Around 800 new jobs will be created this year through private investment of around €200 million in 19 industrial expansion projects, Economy Minister Silvio Schembri announced on Monday.
Speaking at a press conference, Schembri referred to a number of positive economic outlook reports that were published over recent weeks. He said more has to be done to not only see the economy grow further but also improve the quality of life of the Maltese.
Going through the list of projects, Schembri said Toly Products will invest €20 million in a new factory complex. Playmobil will be investing €49 million in an expansion project. Trelleborg will be investing €34 million in an ongoing expansion project and Methode Electronics will be investing €34 million.
Lufthansa will invest €25 million in new hangar facilities in Malta, whilst SR Technic is investing €35 million in its own facilities.
“Our economy is not based solely on one sector. As we can see with these expansion projects, our economic growth comes from a diverse number of sectors; from pharmaceuticals to high-end manufacturing, aviation and technology,” Schembri said.
The Minister said that 102 smaller expansion projects will also be undertaken by small and medium-sized enterprises in Malta.
Whilst the economy has doubled in size over the past seven years, Schembri said, the economic forecast predicts that Malta’s economy will continue growing at three times the EU average.
“We have three pillars which we will follow to ensure this growth,” he explained. “We will continue to diversify our economy through a number of niches, address the needs of long standing sectors that are the backbone of our economy and nurture investment and improve quality of life.”
Schembri referred to the European Commission’s economic outlook for Malta, which said the country is expected to register the fastest economic growth in the EU for the year ahead.
He also noted that credit rating agency Fitch gave Malta an A+ positive outlook, whilst DBRS gave Malta an A(high)+ rating (the best rating ever received from the US/Canadian agency). Moody’s report gave Malta an A2+ rating.
“All these reports confirm that our economy has grown over the past seven years during a Labour government and will only continue to grow,” explained Schembri.
He said that, next year, the economy will continue to grow and attract more operators to expand sectors such as virtual technologies, blockchain and life sciences. “We are witnessing the biggest investment in our nation’s history and we will be devoting an ever larger budget to education and training to sustain our efforts to reduce the skills gap,” Schembri said.