Malta Post started issuing its first stamps in 1998. The following year the Malta Post company took over the German company Bundesdruckerei, which was responsible for printing the Maltese stamps through the company Printex Limited. However, Malta Post issued its first stamps from that year, 1999 and 2003. In 2004 Printex continued to print stamps and the use of stamps increased progressively, especially for the years 2008-2009. The stamps started to be made with graphic designs by Malta Post, which was based on local themes, and with letters in the English language because it was the predominant language on the stamps. Despite the fact that there are hundreds of stamps from Malta to Malta, these have standard postage of 0.30.