Valletta, Malta- Malta became Wednesday the site of the world's
first purpose-built research and production facility for the ePassport,
or biometric passport, which is increasingly required by countries for
security reasons.

Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi officiated at the inauguration of the
six million euro (7.7 million dollar) plant built by the British- based
De La Rue company, adjacent to the large banknote printing facility it
already operates on the small Mediterranean island.

The new 2,600 square metre building will print and assemble
machine-readable and biometric passports. It is expected to produce two
million ePassports annually and could double that if required.

ePassports have a microchip embedded - containing the digitised
facial image and personal details of the passport holder - which
enables authorities to authenticate the identity of travellers. (dpa)