The pharmaceutical industry is expected to double its turnover in two years’ time, while an Indian pharmaceutical company is expected to set up shop in Malta, said Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi yesterday.
The prime minister announced this after he toured the Actavis plant in Bulebel, accompanied by Investments, Industry and IT Minister Austin Gatt.
Dr Gonzi said there were currently nine pharmaceutical factories operating in Malta, which until 2006 had employed 800 people. Employment is expected to rise to 1,300 people in 2010, he said.
The industry, he said, had spent e81.53million (Lm35million) in capital investments until 2006, and was projected to invest e128.16million (Lm55million) up till 2010, while its turnover stood at e81.53million (Lm35million) in 2006 and is expected to be just short of the e186.35million (Lm80million) mark by 2010.
He also announced that Aurobindo Pharma Ltd, an Indian company, will be shortly setting up a research, development and services centre in Malta and would be investing e10 million and employing 120 people.
The prime minister had earlier made a tour of the Actavis facility, where managing director Sergio Vella and production manager Patrick Cachia explained the different stages of tablet production.
Mr Vella explained that the company invested e200,000 (Lm85,860) per year on training staff, adding that recruits underwent training throughout their first three months of employment until they were admitted to the shop floor. He told the prime minister that Actavis had increased its volume of work by 120 per cent in the last two years and employed 120 people in 2007, while it expected to employ a further 50 in the near future.
The managing director said the company was facing tough competition from India, China and Eastern Europe, which Actavis was prepared for, in particular because of the quality of its workforce, which he held was a great asset to the company.
The prime minister spoke to a number of employees and visited the company canteen, where he exchanged a few words with workers who were chilling out during their break.