PM: Malta committed to its companies remaining competitive

Malta's Prime Minister Joseph Muscat on Friday said the government was committed to ensuring Maltese companies were competitive. Addressing a press conference at launch of a new investment in a beer packaging facility, Muscat said Malta would cut bureaucracy and reduce power tariffs for industry by a quarter next year. He also welcomed the 27 million euro (37 million U.S. dollar) investment by Simonds Farsons Cisk, Malta's leading brewers and soft drinks manufacturers. Louis Farrugia, the chairman of Simonds Farsons Cisk, said they aimed to treble exports within the next five years from six percent of total production to 17 percent of production. Farsons CEO Norman Aquilina announced work on the new project would commence in April 2014 and be completed within two years. "Through this investment, we will be rendering our business more competitive," said Aquilina. Farsons is a Maltese group led by Maltese management selling Maltese brands domestically and abroad.