Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi and Finance Minister Tonio Fenech this morning visited Foster Clark Ltd’s state-of-the art production facility in San Gwann. The two were given a tour of the factory in the presence of the media.

Mr Fenech said: “Despite a number of foreign markets that have been hit by political unrest, Foster Clark has still managed to export to such markets, in its drive to pursue both existing and new markets,” referring to the company as a “Maltese success story that has managed to overcome any obstacles internationally that it may have faced over the years”.

Dr Gonzi echoed Mr Fenech’s words and added that despite the international crisis, Foster Clark has managed to continue with its expansion while managing to explore markets outside the EU as well.

Mr Fenech highlighted that as announced during yesterday's Budget speech, further incentive schemes have been introduced such as an increase in stipends for apprentices, set to rise to €95 from the current €86 while  government would continue to pay stamp duties for employers.

Foster Clark is dedicated to manufacturing and marketing high-quality food and beverage products. Established 45 years ago, Foster Clark Ltd is a fully Maltese-owned company that exports 2,600 containers per year, serving 75 countries across the globe. It exports to countries like Saudi Arabia, Mali, Mauritius, Cameroon, among other countries.

The company employs over 400 employees with 30% of the workforce having worked with the company for more than 10 years.

Chris Degiorgio, Foster Clark’s finance director, said that the company embarked on an ambitious three-phase expansion programme, the first phase of which comprised the opening of a new factory in 2008, the second saw the opening of a new factory in 2011, together with a research and development facility, and the third phase is the building of a logistics centre, the works of which are underway.

Over €20,000,000 was invested during the second phase of the expansion while also investing €200,000 in employee training during the last two years.

Employees posed a number of questions to the Prime Minister during his visit, one of which came from a young employee who asked him if a PN government will keep on incentivising first-time buyers.

The PM replied by stating that government had already introduced a number of schemes while highlighting that during the budget announced yesterday, the pressing problem of property evaluations by government-appointed architects had been changed once and for all.

The president of the Malta Developers Association Michael Falzon has many a time expressed dissatisfaction over  government-appointed architects that were being “guided” by the Inland Revenue Department on the ‘discerned’ market value of properties, resulting in higher tax claims on purchased property.

Mr Fenech, meanwhile said that government had expanded on its already laid foundations in this year’s Budget, while also highlighting that Ernst and Young’s survey saw the majority of the country’s chief executive officers stating that Malta had remained attractive for businesses to invest in, while others also said that they would continue to invest further.