A €33 million security printing facility by De La Rue was officially opened by Prime Minister Joseph Muscat today.

The company had invested in the new facility after reversing an earlier decision to dismiss 300 workers in what were plans to downsize its Malta operations.

This new facility is expected to lead to the expansion of the company's workforce from 417 to 500 employees.

The site is designed to deliver the next generation of Currency, Identity Management and Product Authentication Solutions for De La Rue’s global customers making Malta a unique one stop shop for Governments across the globe towards a secure global economy.

De La Rue Malta has achieved the highest global security accreditation of ISO14298 at Central Bank Level making the De La Rue Bulebel site one of the most secure facilities in the world. Welcoming the Prime Minister today, Martin Sutherland, the CEO of De la Rue said: ‘Today gives me real pride - because this is yet another important moment in a relationship between De La Rue and the Government of Malta that stretches back more than 40 years.’ In addition to opening the site, the Prime Minister toured the facility. Martin Sutherland continued: ‘Today we launch the High Security Logistics Centre, a new state of the art plate making facility and a new cutting edge technology Polycarbonate Manufacturing Plant which we will launch into full scale production in the coming weeks.’

Dr Muscat said: ‘We are delighted to be continuing our highly successful partnership with De la Rue. After 40 years, the relationship continues to strengthen, bringing highly skilled jobs to the island. Today marks the next chapter of the partnership. This type of partnership between the public and private sector is key to the continued economic well-being of Malta, and demonstrates how we can be a Global force in key industries.”