Global health care company Baxter is opening a research and development centre in its Malta plant, which will generate another 30 jobs by June.

Over the past four years, the company, which manufactures medical products, invested €12 million, an average of €3 million a year, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said when he visited the plant.

“It’s a great satisfaction that Malta attracted a project of global research belonging to such a large company,” he said.

The investment did not happen by chance but was the result of work by both the government and the private sector, Dr Gonzi added.

The company, which employs almost 500 people, has been in Malta for more than 20 years.

Dr Gonzi said the government was focused on attracting more investment and pointed out that foreign investment in the manufacturing industry was increasing.

Over the past four years, Malta Enterprise approved 130 new factories and extensions that translated into an investment of more than €320 million and 3,400 new jobs, he said.