The government wants to ensure that security printers De La Rue continue to have a future in Malta, Finance Minister Tonio Fenech said this morning.
Replying to questions during a PN press conference, he said the company wanted to stay in Malta, but it had told the government and the trade unions that it wanted to restructure in order to remain competitive.
Mr Fenech said that the government was following the situation and it was in close discussions with management.
The government, he said, was also willing to help the company invest.
Mr Fenech said that the De La Rue situation showed that economic difficulties were still there and nothing could be taken for granted.
Speaking at a press conference about jobs, Mr Fenech said that during this legislature, the government created 20,000 jobs despite the economic crisis.
To ensure that unemployment did not rise and that 25,000 new jobs were created in the next legislature, the people had no other option but to vote for the Nationalist Party since it was the only party that was guaranteeing jobs.
APPOINTMENT OF CHAIRMEN AND OIL PROCUREMENT
Asked about the appointment of chairmen on government boards, Mr Fenech said it had always been PN policy that whenever it came to appoint chairmen and board members, these were people of integrity and capable of managing that entity.
Mr Fenech noted that it was not just the government that had trusted Tancred Tabone (the former chairman of Enemalta) but also private industry, which had elected him chairman of the Chamber of Commerce.
DO NOT CHANGE A WINNING TEAM
German MEP Manfred Weber, who is the vice-chairman of the EPP, described Malta as a positive example in the EU and called on the people not to change a winning team.
“Change is not a value added source but stability is for investors who want to invest here is,” he said.
Mr Weber said that from a European point of view Europe faced years of crisis and it was only now that trust and money were making a comeback.
However, structural reforms were needed, globalisation was the biggest challenge and the general message of socialists all over Europe was generally against reforms.