The Malta Industrial Development Board

From Our Archives – A Glimpse into 1961

By Peter Ibbotson

Like Mauritius, Malta is an over-crowded island. It suffers from unemployment and a lack of openings for its ever-growing population (birth rate 27.5 per thousand, one of the highest in Europe; death rate only 8.3 per thousand, among the lowest in Europe. In order to provide employment, the Malta Government has embarked on a five-year plan which includes an industrialisation drive launched last year by the Secretary of State for the Colonies. The initial target was to find fresh employment for 5,000 people; already the drive has attracted fourteen new industries which will, it is estimated, give employment to 2,000 people by the end of 1963.

www.dowtyheritage.org.uk

The Meade Report is likely to recommend the establishment of a Development Board for Mauritius. In these columns recently, I have suggested the same thing, and in the past few weeks, I have referred to the successes attained by such boards in Barbados and Jamaica. This week I intend to deal at length with the Malta Development Board.

The overall Development Plan for Malta calls for the expenditure of £32 ½ million (approx. Rs 433 million). A new structure of grants and loans to manufacturers setting up factories in Malta has been devised; this structure is coupled with tax reliefs and exemptions in order to attract investment from overseas. The ordinance primarily aimed at the industrial development of Malta is the ‘1959 Aids to Industries Ordinance’. Under this, an Aids to Industries Board has been set up, as well as an Industrial Development Board. The executive organisation for the former is provided by the Department of Trade and Industry, through the Industrial Development Division.

The Industrial Development Board consists of Sir George Dowty as chairman, with Lord Hampden, Sir George Schuster, and Mr. Eric Turner as members; its secretary, Mr. Colin Bruce, is also London manager of the Aids to Industries Board, which is composed of the island’s Financial Secretary (chairman), Director of Industrial Development, Under Secretary (economics), Director of Public Works, Comptroller of Customs, and three commercial representatives drawn from the Chamber of Commerce, Federation of Malta Industries, and the Commercial Banks.

These boards have the task of attracting new industries. To encourage investment from abroad, the Boards offer a number of attractions which any Development Board for Mauritius will likewise have to be prepared to offer. The main features are as follows:

* A Tax-free ‘Holiday’: New industrial undertakings will be wholly exempted from paying income tax for a period of up to 10 years.

* Grants and Loans: Up to one-third (in special cases, one-half) of the cost of fixed capital assets including plant, buildings, and machinery. The grants are not repayable and do not exclude the undertaking from income tax relief. Grants may also be made for dismantling, shipping, and re-erection of second-hand plant.

* Customs Duty Reliefs: Exemption from customs duty will be granted on plant, machinery, and building materials for the construction of factories. Exemption or reduction may also be granted on raw materials and component parts.

* Customs Drawback Scheme: Import duties on certain raw materials used in production, on which outright exemption cannot be granted, may be refunded when the finished product is exported.

The Empire Preferential Tariff Rates are in force, and a new customs tariff based on the Brussels nomenclature is being prepared to afford protection in the local market. Anti-dumping duties may be levied. There are no local government rates or property taxes.

An Industrial Estate: Fully serviced sites are provided on a perpetual lease at a rent of about 10/- (approx. Rs 6.65) per 1,000 square feet. Standard ready-built factories are available at a rent of 9d (50c.) per square foot for an initial period of 16 years; alternatively, new factories can be built to specification. The Industrial Estate covers 60 acres near the airport and deep-water quays. It is served by several towns with a good supply of labour. All road approaches and essential services—sewage, water, gas, and electricity—are provided. After 16 years, the tenant can rent the factory for a further 30 years.

All the foregoing would have to be considered by any Government of Mauritius if it were to set up a Development Board with the double task of encouraging industrial expansion and promoting the export of Mauritian products. The success of the Malta Board is evident: 14 new industries have been attracted, while 50 more are under consideration. To qualify, an undertaking must create employment, increase the national product, and be self-sustaining.

The new industries include: dockyard and ship repairs; light engineering; knitwear; paint manufacturing; spring interior mattresses; polystyrene insulating materials; bacon products; rubber seals; steel re-rolling; car assembly; textiles; and detergents. Malta’s geographical position is more favourable, but this can be offset by the lower wage rates ruling in Mauritius. Malta’s potential markets are North Africa and the Middle East; Mauritius has potential markets in Europe, Africa, and Australia. When the Meade Report has appeared, the public will have to get used to the idea of ‘thinking big’.

If Mauritius is to mean business, and that is inevitable if misery and depression are to be averted, then something on the lines of Malta’s Aids to Industries Board is needed. But it involves thinking big; this brief article is intended to help people to start that thinking big even before the Meade Report is public knowledge.

8th Year – No 333
Friday 20th January 1961

Mauritius Times ePaper Friday 17 April 2026