Medical products company Baxter is to engage an additional 190 workers as part of an investment programme supported by the government, Economic Affairs Minister Chris Cardona said.

He visited the factory in Marsa last night and was told that 30 of the new workers would be engaged in research and development and the rest on production lines.

The minister praised the management and workers for their service and said government policies were paying off, with Malta having seen a record of investment projects approved by Malta Enterprise in a year.

He expressed confidence that the trend would continue, with life being made easier for investors through lower power tariffs and other measures to improve competitiveness.

INVESTMENT IN GOZO

The engagement of the new Baxter workers was announced hours after the Ministry for Gozo announced that it had signed an agreement with RS2 Ltd which will start to operate in Gozo. The company is to make a €1m investment which will lead to the engagement of 100 workers.

RS2 is a provider of business driven electronic card payment software solutions and Internet services for the banking and financial industry.

Gozo Minister Anton Refalo said Gozo needed investment such as this after several companies closed down at Xewkija industrial estate in the past few years.

The RS2 investment was the most significant investment  in Gozo in some years, Dr Refalo said, and the ministry would continue to work for further investment to create jobs in Gozo for the Gozitans.