The government-appointed task force on industry has been negotiating aid packages with about 30 companies since it was set up in February, Malta Enterprise chairman Alan Camilleri told The Times Business.
Speaking during an interview Mr Camilleri said: "We have concluded agreements with five companies and are in the process of concluding with others. The negotiations principally involve trying to attract more investment to weather the current storm but at the same time help companies become stronger once the storm is over."
Mr Camilleri said it was encouraging to note some of the companies which were helped by the government invested even more than was actually planned.
"This is important because at the end of the day this translates not only in no redundancies being made - these companies committed themselves not to make anyone redundant in a 12-month period - but over and above that some of the companies are employing people again. I have also been informed that some companies are actually recalling people who were previously made redundant which is significant given the prevailing circumstances."
Mr Camilleri said Malta Enterprise was committed to continue helping industry. "My reading of the situation at the moment as far as industry is concerned - of course excluding tourism - is that the initial panic or shock seems to have subsided. This does not mean that industry is recouping but it seems that the slowdown has somehow bottomed.
"There are fluctuations between companies - some are registering modest improvements - some are at the same level - but I think the fact that there is no sliding down in orders has given a bit of a breather for industry to readjust its strategy for the future and plan growth in more modest terms. Having said that, however, I know of some companies which are expanding quite well," he said.
He added: "For the last month and a half requests from industry for aid have declined and in this period we have only had two requests for help which in my opinion is positive. Obviously, we must keep our feet on the ground and remain cautious, but we are optimistic."
Mr Camilleri said the fact that Malta Enterprise was still discussing possible help with some companies does not necessarily mean that an agreement will be reached.
"Some companies found their own solutions while others couldn't be helped. We do not want to subsidise wages for the fifth day as is being done in Germany for example. We want to assist companies make the necessary investment so the production gap can be compensated in a short period of time and in the process make workers more employable whether for that job or another job.
"That is why we emphasised the need for training. I am proud to say that the training at Stainless Steel and Dedicated Micros has all been successfully completed by the ETC. In other cases, such as in Methode, the training is ongoing," he said.
Mr Camilleri said that Malta Enterprise has been negotiating three large projects during the past few weeks, some of which could be concluded over the next few weeks; others might take months.
"There are positive signals at the moment and we are on the investment radar because otherwise we would not have been able to engage in such detailed negotiations with these companies, a couple of which are multinationals," he said, in reference to a recent conference which claimed that Malta was off the "investment radar".
He continues: "If Malta was off the radar we would not have attracted so many international companies in a very competitive international environment such as Lufthansa Technik, the numerous pharmaceutical companies like Actavis, Cardinal Health, Arrow Pharma, Aurobindo, manufacturing companies like Playmobil, Baxter, Trellborg, De La Rue, HSBC, including its international call centre, and SmartCity in the ICT sector."
"This does not mean that Malta does not need to do more. In fact, I have gone on record publicly saying that we need to strengthen our efforts to be more visible on the investment radar.
"Our efforts, however, also need to be in line with our economic value proposition, and it is pertinent to note that our strategy is focused on a targeting approach with potential investors.
"Having said this, Unctad's World Investment Report for 2008 ranks us fifth in terms of our performance in attracting investment and the GlobalFinancial Services Index ranks us fourth in terms of the markets likely to increase in importance in the coming years."
He explains, however, that more can be done, such as the need for a uniting brand identity for Malta.
"Too many organisations are spending money marketing the same location, albeit from different angles. I strongly believe that we should have a common international marketing effort, synergising and cross-selling Malta as a destination 360 degrees.
"We also need to integrate policy making in international attractiveness matters. We need a common agreed policy and effort on our overseas presences and efforts. There is much more we can achieve through synergy and integration in our foreign representations by agencies, ministries or entities under government control as well as those offices being managed by stakeholders," he said.
Mr Camilleri said that it was also important to keep minimising bureaucracy, eliminate uncompetitive practices and ensure that labour costs reflect productivity.
He explained that over the next six months Malta Enterprise and Malta Industrial Parks will be integrated into one entity. MIP will remain a company to raise the finance for the development projects, however, from a functional perspective everything will be integrated.
"There will be one single management structure and one chairman. A new department - the enterprise, trade and support division - will be created - where trade promotion efforts will be bolstered. We are going to recruit about 10 new people whose focus will be solely investment promotion.
"We will place people in strategic markets as well as new and emerging markets, in London, Milan, Munich, Paris and Delhi. We already have people in Tripoli and Dubai. We are also considering placing someone in the US.
"We will also have desk officers in Malta to handle other emerging markets such as China, South America, Africa, particularly South Africa, Scandinavia, Spain, Portugal, Eastern Europe, Russia, Australia and New Zealand. We will have two teams, one based here and another abroad, fully trained to be able to concentrate on investment promotion."
Malta Enterprise is also going to open a business support centre (including a mini business support centre in Gozo) - a one-stop shop, within Malta Enterprise - where industry can access all ME's services at a desk-to-desk level, and from where consultancy services will be provided. The centre will also focus on SMEs.
"This should take about six months to complete. We also have to move from our current premises in San Ġwann because this is where the biotechnology park is to be built. This will be linked into one knowledge village together with Mater Dei Hospital and where research and development will take place. We also have a number of large projects such as the upgrading of the Ħal Far Industrial Estate, the Xewkija Industrial Estate in Gozo and the last part of the Bulebel Industrial Estate upgrading together with a childcare centre at the Mosta Technopark," he said.
Mr Camilleri said that no redundancies are planned as a result of the merger between Malta Enterprise and MIP and work conditions will remain the same. Both the GWU and UĦM have been kept informed about developments and have both been positive in their reaction, he said.
Regarding developments at the Ta' Qali Crafts village, Mr Camilleri said this will "definitely" remain at its present location.
"This was made clear to us when the government handed over the responsibility for the crafts village to Malta Industrial Parks three months ago. Since then we have met a number of tenants and we explained to them that we understood their concerns. We committed ourselves to all the promises made by the government in the promise of sale agreement. The agreement stipulates a number of activities taking place and we want to ensure that this is the case.
"The whole project is a redevelopment and from the business angle we want to ensure that the crafts village is sustainable. It will be sustainable if it is attractive to visit and tourists actually go there and spend some time there. We don't only want to give the tenants nice buildings but we want to look after their business model and ensure that this is sustainable.
"We also want to ensure that the crafts village is a proper crafts village in that it reflects the different crafts available in Malta because ultimately that is what will make it a tourist attraction. We are also looking at how to facilitate the integration of the crafts village with the surrounding areas such as the sports facilities and the national park," he said.
Mr Camilleri said that MIP will be hosting the control of the design guidelines and tenants will have to submit their plans for the development of their site on the basis of a master plan.
"A master plan for the whole area was never presented, what was done was a plan for the crafts village, but we want to widen the whole plan so whatever takes place does so within the context of such a master plan. Tenants can either develop their site or if they can't raise the capital we will develop it for them and they will pay rent. We intend to develop a marketing plan for the whole area and the common services and areas will be financed by MIP," he explained.
Mr Camilleri said he understands a certain amount of scepticism on the part of the tenants in that they might say "Is this another plan that will never happen?"
However, he adds: "I can say that I am fully committed to this project - obviously if there are things outside my control - there is nothing I can do about that."