Malta becoming attractive to investors

The Mediterranean island of Malta is benefiting from a huge regeneration programme in residential and commercial developments which is turning it into a chic place to visit and invest in.

It has not been hit by the credit crunch and property prices are rising with a lot of interest from the UK because it is English speaking and a visit by the Queen celebrating her 60th wedding anniversary last autumn raised its profile.

'Malta is coming of age. It is fast becoming the cosmopolitan capital of the Mediterranean,' said James Vassallo, senior manager for Tigne Point, a mixed use development with commercial and residential facilities which is part of a €450 million brown field regeneration programme.

The emphasis is on being environmentally friendly, pedestrian areas with no cars and using interior designers to add a modern look.

Since Malta joined the EU in 2004 there has been a huge amount of development and there was criticism that it was too much too soon with no thought going into long term planning. But now the government and developers are working together to structure the industry. In particular they wanted to look at attracting more business to the island to sustain development and not just rely on tourism.

A major part of this plan is the first Smart City in Europe which has just been launched to redevelop the Ricasoli industrial estate. Modelled on Dubai Internet City and Dubai Media City it is due for completion in 2021 and represents one of the biggest ever developments on Malta.

It will be environmentally friendly and include a hotel and other activities with office space aimed primarily at the ICT sector.

'This is a first for the European Union and will establish Malta as the European outpost for global ICT and Media companies seeking a presence in Europe. Over an eight year period it will create 5,600 jobs of which around 65% will be new jobs in Malta's knowledge industry. The rest will be in administration, hospitality, retail, maintenance, security and logistics,' said a Government spokesman.

'It is also a major step forward in our property sector and represents a move away from unstructured development from which we have previously suffered,' he added.

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