Our country has steadily been steered in the right direction by a responsible Nationalist Administration. In spite of the international financial crisis and the recession beleaguering the whole of the EU and the eurozone, Malta has, so far, managed to keep its finances on a sound footing. In fact, Malta ranks 34th out of 134 countries for financial services sophistication with a banking system that is the 10th soundest in the world!
In spite of the exceptionally bad way international economies are going, confidence in Malta seems to be strong. January 2009 started on a positive note.
Apart from the most welcome news that ProMinent, which has some 44 factories around the world, is planning to increase its workforce and to invest a further €5 million in its factory in Bulebel, this month the new Lufthansa Technik plant was inaugurated by the Prime Minister. The company started off in 2003 with 100 workers, who are expected to reach 700 by the end of 2010. Furthermore, Banif Bank, which settled on our shores last year, intends increasing its local investment and its workforce, which at present stands at 200.
In January this year Tecom invested a further €31 million in SmartCity Malta; the ongoing mega-technology park will be generating some 8,000 jobs and potentially cater for up to 11,000 employees.
The launch of a new mobile telephone provider on January 31 has also contributed to Malta's economic activity. In the European Commission's report on electronic communications in 2008, Malta was highlighted as having a "vibrant broadband market" which grew by seven per cent in 2008, the highest growth rate in the EU.
Penetration rate has reached 23.9 per cent, as against the EU average of 22.9 per cent. To quote the Prime Minister: "The penetration rate of mobile telephony has reached 93.2 per cent, translating into an increase of over 20 per cent in subscriptions over the past five years. Employment levels over the past year in the telecommunications sector have increased by six per cent. The existence of alternative operators is a key enabler of this dynamism".
Malta stands in the 27th place as the most networked economy in the world, surpassing Italy, Spain, etc. and attainted the 23rd position as the most E-Ready country in the world. No mean feats, I would say.
In February, we were also regaled with the good news that Northway Financial, which set up house in Malta in 2004 with six employees, increased its staff to 125, bringing the total amount of jobs in the financial services sector up to 7,000. When interviewed, its vice president, Kim de Thomas, said that, thrilled to be working in Malta, the management was impressed by the employees' professionalism.
Maitland Group, a professional services firm, providing advisory, fiduciary, asset management and fund services and which employs some 550 employees in 13 locations across Europe, South Africa and the Caribbean, has also expressed its intention to expand its international footprint and open up business in Malta.
Regus, a multi-national company that operates in 75 different countries is also opening a services centre here. Another company, Pharmacare Premium, announced that it is to invest €10 million on a new plant in Malta, employing up to 120 people within three years. The project, a joint venture between Palestinian-German Pharmacare Ltd Europe and Malta-registered Pharma Group Ltd, is the first pharmaceutical company with Maltese shareholding. Methode Electronics, which has been in Malta some 20 years and employs 750 workers, has also decided to consolidate and expand its business in Malta and it is planning to invest a further €6.5 million in new production lines.
Malta also fared well in competitiveness, ranking 25th out of 130 destinations.
In fact, last year alone we had a record number of tourists and registered a significant increase in cruise liners stopping over and carrying over 500,000 passengers. Furthermore, Malta has also just been voted the third best diving destination by about 35,000 readers of Diver magazine.
The Global Competitiveness Report published by the World Economic Forum in January 2009, which examines how 134 countries are developing placed Malta 10th for its quality of primary education.
We also rank very well in health services, third in the world and Philips will be investing €100,000 in state-of-the-art cardiac equipment.
Last month, Microsoft Malta teamed up with Malta Enterprise to launch the new Microsoft BizSpark Programme for Business Start-ups.
The BizSpark programme will be made available to young companies and individuals building a software-based product or service and who have been in business less than three years.
Malta is ranked second in the EU with regard to the provision of services online and the quality of the services offered. We occupy the EU's second lowest position in the gender wages gap; Malta's wage differential between the sexes is only 5.2 per cent, far below the EU average of 17.4 per cent.
Sometimes, caught up in a myriad of petty political controversies we hardly appreciate these encouraging achievements.
We must treasure the fact that, even though the credit crunch is crushing everyone around us, Malta is still weathering the storm.
Undoubtedly, this activity will serve as the necessary impetus to restore our economy back to pre-recession levels and to reach excellence by the year 2015.