Prime Minister Joseph Muscat ye­s­terday heaped praise on Sai Mizzi-Liang for her work in attracting Chinese company Huawei to Malta, where it will test 5G technology.

Ms Mizzi-Liang, wife of Energy Minister Konrad Mizzi, has been at the centre of controversy over her €13,000-a-month salary.

Dr Muscat said she was “instrumental” for the Chinese giant’s decision to open an office in Malta.

He was speaking in an interview on the Labour Party’s One Radio yesterday during which he spoke at length about the Greek crisis. He then flew to Brussels.

Saying that a memorandum of understanding would be signed today, Dr Muscat noted this was the first major result of the decisions made by the government to appoint Ms Mizzi-Liang, “despite stiff criticism”. He promised that more similar investments from China would be announced in the near future.

The Sunday Times of Malta reported yesterday that Huawei would open a branch at Smart City. The multinational company that specialises in network and telecommunications equipment is expected to start testing 5G technology in Malta and will then decide whether to set up a research and development facility here.

The reason why we did this is to strengthen the environment

Huawei will be the second major Chinese company to invest in Malta after Shanghai Electric Power concluded a transaction to buy a 33 per cent stake in Enemalta last year.

It is headquartered in Shenzhen, Guangdong, and is the largest telecommunications equipment maker in the world, having overtaken Ericsson in 2012.

Dr Muscat said talks would start on a fibre-to-homes technology project, which would also benefit local businesses such as e-gaming firms.

During the radio interview, he also spoke about the planning authority’s demerger, about which, he said, people had given a strong mandate in the last general election.

“The reason why we did this [proposing to split Mepa into an authority for planning and a separate one for the environment] is to strengthen the environment,” Dr Muscat said. “What I cannot understand,” he said, “is why the Opposition voted against what was proposed by environmental NGOs when it voted against a set of amendments which were based on their views.

Dr Muscat referred to the positive Standard & Poor’s report on Malta. “Had we done what the previous government did and shied away from taking decisions, we would not have achieved these results. We are a pro-business government and we will remain one. We represent the Labour Party, the party which represents workers,” he said.