Some 800 new jobs are expected to be created this year through various expansion projects by businesses, Economy Minister Silvio Schembri said on Monday.  

Addressing a press conference, Mr Schembri said this would translate into an investment of €200million into the Maltese economy. 

Toly Products, he said, was investing €20million in a new factory complex. 

Playmobil will be investing €49million in an expansion project of its own and Trelleborg is investing €34million in an ongoing expansion project. 

Lufthansa, Dr Schembri said, is investing €25million in new hangar facilities in Malta which were already being built, while SR Technics’ new hangars will represent an investment of €35million when complete.

Methode Electronics will also be investing some €34million through a major expansion project, the minister said. 

Mr Schembri said some 102 smaller expansion projects will also be undertaken by small and medium-sized enterprises in Malta over the next few months. 

Agencies such as Malta Enterprise, Malta Industrial Parks, and Trade Malta, were key in attracting new investors and facilitating these projects. 

The minister said he felt duty-bound to react to five reports, mostly by rating agencies, that came out between January and February and which had looked favourably on Malta’s economy. 

The reports he was referring to were issued by Fitch which gave Malta an A+ positive outlook, DBRS which gave Malta an A(high)+ rating, and Moody’s which gave Malta an A2+ rating. 

The European Commission in Brussels had also issued an outlook report on Malta. In its winter 2020 forecast, the Commission said it expected Malta to register the fastest economic growth in the EU for the year ahead. 

The International Monetary Fund had sent a team of experts to Malta last year to assess the economy and had concluded that Malta would register another surplus for 2019, along with growth that exceeds the government’s own medium-term expectations. 

“These reports all confirm that the economy has grown and will continue to grow,” Dr Schembri said. 

In a nod to his previous portfolio as digital economy parliamentary secretary, Dr Schembri said increased efforts by the Malta Gaming Authority, among other entities, to clamp down on abuse had sent out a message that Malta was a no-nonsense jurisdiction. 

Mr Schembri said that in the past seven years of Labour government the economy had doubled- growing at double the rate of the rest of the EU.