Next year’s Budget should include concrete initiatives aimed at stimulating the manufacturing sector, which employed more than 30,000 people in Malta, Nationalist Party deputy leader Mario de Marco said this afternoon.

Dr de Marco said in a statement such initiatives should help the sector meet the challenges it was facing and attract more investment that would create productive employment for Maltese and Gozitan families.

He said that the concern among Malta’s main businessmen was confirmed by National Statistics Office statements on trade and industrial production.

The NSO confirmed that in the first nine months of this year, exports dropped by €158 million (10 per cent) while industrial production was 7.1 per cent lower than in the same month last year, continuing with the trend of the past year.

In view of this, the PN appealed to the government to find the necessary funds to aid the sector, which should continue to give an important contribution to the economy.

It would also be putting the minds of the 30,000 families earning their livelihood from this sector at rest.