Top car shipping company moves from Norway to Malta

Infrastructure Minister Austin Gatt said yesterday that the biggest car shipping company in the world chose to move to Malta from Norway two weeks ago.

He said the company intended to bring its headquarters to Malta after having already registered five companies on the island and was in the process of registering 140 vessels under the Maltese flag.

Dr Gatt, who was speaking at a dialogue meeting held by the Nationalist Party in Victoria, yesterday, added that another company, a Canadian manufacturer of oil exploration valves with several operations around the world, wanted to set up in an EU country and chose to build a logistics base in Malta.

He also announced that the outline development permit for the SmartCity project and the permit for the building of the project's first phase would be issued next week. Within 18 months the first Maltese and Gozitans will find employment in the Ricasoli site which was previously decrepit, Dr Gatt said.