De La Rue has begun the process of building a Global Centre of Excellence in Malta for identity, product authentication & traceability solutions.
In a statement today, the company said the investment will make Malta a global leader in this critical market, and will see the company invest €27 million in equipment and skills over the next 18 months.
Julian Payne. De La Rue’s Global Director Of Identity said customers around the world were tackling the joint issues of citizen identity and product authentication.
"These are critical markets, with over 8m people globally travelling by air every day, and up to 30% of alcohol consumed being illicit, our customers need help in solving these challenging issues, and our investment in Malta is designed to strengthen our capability in this area."
This year will see €10m being invested in new equipment and facilities in Malta. A further €4.4million will be invested over the next eight months to achieve the highest possible security accreditation globally, ISO14298.
The remaining investment of €12.6m is expected to be completed within the next 18 months.
Edward Chetcuti, director and head of Malta Operations commented: "It is critical that we build a highly skilled and knowledgeable workforce to deliver these new services.
"Already, a team of Malta employees are on a 10-month long training assignment in one of De La Rue’s UK facilities in preparation for the full transfer of operations to the Malta Centre of Excellence starting in 2017.
"We will be building a world class facility here, using best of breed (lean) systems and tools, and cutting edge processes and technologies’ .
SKILLS MIX
Mr Chetcuti said that this was changing the skills mix required:"This transformation will create 120 new jobs over the next 18 months, which jobs are already being filled through a combination of internal appointments wherever possible and external talent recruitment for specialised or professional skills. At the same time, the shift from banknote production continues.
"All right sizing for 2016 is now complete and has been entirely achieved through voluntary arrangements. Further rightsizing in 2017 is also expected to be completed on a voluntary basis" he said.