Malta Industrial Parks and the Chamber of Commerce and Enterprise have signed a memorandum of understanding on the service charge for factories operating from industrial estates and factory rents.

The agreement stipulates a minimum and a maximum fee and encourages estates to set up tenants associations that would determine the service charge tenants would pay for the maintenance and upkeep of the zones.

This agreement follows long and hard negotiations after a controversy erupted last year when Malta Enterprise decided to drastically increase the charge.

On the factory rent, agreement was reached on the parameters of how this should be charged.

It was agreed that the fee would be revised upwards five per cent once every five years. Two types of leases would also be introduced - one for 10 years for industries deemed to be strategic for country’s development and another for five years for other industries.

The new rent policy is retroactive to October 2009.

The agreement was signed by Lawence Zammit for MIP and Tancred Tabone for the Chamber.

Mr Tabone said that competitiveness in this sector must not be overlooked. It was an important sector for Malta providing 23,000 full-time jobs and 2,000 primary part-time jobs

Finance Minister Tonio Fenech, who was present for the signing, said that over the past three years the manufacturing sector generated 3,700 jobs and there were 160 new investments or expansions worth €350 million.