Jordanian investors will on Tuesday sign heads of agreement for the development of an educational institution in the south of the island, The Sunday Times of Malta has learnt.
The campus, which will see an investment of around €100 million, is the result of discussions that have been ongoing for more than a year. Heads of agreement is a non-binding document outlining the main issues relevant to a tentative partnership.
If it materialises, the American University of Malta will be set up with the collaboration of the Chicago-based De Paul University. Four of the university’s representatives will be arriving in Malta today.
The project was meant to head to Spain but Prime Minister Joseph Muscat persuaded the main investor, Hani Salah, the chairman of the Sadeen Group, to opt for Malta.
The investor’s representative in Malta, Thaer Mukbel, told The Sunday Times of Malta yesterday that the project would benefit Malta, describing the multiplying effects as “crazy”.
The biggest opponents will have a difficult task building a case against this project
“When families come they will stay in hotels, students will be spending money here. And this besides the direct jobs in construction and finishing,” he said.
“We are looking at Malta as a centre of excellence, a great place where students from the Middle East, North Africa and Europe can come over to study,” he added.
The campus, comprising five colleges, is projected to provide tuition for around 4,000 students by the fourth year of operation, rising progressively from 1,000 in the first year.
Between two and four per cent of the student population are expected to be Maltese as will an estimated 30 per cent of the 190 academic staff that will be employed.
The campus will be built on 90,000 square metres of land that the government offered the investors in Marsascala. The faculties will focus on engineering, arts, sciences, education and health.
Asked about the controversy surrounding the project because it is due to be built on agricultural land, Mr Mukbel said the area had been earmarked by the government and “every consideration” was taken into account to address people’s concerns.
“When people find out what the project is all about, even the biggest opponents will have a difficult task building a case against this project.
It is a unique project and even in our designs, we will be respecting the surroundings. I can tell you from now that the highest part will not be more than three storeys and it will blend in with the landscape.”
He said that the government was “very tough with us” in view of failed proposed projects in the past, particularly “the White Rocks white elephant”.
Sources said the project is expected to increase the economy’s gross value added by over one per cent in each year over the first 10 years of operation. The bulk of this emanates from the operation of the college itself.
With regard to human capital creation, graduates are expected to experience an increase in productivity and earning power of around €7,000 per annum over the course of their working lives.
In terms of job creation, sources said the project is expected to generate around 200 full-time equivalent jobs over the first three years of the construction phase.