The business enterprise sector contributed 65.3% to total R&D, whereas the higher education and government sectors contributed 33.8% and 0.9%, respectively.

Primarily, the R&D expenditure is dedicated to basic research, with 52.1% of total R&D in 2017, followed by applied research (32.6%) and experimental development (15.3%). 

In addition, both the business enterprise and the higher education sectors reported increases in R&D expenditure in 2017, compared to the previous year. Higher outlays on the recurrent expenditure triggered the higher R&D expenditure of €7.6m in business enterprise and €2.8m higher education. However, the capital expenditure for the business enterprise and the higher education sectors dropped by €0.9m and €2.1m, respectively. 

The highest rate of R&D activity was recorded in engineering and technology which accounted for 45.7% of total expenditure, followed by natural sciences (22%) and medical sciences (16%). Moreover, the year-on-year comparison shows that the highest increase was registered in natural sciences (€3.7m), followed by medical sciences (€3.4m). 

Each sector mostly funds its research, supplemented by foreign funds — €7.1m or 10.8% of the total in 2017 —, NSO figures underscore. In the business enterprise sector players chiefly use local business enterprise funds, the higher education sector applies general university funds, while the government sector utilises EU funds or direct government funds.

Men still outnumber women

Some 2,479 employees worked in the R&D sector, with 1,451 of them working part-time. The higher education sector employed 1,280 in R&D, while the business enterprise sector saw staff numbers reaching 1,117. 

The researcher and technician roles were filled by men predominantly, while women outnumbered men in the support staff division. In total, women were still in minority with 34.7%. 

Engineering and technology employed 806, while natural sciences and social sciences saw staff numbers reaching 607 and 450 employees, respectively.

The full report with charts and tables included is available for download through the NSO website.

The post Malta’s R&D spending grows 12.3% to €7.2m in 2017 first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

The survey indicated that total employment stood at 241,468, accounting to more than half the population aged 15 and over. The number of unemployed people stood at 8,853 (2.1%) while that of inactive people totalled 165,235 (39.8%), the NSO reports.

The activity rate review was estimated at 74.9% with the highest rate recorded among people aged 25 to 54 (86.7%), according to NSO figures. 

In addition, out of every 100 people aged between 15 to 64 years, approximately 72 were employed. 

The male employment rate for this age bracket was 81.6% as compared to the female bracket that stood at 62.1%. The largest share of employed people was recorded among those aged between 25 and 34 years, for both men and women.

The post Survey says Malta’s employment ups 6.6% in Q1 first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

On the one hand, decreases of 16.5% and 2.5% were recorded in the consumer and capital goods sectors, respectively. On the other hand, increases of 4.2% and 0.8% were recorded in the energy sector and intermediate goods sector, respectively, as the NSO press release says.

Seasonally-adjusted industrial employment increased by 0.1%, while hours worked decreased by 0.2%, and gross wages and salaries increased by 2.2%, according to NSO’s statistics.

Year-on-year increases of 9.4% and 7.8% were recorded in the intermediate goods and energy sectors, respectively. Meanwhile, respective decreases of 3.3% and 0.1% were recorded in the capital and consumer goods sectors, in Q1 2019, according to the NSO press release.

A decrease of 0.6% was recorded in the year-on-year unadjusted industrial employment. Working-day adjusted industrial hours worked decreased by 1% while working day adjusted industrial gross wages and salaries increased by 3.6%.

The full report including charts and visual representation of data is available for download at the website of NSO.

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An airside land allocation has been assigned for Britten-Norman at the Safi Aviation Park (SAP) after discussions with the Malta Enterprise and Malta Industrial Parks. The Maltese government has additionally invested in the building of new hangars at the SAP through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) scheme.

“Malta aims to develop into a fully-fledged aviation centre that supports the entire spectrum of aviation-related services. We are committed to continuing to build a cluster of quality and Britten-Norman’s addition is a testament to the potential of our jurisdiction,” said Christian Cardona, Minister for the Economy, Investment and Small Business of Malta.

The aviation cluster in Malta employed a staff of 1,409 by the end of April 2019, which represents an increase of 5.4% as compared to the same month in the previous year. The Maltese government expects the deal to support the growth of the aviation cluster further through the 14 new jobs the UK firm will create.

Britten-Norman has applied for approvals from Transport Malta’s Civil Aviation Directorate for a number of procedures, and its operations will have multiple facets, according to the press statement.

The company has also applied for an Air Training Organisation certificate, under which they will be able to train pilots in Malta, as well as for a Maintenance Training Organisation certificate for training engineers and technicians.

Britten-Norman is weighing the possibility of registering a number of its aircraft in the Malta registry and has recently entered a new three-year agreement for training of the Armed Forces of Malta (AFM) pilots, according to the DOI press statement.

The post Britten-Norman to invest €1m in Malta first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.