Malta Chamber meets Leader of the Opposition

The Board of Management of the Malta Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry welcomed the new Leader of the Opposition Dr Adrian Delia for a familiarisation meeting at the Exchange Buildings.

During the meeting both sides spoke about the importance of collaboration because the business community and the county’s political leaders have the national interest at heart and to this end, the Chamber is always committed to contribute its constructive and well-intentioned advice.

Opening his brief address, the president of the Malta Chamber, Frank V. Farrugia made reference to the events of the 16th of the month and said that the Chamber had unreservedly immediately condemned the brutal murder of leading journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.

He said that the Chamber joined the rest of the country in an appeal for a national concerted effort towards seeking a timely and conclusive resolution of the case and, above all, for truth and integrity to forever prevail in our country.

“The media merits the full respect of our people as it performs a crucial national role to safeguard morality and ethics,” Farrugia said, “both of which values, the Chamber wholeheartedly upholds.”

Being the first meeting with the Leader of the Opposition, Farrugia underlined the apolitical status of the Chamber, as its mission remains the promotion of the interest of the private sector.

The president told Dr Delia that with this aim in mind, the Chamber produced an Economic Vision document as at the time, the Chamber felt it needed to be proactive and provide a business agenda to government rather than wait for government to provide business with its own agenda.

“Our document is still valid until today. It was created by a thinktank we set up purposely and composed of 20 CEOs of leading companies in Malta plus the then University rector,” he said.

The President also spoke about the active contribution the Chamber makes to the economic debate of the country. “Prior to the last General Election, we issued a document outlining 71 concrete deliverables split into 12 chapters, each tackling an important aspect of Malta’s economy.”

“Within our apolitical status we take it upon ourselves to champion Malta’s quest for continuous improvement in competitiveness and economic prosperity,” he said. “However, we need to ensure that, like the Malta Chamber, all other stakeholders understand the value and importance of being competitive because it is not always clearly apparent that we are all on the same side on this account.”