19 company expansions will create 800 new jobs

Hundreds of new jobs are expected to be added to the labour market this year by companies seeking to expand their operations, the Economy Minister said.

Silvio Schembri said 19 expansion projects pertaining to companies operating in Malta will create 800 new jobs. The overall investment will inject €200 million into the economy.

Schembri said the companies that will expand operate in the pharmaceutical, software and cloud computing, video game development and aviation sectors.

“These expansion projects signal business confidence in our economy,” Schembri said.

He was reacting to several economic assessment reports published over the past two months by international credit rating agencies that retained Malta’s top rating.

Schembri said the economy will also be boosted by smaller investments carried out by another 102 domestic companies.

“These investments will create quality jobs and a better standard of living but most importantly, we are seeing companies that have been operating in Malta for many years reconfirming their commitment to stay and grow,” Schembri said.

Malta’s economy has grown well-above the EU average since 2013, allowing the country to register successive surpluses in public finances. However, according to the International Monetary Fund’s latest report, growth is set to moderate to 4% this year as a result of an international slowdown.

Schembri said the next step was to continue diversifying the country’s economic strategy by tapping new niches and effectively address the needs of long-standing sectors.

He said the main priority was for approved projects to hit the ground running, by diminishing unnecessary bureaucratic procedures.

A priority will be strengthening Malta Enterprise’s Ease of Doing Business project by drafting legislation to make it easier to do business in Malta. 

“Our ultimate goal is for economic growth to translate into a just, open, innovative and inclusive society,” Schembri said.

Schembri said the economy was about to enter “an interesting phase”, from one of rapid economic growth to one that puts emphasis on the quality of growth.

“A natural step forward is to look at Malta as an advanced country that can attract high value investment and knowledge-based careers, specialising in sectors that generate good revenue and careers within new industries,” he said.