German firm sees shipping savings with EU accession

UWT Malta, an assembler of level indicators for various industries, will be making big savings on shipping once Malta joins the EU on May 1.

The company exports all its production to Germany for re-export to other countries, but once Malta becomes an EU member it would be able to export to European countries directly.

Giving an example, general manager Emidio Friggieri said that €600 would be saved on the company's next shipment, which will now be sent directly to Italy.

UWT held its first international sales meeting at its Corradino plant this week. It was attended by representatives from 13 countries.

The company employs 16 full-time and three part-time staff. It exports all its production, amounting to some 25,000 units per year.

Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi yesterday visited the German factory, set up in Malta three years ago.

Dr Gonzi said it was very clear that UWT was geared to be competitive not just in a local market but also in a global sense. What was being produced in Malta, he said, was competing thousands of miles away.

The company, he said, was geared to provide high quality products and it was also geared to be innovative.

He said that competitiveness was a national project for Malta.

"We want this island to be competitive. We have a skilled workforce that can deliver. Our assets are our workforce, our workers are our single resource."

The Prime Minister said that in this sense the challenge was to see how to increase the female participation rate, which was, unfortunately, still very low in Malta.

He commended UWT for having its workforce evenly split between males and females.

Mr Friggieri said UWT was successful because it was committed to deliver "everytime and on time". He said that the company had expansion plans and wanted to eventually employ 25 people.

Joint managing director Uwe Niekrawietz said his partner started the company 26 years ago.

The company opened up its Malta operation four years ago and started making a profit after just two years. UWT level indicators, he said, were internationally approved for quality.