Swedish online customer care service Besedo is planning to double its workforce in Malta from 140 to 280 within a year.

Besedo Group CEO Jesper Lilliesköld announced the company's planned investment yesterday during a visit by Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi and Finance Minister Tonio Fenech on the occasion of the company's first anniversary since setting up an office in Malta.

The company has offices in Stockholm, Malta and Malaysia and offers its services in 14 languages, including Italian, French, Spanish, Maltese, Chinese and Portuguese. It has clients in 11 countries.

Essentially, it offers a customer care service to three types of internet sites: Classified sites, online financial services sites and the iGaming industry. The latter has a strong presence in Malta.

Mr Lilliesköld said Besedo, set up in 2002, provided in-house training but was in the process of starting talks with education institutions to run its training programmes.

Dr Gonzi said it was positive to hear such good news when surrounded by negative reports about the recession. "Besedo is sending out a strong message of success, which goes to show there are loads of opportunities out there. All we have to do is know how to make the best of the challenges," he said.

Dr Gonzi thanked the company's management "for helping Malta achieve its 2015 vision", which included becoming a centre of excellence in the ICT and services sectors.