When members of the Chamber of Commerce and Enterprise and of the Federation of Industry formally approved the merger between the two organisations in September, the move was described as "history in the making for private enterprise". And, indeed, it was, for a number of reasons. The first, of course, is that now, more than ever, Malta simply cannot afford to waste resources in duplication of efforts. A second reason is that the merger has been long in coming. The proposal had been mooted for over 40 years, if not more, but there has always been strong resistance to the idea, with those working in business and industry preferring to keep to their respective turf.

Times have changed drastically since then. Malta's manufacturing industry has been gradually moving into new lines of production and, with the rapid growth of the services sector and tourism, a new breed of businessmen came into being. Most of the new generation of businessmen and industrialists are not tied to the past, making them more amenable to change and adaptability. So, when the proposal for the merger between the two organisations was put forward once again, it found fertile ground. As usually happens in such situations, there must have certainly been some residue of resistance to the move but, finally, and after so much effort, the merger was approved.

There have, of course, been instances of cooperation among private enterprise organisations in the past as when, for example, they set up the Confederation of Private Enterprise to meet particular circumstances of the times.

The merger between the Chamber, the much older organisation of the two, and the FOI is a logical step, dictated by new developments. When the Chamber was formed, in 1848, Malta was still far away from having its first self-government Constitution. The federation, whose offices were in Floriana, was founded in 1946, when industry was as yet in its infancy.

In an information dossier sent out to members before the merger, the Chamber and the FOI said the elimination of trade protectionism and the introduction of the euro on January 1, 2008 led to a natural progression of policies towards convergence. Much common ground was covered and, in fact, the two organisations had gone on to set up the Malta Business Foundation in 1996 and to their joint investment in the La Valette Business Centre in Brussels.

The new structure of the organisation will be divided into three economic groups: manufacturers; importers; and distributors and retailers. A new focus group will be made up of service operators - those in the financial sector, ICT and other service sectors.

With the merger, all these sectors will now have a stronger representative voice: "The synergies that can be derived from the consolidation of resources will produce a strong organisation empowered to better serve members' demands, while giving the commercial sector a stronger voice than ever before".

Hopefully, the move will serve as an example to others, particularly the trade unions, which, sadly, have lately moved into an opposite direction to that taken by the Chamber and the FOI. Instead of moving closer to one another, segments within the trade union body are moving apart, pushing further into the background the possibility of the formation of a trades union council.

There is much duplication of effort in other areas as well. When costs are rising and time is limited, it would be wise to make the best possible use of resources and talent.