Our anniversary epitomises 30 years of relentless voluntary work, says Joseph Bugeja, president, Maltese-French Chamber of Commerce.

This year, the Maltese-French Chamber of Commerce is celebrating its 30th anniversary. It is indeed my pleasure, as president of the Chamber, to contribute to this year’s edition of Focus France. 

Our anniversary epitomises 30 years of relentless voluntary work focused on promoting and facilitating commerce and networking between the Maltese and French business communities. It also marks a good milestone into the Maltese French Chamber of Commerce’s existence, while affording us with a timely opportunity to look back and assess our performance and achievements. 

As a voluntary team, our council can proudly state to have been a very important loop in the business chain that has embraced the excellent relationships between the two States. It’s a period which has seen our Chamber’s role grow steadily into one of repute and respect from the members, other Chambers and the business community at large. 

Our role has been instrumental to support the various initiatives taken by the number of French ambassadors who have held office in Malta. Throughout the existence, our Chamber has co-operated and worked closely with six ambassadors, with the incumbent Ambassador, Her Excellency Madame Brigette Curmi, being the seventh. 

Needless to say, voluntary work entails commitment, passion and dedication. These three attributes represent the foundation of our success as a council and provide further impetus to drive our organisation further in the years to come. At this stage, I would like to sincerely thank the founder members and past presidents of the Chamber as well as various other council members for dedicating their precious private time, extensive experience and genuine dedication towards achieving our various goals over the past years. 

Set up in October 1989, the Maltese-French Chamber of Commerce’s statute includes various objectives which the Chamber aspired to achieve upon its setting up. Today, one can concisely define such objectives in one overall ambition: to cooperate with authorities, organisations and constituted bodies in Malta and France in all matters favouring commercial, industrial, financial and tourist exchanges between the two countries.

It is very difficult for me to mention all contributors to the Chamber’s various initiatives over the years. But certainly, it would be amiss not to mention the significant contribution that all the resident French Ambassadors gave to the Chamber over the past 30 years. I am extremely proud, as president of the Chamber, that we managed to forge very strong ties, based on mutual trust and respect, with the various Ambassadors who supported the Chamber from its very foundation. 

Voluntary work entails commitment, passion and dedication

The success of our Chamber also depends on the continued cooperation and support from the Maltese Ambassadors nominated to represent the Republic of Malta in France which continues to develop through the existing very good relationship with Her Excellency Ms Helga Mizzi. Our close relationship with the Ambassador was definitely instrumental to create the ideal working environment including business delegations in Paris and other business cities. 

The existence of our Chamber could not have been possible without the numerous loyal members that have continued to support our initiatives throughout many years. We are extremely thankful for their continued support. Special recognition goes to our corporate sponsors who year after year continue to believe in our mission – RCI Insurance Limited (subsidiaries of RCI Services Limited), Bank of Valletta, Speedcast and the Malta Government Investments Limited (MGI). 

We are very pleased to note that the number of members has been constantly increasing over the past years. In fact, the chamber has now reached a total of 96 members comprising both Maltese and French representation through various companies and professional individuals.

The forum provides an excellent opportunity not only for the Chamber’s members to meet and network but, more importantly, it serves as a great platform to discuss the current business relationships between Malta and France, French business in Malta and how stakeholders can collaborate more together to reach better commercial outcomes.

France remains one of Malta’s main trading partners. The most dynamic sectors contributing to the growth of bilateral trade between Malta and France include the boating sector, ICT and electronic goods, optical instruments, pharmaceutical products, automotive and food and beverage sectors.

Only a few years back, France was the country to which Malta exported most as well as the second highest country Malta imported goods from. Trade between the two countries remains healthy with statistics showing imports from France amount to over €134 million and exports of over €120 million.  Our bilateral relationship was further underlined by EU membership. Furthermore, the signing of a Double Taxation Agreement between France and Malta, in force since 1983, has provided the necessary impetus to strengthen such a financial arrangement. Thus, amendments were made in 1994 and 2008 which changes were intended to generate more economic activity, encourage trade and investment and thus strengthened the already good relationship between the two states. 

The Maltese government has also made a conscious effort to increase Malta’s visibility as an investment opportunity in France. Commendable work in this area has already been undertaken by Malta Enterprise.  

Finally, I would like to re-iterate my gratitude to my colleague council members, members of the Chamber, as well as the supporting entities for their contribution throughout all these years. Notwithstanding our Chamber’s diminutive nature, each and everyone of us should be proud to have somehow contributed to change the paradigm of our economic reality.

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