Flying high
Marcus Motschenbacher, Vice-President Base Maintenance Production EUMEA/ Americas and John Mahon, CEO, Lufthansa Technik Malta
I am responsible for a production network of locations in five European countries. The European labour market has played a major role in the existence and allocation of these facilities. Our operation in Malta is no exception and owes its strong network position also to the EU membership and the euro. Also because of this European development John Mahon, an Irish manager, has now taken over the position of CEO of Lufthansa Technik Malta.
A great experience
Jacobus Malherbe, CEO, Munich Re of Malta p.l.c.
One of the most important factors for Munich Re when opening an office here more than a decade ago was the fact that Malta formed part of the European Union.
It has since been a great experience for us as a company, and we have thoroughly enjoyed working closely together with our local business partners, colleagues and staff.
Achieving growth
Michael Seifert, Chairman and CEO, Seifert Systems Ltd.
Seifert Malta was set up in 1991 by Rolf Seifert, founder of the Seifert group of companies. Malta offered a skilled, English speaking workforce paired with attractive government incentives. Over the last 30 years Seifert Malta grew from 15 people to a state-of-the-art company with modern technology and close to 300 employees.
The German reunification and the fall of the iron curtain offered significant new opportunities for growth. Our family was reunited and could meet without fear after 28 years of separation. And today, the EU offers peace and prosperity for its citizens.
A 23-year relationship
Marisa Xuereb, Managing Director, Raesch Quarz (Malta) Ltd
We’ve been in Malta for 23 years. For the first 10 years, our mother company was in Hamburg and our sister company, from whom we receive most of our raw material right up to this very day, was close to Erfurt, in what was previously East Germany. Our business would never have come to be, were it not for the reunification of Germany.
Malta’s accession to the EU made it possible for us to adopt a business model whereby the Malta plant supplies customers directly. This enabled us to develop stronger relationships with our customers, and to remain a viable business partner even when low-cost, third-country competitors challenged the market with aggressive pricing. The internal market is key to our business.
Trading advantages
Prof Dr Joseph Cilia, Chairman, Abertax Quality Ltd.
Abertax was started in 1997 by Germans but from the outset with headquarters in Malta. By now all leading Abertax positions are in the hands of Maltese. Abertax presently employs 170 people, many in research and development. Today, Abertax has become – in Malta and beyond – a technology benchmark company in battery electronics and precision injection moulding.
Abertax products aim mainly at the European business-to-business market and profit from the trading advantages within the European Union.
Crucial markets
Simon Alden, General Manager, Bavarian Technology Systems Malta
BTS is a supplier to the automotive industry and offers clients of its German sister company Dumps Electronic a high quality, lower cost solution for their high volume products. The EU and German market in particular are crucially important to our company and constitute most of our business.
During my regular business trips to former East Germany I discovered the differences in the state of the infrastructure there compared to the West. It was amazing to see the huge German investment in terms of modern infrastructure and whole sectors of a town taking on a new lease of life.
The rewards of reunification
Dr Conrad Pace, General Manager, ProMinent Fluid Controls Ltd.
ProMinent, a company that operates in the water treatment business, saw business opportunities increase with the opening up of East Germany through reunification, which had a positive effect on the operations in Malta. Furthermore, reunification also brought specialised persons from the East into the company, both in Germany and Malta, where they have also settled down. Over the years, ProMinent Malta has also come to rely on various East German manufacturers as part of its procurement network.