One of Malta’s largest supermarket chains, Scotts, yesterday unveiled a €12 million new supermarket in Mosta and a warehousing centre.
Following a visit by Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi to the chain’s Żabbar branch, group chairman Mario Said said the investment was a result of the chain’s growth.
“The fact we are investing so much money means we are very confident in our business and the overall retail climate in the country.” The owners of Scotts started their business 10 years ago after closing down Peter Blond, a textile manufacturing company.
“Many of the people we used to employ in the textile industry are still with us today and through the new investment we are aiming to have a workforce of 350 people by the end of this year,” Mr Said told Dr Gonzi.
The Prime Minister said the supermarket chain was a vivid example of the way the Government had managed to boost the economic climate as more businessmen felt the need to expand their businesses as they saw potential in the country.
“No one invests and risks his money if the economic climate is not right,” he said.
Retail was also on the Prime Minister’s agenda later in the morning when he visited the Valletta open market in Merchants Street.
Dr Gonzi said the European Commission has just given a clean bill of health to Malta’s economy and consumer confidence was considered one of the main drivers of continued economic growth. He said Malta was projected to have the second highest economic growth in the EU, “an exception” when considering that the eurozone’s economy is expected to stall or even shrink.
The Prime Minister said that in the coming legislature his party was planning to continue to incentivise small businesses with new schemes, including tax holidays for start-ups and access to cheap financing through the creation of a development bank.
He said that whenever Labour was in power, the economy stalled and the country registered record unemployment.