FOI and Chamber merger by January
The merger between the Federation of Industry and the Chamber of Commerce and Enterprise "is still on track". There have been some delays but it should take place by January, according to FOI president Martin Galea and Chamber president Tancred...
The merger between the Federation of Industry and the Chamber of Commerce and Enterprise "is still on track". There have been some delays but it should take place by January, according to FOI president Martin Galea and Chamber president Tancred Tabone.
When the two business organisations signed a memorandum of understanding on their merger in the presence of Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi in January it was publicly stated that the amalgamation should take place by the end of June.
The merger, which will lead to the formation of the Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry, still has to be approved by members of both organisations in extraordinary general meetings which are to be held late next month.
Mr Galea told The Times Business that the merger process has been a very "laborious process to ensure that everything has been done by the book".
He explained: "So we have had financial and legal due diligences, we have had to have the documents made public, to have the Registrar of Legal Persons appointed to be able to publish the 'wedding banns', if you like, and we have also had to get the government to agree to some minor amendments to the law where the Chamber is mentioned. All in all it has been a marathon task." He said the FOI extraordinary general meeting - where members will vote on the merger - will be held on September 24 and the Chamber's will be held on the following day.
Mr Tabone said: "Admittedly certain processes took longer than expected. These included the financial and legal due diligence as well as the fact that there was a delay in the nomination by the authorities of a Registrar of Legal Persons according to the law, which also held up the process.
"We are happy to say that these legal and procedural delays are now behind us and we are looking forward to the final stage which is the EGM."
Regarding a merger date Mr Tabone said: "We are hoping the process will kick off officially following the discussion and eventual approval of our membership during the annual general meeting to be held in the last week of September.
"Should this give the expected green light there will be a three-month silent period required by law. Following that, we are looking at earliest January next year in which the full merger will be in place."
Dr Gonzi had welcomed the merger announcement, describing the agreement signed between the FOI and the Chamber as a historic one bringing together two social partners that had been contributing to the country's development for years.
The Malta Chamber of Commerce was set up as a voluntary constituted body and officially recognised in 1848. The Governor of Malta at that time was Sir Richard More O'Ferrall who took a keen interest in commerce.
It was due to his strong desire to make Malta a pillar of British trade in the Mediterranean that the reorganisation of the commercial community arose and the Malta Chamber of Commerce was born.
The Exchange Building, constructed on its present site in Republic Street, Valletta, granted to the Chamber in perpetual lease by the government, was inaugurated in 1857. A commemorative tablet is displayed in the courtyard of the Exchange Building.
Founded in 1946, the FOI is the national organisation representing industry and the manufacturing sector.
The possibility of a merger between the Chamber and the FOI first surfaced in the 1990s but nothing came of this.
The only 'merger' within the private sector took place in 1984 when the FOI, Chamber of Commerce, GRTU and Employers Association formed a loosely-knit organisation called the Confederation of Private Enterprise (Cope) at a time when the private sector and free market were under heavy attack from the then Socialist government. Cope was dissolved soon after the Nationalist Party was elected to office in 1987.
When the two business organisations signed a memorandum of understanding on their merger in the presence of Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi in January it was publicly stated that the amalgamation should take place by the end of June.
The merger, which will lead to the formation of the Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry, still has to be approved by members of both organisations in extraordinary general meetings which are to be held late next month.
Mr Galea told The Times Business that the merger process has been a very "laborious process to ensure that everything has been done by the book".
He explained: "So we have had financial and legal due diligences, we have had to have the documents made public, to have the Registrar of Legal Persons appointed to be able to publish the 'wedding banns', if you like, and we have also had to get the government to agree to some minor amendments to the law where the Chamber is mentioned. All in all it has been a marathon task." He said the FOI extraordinary general meeting - where members will vote on the merger - will be held on September 24 and the Chamber's will be held on the following day.
Mr Tabone said: "Admittedly certain processes took longer than expected. These included the financial and legal due diligence as well as the fact that there was a delay in the nomination by the authorities of a Registrar of Legal Persons according to the law, which also held up the process.
"We are happy to say that these legal and procedural delays are now behind us and we are looking forward to the final stage which is the EGM."
Regarding a merger date Mr Tabone said: "We are hoping the process will kick off officially following the discussion and eventual approval of our membership during the annual general meeting to be held in the last week of September.
"Should this give the expected green light there will be a three-month silent period required by law. Following that, we are looking at earliest January next year in which the full merger will be in place."
Dr Gonzi had welcomed the merger announcement, describing the agreement signed between the FOI and the Chamber as a historic one bringing together two social partners that had been contributing to the country's development for years.
The Malta Chamber of Commerce was set up as a voluntary constituted body and officially recognised in 1848. The Governor of Malta at that time was Sir Richard More O'Ferrall who took a keen interest in commerce.
It was due to his strong desire to make Malta a pillar of British trade in the Mediterranean that the reorganisation of the commercial community arose and the Malta Chamber of Commerce was born.
The Exchange Building, constructed on its present site in Republic Street, Valletta, granted to the Chamber in perpetual lease by the government, was inaugurated in 1857. A commemorative tablet is displayed in the courtyard of the Exchange Building.
Founded in 1946, the FOI is the national organisation representing industry and the manufacturing sector.
The possibility of a merger between the Chamber and the FOI first surfaced in the 1990s but nothing came of this.
The only 'merger' within the private sector took place in 1984 when the FOI, Chamber of Commerce, GRTU and Employers Association formed a loosely-knit organisation called the Confederation of Private Enterprise (Cope) at a time when the private sector and free market were under heavy attack from the then Socialist government. Cope was dissolved soon after the Nationalist Party was elected to office in 1987.