Malta will be investing heavily to boost the economy with a particular emphasis on research, tourism and training.

Giving an overview of how Malta is planning to use its EU funds under the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the Cohesion Fund (CF) until 2013, the Commission said that according to the operational programmes approved by the EU executive, the total budget for Malta is around €857 million.

Brussels said Malta was the first member state to complete negotiations for the new programming period.

"The programme will play a key role in achieving the objectives of the Maltese National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF) and its convergence.

"It will do this by boosting the competitiveness of its productive activities and enhancing the attractiveness of the archipelago in terms of environmental quality, transport facilities and services as well as clean and efficient energy patterns."

Highlighting some of the expected impact of this investment, the Commission said Malta is aiming to achieve an increase in RTDI (Research, Technological Development and Innovation) expenditure as a percentage of GDP. The target is a rise from 0.3 per cent in 2004 to 0.75 in 2013.

Another priority will be tourism where Malta is targeting an increase in earnings of one per cent per year over the 2007-2013 financial period.

Malta is also aiming for an increase in exports of its manufacturing sector from 2.7 per cent last year to 3.2 per cent in 2013 on an annual growth basis.

Addressing a press conference in Brussels on the conclusion of negotiations held with all the 27 member states on how to spend EU funds until 2013, Regional Policy Commissioner Danuta Hubner said it is up to individual member states to choose the right projects to fit the approved general operational projects.

The EU is investing €347.4 billion through the Cohesion Policy for the 2007-2013 cycle with the new EU member states taking most of these funds.