A Labour government would retain Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando as Malta Council for Science and Technology chairman, Joseph Muscat said this afternoon during a visit.

Dr Pullicino Orlando, Dr Muscat said, was ideal for the post and he would be retained if he so wished. This was a sector that was not politicised and continuity would help it operate better.

Dr Pullicino Orlando resigned from the Nationalist Party parliamentary group late last year and is not seeking re-election.

A new PL government, Dr Muscat said, would strengthen Malta’s patent system, especially in the high end manufacturing sector. It would also provide financial incentives for business angel groups and venture capital initiatives.

Local entrepreneurs in traditional sectors reaching saturation points, such as in construction, might find it interesting to invest in such initiatives, he said.

Dr Pullicino Orlando said that over the past years MCST staff had increased four-fold and government financing was five times more than it had been. He said he was especially looking forward to the interactive science centre.

A research and innovation fund had received four times as many applications as it could which meant that science and research projects that could be very beneficial to the country were sometimes lost

MCST CEO Nicholas Sammut gave a presentation on MCST and its projects and said there was still plenty of room for growth in tapping international and European funds.

He said that the MCST was ready to rise to the challenge of providing research and innovative solutions for the country’s problems.