Malta Enterprise approved 132 industrial investment projects last year, a record for a single year, Economic Affairs Minister Chris Cardona said this morning.

He said the projects equate to an investment of €166 million. They will create over 2,600 jobs over three years.

Dr Cardona told a press conference that the new projects include 36 new overseas investments, the highest annual number since 2006. Another 15 are expansions of foreign companies already in Malta. 

The sources of the investment are the UK, Germany and Italy, followed by Spain.

The investments include aviation maintenance, electronics, furniture, ICT, digital gaming and pharmaceuticals.

Local investors came forward with 50 new projects and 31 expansions of which 70 were in manufacturing industry.

He attributed the success to better focus and better organisation by Malta Enterprise, micro targeting of potential clients, an improvement in international conditions and a reduction of red tape in Malta.

Dr Cardona said the electricity tariffs and other government-induced costs had been undermining Maltese competitiveness, but the government was tackling them.

Between 2010 and 2012 Malta Enterprise approved an average of seven foreign direct investment with an average employment of just 38.

All this proved, he said, that the current government's economic strategy was paying dividends.

Dr Cardona announced that a steering committee headed by Malta Enterprise would be drafting a new industrial development policy. The agency would also continue to target, in particular, investment in energy, health and higher education.