Call for more continuity in chamber leadership

Chamber of Commerce president Reginald Fava has expressed concern over the lack of continuity in the chamber's leadership.

Speaking at the 154th annual general meeting, he said that year after year, the chamber's reins passed from one officers' group and from one council to another.

"It is the norm that every couple of years, the composition of council members and officers changes dramatically and this has affected the strategy and direction of this institution," reported the editorial of the December issue of the Chamber's magazine, The Commercial Courier.

"He underlined the need to find ways in which this weakness could be solved without any further delay."

During an extraordinary council meeting held on the Saturday preceding the AGM, it was decided to set up a special committee to study possible ways to remove obtacles to the chamber's progress.

"The right person to head this committee was also identified and it was expected that these recommendations would help to steer the chamber into the future in a more dynamic fashion," the editorial said.

Earlier this year, the chamber took possession of the apartment on the second floor of its premises at The Exchange in Valletta, which had been rented to third parties for many years.

The plans for the development of this extension were commissioned and certain refurbishing tasks are already underway.

Financial support agreements with certain leading companies and institutions are also being negotiated.

"These types of initiatives are of great strategic importance for the chamber's future and would hopefully lead to a decline in membership fees and a commensurate upsurge in the membership count.

"In this strategy, the senior private sector institution would acquire a louder voice in its representations with the country's highest authorities. With a greater number of people behind the chamber, the authorities would find it harder to ignore our opinions. Indeed, the chamber must move forward and show direction to its members as well as the country," the editorial said.