Incentives to industry are to reach €14.7 million, an increase of €5 million on last year.
A €250,000 awareness campaign will focus on government’s drive to place innovation at the heart of economic growth
Industries which consume more than two gigawatt hours a year and which invest in energy-saving measures and alternative energy systems will benefit from €3 million in fiscal incentives over the next three years.
High added-value industrial sectors struggling to recruit specialised human resources locally will now be able to tap fiscal incentives similar to those made available to the financial services and online gaming sectors. The incentives now also apply to highly qualified Maltese who wish to work in specialised sectors in Malta, expert foreign workers who are required for certain industrial sectors, and to people who would like to carry out research or market innovation on the island.
The initiative is designed to continue to boost the added value of Maltese industry and to continue to steer manufacturing on the path of research, innovation and technological development.
The €16 million project to upgrade several industrial parks will continue next year. Work at Ħal Far and Bulebel estates is at an advanced stage.
Finance Minister Tonio Fenech stressed that the proposed €3.50 service charge per square metre for industrial park premises would not go to the authorities once tenants established an association. The highly contested service charge was reduced after consultation with the Malta Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry.
Each industrial zone management will report to tenants’ associations. If amounts collected are higher that what is required to maintain the industrial park, the surplus will be returned or an adjustment made in that zone’s service charge. Mr Fenech said that until discussions with the Malta Chamber are concluded, expired contracts will be renewed at current rates.
Authorities approved 35 projects for factories and companies so far this year with an investment of €145 million. These projects are expected to create 700 jobs over three years.
Malta’s ambitions in biosciences and pharmaceuticals research will be based at the €30 million Bio Malta campus in San Ġwann. Work on the 9,000-square metre project incorporating 56 lab units in four buildings started earlier this year.
The project is linked to the participation of Sultan Scientific, the UK company which backs firms pursuing competitive medical technology ideas. Sultan Scientific belongs to Sir Christopher Evans who was named chairman of the newly unveiled Bio Malta Foundation last week. The company is to launch a €200 million Global Medi-Science Fund based in Malta to invest in projects earmarked for the Bio Malta campus or in joint international initiatives.
A €250,000 awareness campaign will focus on the government’s drive to place innovation at the heart of economic growth. The Malta Council for Science and Technology will receive an increased contribution for research of €1.6 million. A new fund to support the internationalisation of research and innovation will also be created. Additional funds will help researchers participate in the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme.
• €3 million for energy saving incentives
• Drive to bring Maltese experts back home
• €3.50 service charge may be readjusted