Speaker visits Business Chamber

The Speaker of the House Anġlu Farrugia last Monday met members of the Council of the Gozo Business Chamber at its premises in Victoria.

The Speaker said that the idea of his visit was to show that Parliament wanted to go out to meet the people rather than the other way round.

He also informed the Chamber that a Standing Committee on Economy and Finance was recently set up within the House and it has already started its work. One of its functions was to discuss and analyse international and local reports with the aim of helping Parliament reach the right decisions nationally, Dr Farrugia said.

Several topics were brought up during the meeting, including the difficulties Gozitans are facing due to double insularity and the brain drain due to the fact that many Gozitans are moving to Malta or overseas in search of work.

The Speaker also said that the Israeli Ambassador to Malta was keen to promote business between Gozo and Israel. The ambassador showed great interest in the planned forum for members of Insuleur (the network of Insular Chambers of the EU) to be held in Gozo in November.

Dr Farrugia, who was accompanied by the Deputy Speaker Censu Galea, Members of Parliament Justyne Caruana and Frederic Azzopardi, and his personal assistant Ancel Farrugia Migneco, expressed his wish that further meetings should be held in the future.

Dr Farrugia was welcomed to the chamber by the president Michael Grech and CEO Joseph Grech.