Mr. Shaun Wallis, CEO of HSBC Bank Malta announced on Thursday afternoon that HSBC UK has approved a substantial capital investment of 7 million Euro for the setting up of a Global Call Centre in Malta, subject to final Agreements with the Malta Government and the granting of the necessary permits.

Apart from the initial capital expenditure, the annual recurring operating costs are estimated to be around Euro 7 million. HSBC will be approaching local suppliers to tender for works, services and equipment in May.

The call centre will commence its operations before the end of this year, and is expected to employ up to 350 new employees on a mix of full and part-time employment. HSBC will consider the feasibility to expand the operation further towards the end of 2007.

This investment will ensure the training in new skills for hundreds of Maltese in a very important sector regarding those who may not have achieved tertiary education but are more suited for a white collar job rather than working in a factory. Moreover, given the prevalence of part-time and flexi-time work in Call Centres, HSBC may offer opportunities for housewives to earn money through part-time employment.

The Call Centre, which will be a 200 agent operation, will initially operate from 08:00 to 22:00 peak UK time, on a 14 hour day basis, 7 days a week. There is the possibility that the hours of operation may be extended.

The calls that will be handled in Malta will cater for the growing customer demand for HSBC’s UK telephony based services and will not adversely affect other Call Centre traffic in the UK or other Global sites.