A company which produces medicinal products has started welcoming 100 new employees after it had to increase its production rate by 20% due to the Covid-19 situation, Economy Minister Silvio Schembri said.
He was speaking during a press conference after his visit to the Baxter factory on Wednesday morning.
“I have welcomed you to this visit inside Baxter so that you can see what we mean when there were companies that adapted to the situation,” Schembri said. “This is what we mean when we say that manufacturing industries adapted to the circumstances and created more opportunities for employment in the meantime.”
He believes that this is the kind of optimism we have to approach Malta’s economy with as we enter this new reality.
He explained that the government will be working on investing in new economic fields while strengthening more traditional ones which are still able to adapt and provide a good source for a new economy. Such traditional industries includes manufacturing which was, and will remain, of utmost importance for Malta to attract investment, contribute to the exportation sector and create more opportunities for employment which right now amounts to 13% of the private sector.
“We wanted to ensure that we keep on creating opportunities and this industry, specifically Baxter, was proactive in its approach to help the medical sector during these difficult times,” Schembri said.
This includes the production of a wide range of products used in intensive care units to treat COVID-patients, such as essential medicines, intravenous solutions and nutrition, infusion pumps, blood purification filters, dialysis machines & disposables.
This crisis resulted in Baxter increasing its production rate by 20% and resulting in the company employing 100 new employees starting from this week – “this is what we mean when we say that there are still opportunities coming up.”
Manufacturing Director of Baxter Malta Brian Tabone explained that the company has been operating for 30 years in Malta and there are currently around 500 employees working in different sector like manufacturing and research and development.
He pointed out that Baxter won a reward for the company that promotes the best work life balance showing how the company is always focused on protecting the health of its workers who are now working full hours in order to keep up with the demand.
On a concluding note he said that Baxter, together with other philanthropic organisations, are giving €2 million in support of medical supplies for patients across the world.