Proposed new structure rejected
Chamber-FOI merger
The president of the Chamber of Commerce, Victor A. Galea, has shed some light on merger talks with the Federation of Industry, saying a structure proposed in a draft statute had been rejected by the Chamber's council.
Both the Chamber and the FOI recently confirmed that they were exploring the possibility of a merger, but Mr Galea said he wanted to set the record straight.
Writing in Chamberlink, the Chamber's circular, Mr Galea said it was unfortunate that the matter was being depicted in some quarters as being a fait accompli , with the risk of derailing a very democratic consultative process that was initiated even before his presidency.
"It is worth noting that a Chamber-FOI merger has been mooted for some time now, well before the tenure of the present council. Two years ago the councils of both organisations decided that the time was ripe to forge closer links. Based on the premises of deriving synergies and better serving the respective broad based memberships of both organisations, a financial exercise was undertaken to evaluate the feasiblity of a merger.
"The outcome was positive, after which council took the process a step further and preliminary work on a draft statute was initiated with a view to retain that which works well and to forge an equitable position for both organisations in the best interst of the respective commercial sectors.
"After a year of drafting and re-drafting and having even contracted outside consultancy for impartiality's sake, a proposed statute was very recently presented to council and discussed at two ad hoc council meeting held on Saturday mornings. The structure proposed in the draft statute was not acceptable to the council and it recommended that the draft be taken back to the drawing board."
Mr Galea said it was for these reasons that a broad consultation with the grass root membership had not started in earnest.
He said the process that had been adopted was to have a working document which was accepted in principle in its broad terms by council, after which discussions with the trade sections would start.
And Mr Galea stressed that even if the council and the trade sections expressed positive views on the proposed merger, the final say would be that of the members.
"Any Chamber-FOI mergr is ultimately a matter for an extraordinary general meeting and it requires a two-thirds majority vote."
He said that while discussions were still preliminary and the council was not satisfied with the structure that had been proposed, a presentation to the trade sections would be held shortly.
Anton Bajada in his last address as FOI president at the end of February had also touched on the proposed merger and also stressed that ultimately, any decision to merge would rest on the membership
He said past experience of working closely with the Chamber, in terms of the La Valette Business Centre and within the Malta Business Foundation, augured well for the future. Besides, the internal committees, officer groups and staff had already forged a close and healthy working relationship, he said.
The Malta Chamber of Commerce was founded in 1848 while the FOI has just celebrated its sixtieth anniversary.
Both the Chamber and the FOI recently confirmed that they were exploring the possibility of a merger, but Mr Galea said he wanted to set the record straight.
Writing in Chamberlink, the Chamber's circular, Mr Galea said it was unfortunate that the matter was being depicted in some quarters as being a fait accompli , with the risk of derailing a very democratic consultative process that was initiated even before his presidency.
"It is worth noting that a Chamber-FOI merger has been mooted for some time now, well before the tenure of the present council. Two years ago the councils of both organisations decided that the time was ripe to forge closer links. Based on the premises of deriving synergies and better serving the respective broad based memberships of both organisations, a financial exercise was undertaken to evaluate the feasiblity of a merger.
"The outcome was positive, after which council took the process a step further and preliminary work on a draft statute was initiated with a view to retain that which works well and to forge an equitable position for both organisations in the best interst of the respective commercial sectors.
"After a year of drafting and re-drafting and having even contracted outside consultancy for impartiality's sake, a proposed statute was very recently presented to council and discussed at two ad hoc council meeting held on Saturday mornings. The structure proposed in the draft statute was not acceptable to the council and it recommended that the draft be taken back to the drawing board."
Mr Galea said it was for these reasons that a broad consultation with the grass root membership had not started in earnest.
He said the process that had been adopted was to have a working document which was accepted in principle in its broad terms by council, after which discussions with the trade sections would start.
And Mr Galea stressed that even if the council and the trade sections expressed positive views on the proposed merger, the final say would be that of the members.
"Any Chamber-FOI mergr is ultimately a matter for an extraordinary general meeting and it requires a two-thirds majority vote."
He said that while discussions were still preliminary and the council was not satisfied with the structure that had been proposed, a presentation to the trade sections would be held shortly.
Anton Bajada in his last address as FOI president at the end of February had also touched on the proposed merger and also stressed that ultimately, any decision to merge would rest on the membership
He said past experience of working closely with the Chamber, in terms of the La Valette Business Centre and within the Malta Business Foundation, augured well for the future. Besides, the internal committees, officer groups and staff had already forged a close and healthy working relationship, he said.
The Malta Chamber of Commerce was founded in 1848 while the FOI has just celebrated its sixtieth anniversary.