President thanks foreign workers for contribution to Malta’s economic growth
President of Malta George Vella thanked all foreign workers who have made Malta their adoptive home for the contribution they make to our country’s economic growth through their hard work and commitment to the job.
Speaking during a visit to J.M. Vassallo Vibro Blocks Ltd, the leading supplier of steel reinforcement and structural elements, Vella expressed his hope that they all feel valued and welcome in Malta.
After being shown around the plant in Żebbuġ, the President said he was pleased to witness the level of attention and standards that the company and its employees dedicate to their work. “When one looks at the way this enterprise has developed since its creation in 1969, one fully appreciates the efforts made along the decades for it to nowadays be regarded as a leading actor in this industry,” he remarked. “This has entailed continuous investment in equipment, techniques, and human resources. Attention to high standards and quality is what gives any given enterprise an edge above the others. I encourage the management to keep up its competitive pace by injecting new ideas in the company’s physical and human assets to ensure that the final product is satisfactory and, above all, safe.”
The President equally emphasised the need for all workers to be kept safe at their place of work, and to ensure that all occupational health and safety standards are observed at all times. In this setting, he also underlined his appreciation of the workers’ technical and vocational skills. “Your knowledge and experience have a place and value in our society, which in my view has been underestimated along the years. Our community needs your labour skills, as much as it needs the professional knowledge of the doctor, the manager, the teacher etc.”. He added that he strongly encourages the growth of this sort of training and vocational formation as the basis of a functioning and diversified economy and urged all workers to keep on learning and sharpening their skills.
The company’s Chairperson, Raymond Vassallo, thanked the
President for his visit. He explained how the company has invested in state of the art technology to become increasingly more efficient, guarantee product quality, and safeguard health and safety at the workplace while consuming less energy and drastically reducing waste. An internal laboratory has been built to certify material in a bid to ensure that products meet the norms and standards expected by clients. Investment has also been made in renewable energy, with enough solar panels being installed to produce all the energy needed by the plant. Stressing that an enterprise must continue to invest and adapt in order to remain competitive, Mr Vassallo said that the pandemic has hit his company in a way that doesn’t allow it to operate as efficiently as it would like to.