malta could be a financial services centre even before 2015.

Dr Gonzi was speaking at a meeting which a Nationalist Party delegation that he led had with representatives of FinanceMalta, led by chairman Joe Zammit Tabone. He spoke about the PN’s aims up to 2015 and the work that needed to be done in the coming legislature to make Malta a centre of ICT, of financial services, of manufacturing, educational services, a regional health centre, and a tourism centre.

Dr Gonzi said that Malta joining the eurozone was an essential element for improving Malta’s competitiveness and would leave positive effects on the economy.

Mr Zammit Tabone said the financial sector had expanded rapidly over the last years and was contributing 12 per cent of the gross domestic product.

He praised the government’s commitment to raise that contribution to 25 per cent of the GDP.