The Malta Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Enterprise needs the involvement, contribution and expertise of its members, its outgoing president, Helga Ellul, told the business organisation’s AGM yesterday.
Ms Ellul, who steps down as president shortly, said: “The Malta Chamber will always have a special place in my heart and I wish you a great future. As I said before, the Chamber is as strong as you want it to be. It needs your involvement, your contribution and your expertise. Only then will the Chamber be the strong voice of the Maltese business community.”
She said she hoped she did not only make history in being the first president of the merged Chamber of Commerce and Federation of Industry and the first woman president in the history of the Malta Chamber, but also “that I have lived up to everyone’s expectations”. In her speech she dwelt on a number of issues such as the Chamber’s role in helping businesses during the Libya crisis as well as its campaign against illicit trading.
Ms Ellul also spoke about the Chamber’s attempt to resolve the issues related to Refunds and Exemptions of Eco-Contribution and the extensive delays in the reimbursement process for the Training Aid Framework and the Employment Aid Programme.
The outgoing president said costs, irrespective of whether they are big or small must always be justified. “They must always be considered within the context of total cost.
“I say this with respect to non-labour costs such as utility rates and the increase in fac-tory rents that we have been dealing with recently but also in terms of items that influence labour costs such as pensions, COLA and family friendly measures.”
She said that while the business community recognised the benefits of introducing family-friendly measures it opposed any introduction of further compulsory measures besides those that are already legally binding.
Ms Ellul said any further changes in pension reform need to be outlined in a blue-print “with clear time-frames for business to be in a position to plan ahead for such changes”.
She said together with FimBank and the Malta Business Bureau the Chamber is embarking on a project which will create a network of regional chambers in the Euro-Med area.