The Malta Chamber 2020 Highlights

2020 will be a year to remember. However, amidst all the challenges that these past 12 months have presented, we have all pulled together and achieved results we are all proud of! As Malta’s leading business representative body, The Malta Chamber has been tirelessly working to be the true voice of business, especially during such a difficult year.

As we look ahead towards the new opportunities that 2021 will present, let us reflect on the 12 months past. From an Extraordinary Cabinet Meeting to winning the Employers Representative Body Award, here’s what we achieved, together!

Launch of Economic Vision 2020-2025
The Malta Chamber launched its Economic Vision for Malta for the years 2020-2025 with the aim to once again provide Government with a business plan conducive to sustainable economic growth. Through this document, the Malta Chamber took a revolutionary approach by moving away from focusing only on the economy, as it gave a great deal of importance to sustainable economic development and quality of life.

Question Time Series
As part of the Malta Chamber’s ongoing journey to be the true and vibrant voice of the business community in Malta, a number of webinars, while the country went into partial lockdown. Named the ‘Question Time Series’, these webinars discussed a number of pressing issues such as the impact of Covid-19 on a variety of subjects, mental health, trade finance and many others. , Members, in turn, had the exclusive opportunity to voice their opinions with the people that matter.

Supporting retailers as they re-opened after the COVID partial lockdown
To keep a constant dialogue with businesses in retail, The President of The Malta Chamber Perit David Xuereb met with shop owners in Republic St to discuss the issues they were facing as all retail outlets were allowed to re-open after COVID restrictions were lifted.

Annual General Meeting of the Malta Chamber
This year’s Annual General Meeting was a landmark event, as it marked an important juncture in the life of The Malta Chamber. During the event, which was held completely online, and which was addressed by the Prime Minister, the rebranding was officially launched to reflect The Chamber’s restless drive to be Malta’s foremost business representative body.

Turning COVID into a success: an event of the Young Chamber Network
During a Young Chamber Network event, which was held at Madliena Lodge (LINK BACK PLEASE), young members discussed best practices on how businesses managed to find the silver linings within COVID, and turn the challenges into opportunities. Ian Casolani from Belair Property, Jo Caruana from Writemeanything.com and Sebestian Rippard from Bolt all shared their amazing stories.

Heading Beyond Covid: The Malta Chamber’s Think Thank presents its findings and proposes less Government, more Governance
The Malta Chamber presented the preliminary report of its Think Tank and round-tables which for the previous months had been engaged to study and propose scenarios for a sustainable, resilient and competitive future for Malta. The launch was held under the extraordinary auspices of His Excellency the President of Malta Dr George Vella.

Extraordinary Cabinet of Ministers Meeting held at The Chamber
Addressing a historical cabinet meeting which was held for the first time at the Exchange Buildings of The Malta Chamber, the Prime Minister of Malta, Dr Robert Abela spoke about his economic ambitions for Malta for the coming years – economic ambitions which mirrored those of The Malta Chamber.

Malta Chamber appoints Ing. Edward Chetcuti as CEO
Ing. Edward Chetcuti was appointed CEO of The Malta Chamber as part of its holistic journey from good to great. Ing. Chetcuti brought with him over 20 years of Leadership experience, becoming a thought leader on driving Excellence and High Performance in organisations.

Prime Minister Robert Abela fields questions from members
Once again, members had the exclusive opportunity to ask important questions and get the right answers from the source. Members attended the hybrid event which was held both online as well as physically for a limited number of attendees, as they shared their concerns with the Prime Minister.

Chamber makes a series of proposals for Budget 2021
Launching the pre-Budget document, The Malta Chamber noted how the 2021 Budget needed to be a formative budget, which would determine the country’s future during and after the pandemic. The Chamber proposed a series of long-term economic measures for a more sustainable economy and a resilient society in the future.

The importance of re-engineering of businesses takes centre-stage as Government scheme is launched at The Chamber
‘Re-Engineering your way to success’ was launched at the Chamber as part of SME Week. The scheme which is managed by Malta Enterprise aims to help entrepreneurs restructure their business models as they embark on a restructuring journey to understand how they can grow more efficient and future-proof.

Getting ready for Brexit
The Malta Chamber co-organized a series of webinars with the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and the Parliamentary Secretariat for EU Funds to discuss a number of themes that could be impacted due to Brexit to keep the members of Malta’s business community well informed on the developments.

Together we achieve more!
In its bid to strengthen its position as a thought-leader, in 2020 The Malta Chamber reached a series of agreements with a number of professional bodies, in a bid to work closely in support of the particular sector, as well as the economy at large.

Strengthening The Chamber
Throughout 2020 The Malta Chamber also signed several agreements with a number of top business organisations in a series of Gold, and Bronze partnership agreements, linked to specific thematic committees. The aim remains to best equip the Chamber with all the required resources to better fulfil its mission as Malta’s foremost business representative body in the future.

The Malta Chamber Wins Employers Representative Body Award 
Hard work pays off! The Malta Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry executive team was awarded the Employers Representative Body Award during the Worker of the Year National Awards 2020 for its service to its members and its vital role with regards to the consultation and negotiations with the government to implement a vision for a sustainable Malta.