Economy Minister Chris Cardona yesterday hailed Labour’s first 10 months in office saying a record number of projects had been approved, with the government forecasting the creation of over 2,600 jobs over the next three years.

Addressing a news conference at the Malta Enterprise offices in Guardamanġa, Dr Cardona said 132 projects had been given the thumbs up by the corporation. These represented a combined investment of €166 million.

The minister attributed this upturn in the country’s economic prospects to the government’s business-friendly approach as well as better strategic decisions by its investment-promotion arm.

He said that rather than focusing on a wide array of markets, Malta Enterprise decided to focus exclusively on those regions and sectors that had the highest potential.

The government was also addressing major concerns for industry which were the cost of energy and bureaucracy

Dr Cardona said the government was also addressing major concerns which were the cost of energy and bureaucracy.

While acknowledging that part of this success could be attributed to the global economic upturn following the 2009 crisis, he said that the government had been very careful not to create any shocks for the economy.

Dr Cardona also announced that Malta Enterprise was tasked with drafting a new policy for industry.

Malta Enterprise chairman Mario Vella who gave a general overview of the corporation’s initiatives said that prospects for further investment were encouraging. He hinted that major investments in energy, health and education were in the pipeline, but said that more details would be divulged in the coming weeks.

Dr Vella said that foreign direct investment last year reached the highest levels since 2006 with 36 such projects given the green light. In addition another 15 foreign companies who were already established in Malta applied for an expansion. The total value of this investment was expected to exceed €108 million, with over 330 jobs being created in due course.

The United Kingdom was the major source of foreign investment with 12 projects followed by Germany and Italy with eight and Spain with seven.

In contrast he said that between 2010 and 2012 the number of new investments coming to Malta each year oscillated from two to nine.

Dr Vella said that last year was also a very positive one for local industry with Malta Enterprise approving 81 projects of which 50 were new. This amounted to a combined investment of €58 million with around 1,000 new jobs being forecast.