9 - 15 December 1999

Malta Business Bureau at Italian Chambers of Commerce assembly

by a staff reporter

The director of the Malta Business Bureau in Brussels, Dr Leonard Mizzi, was invited to participate at the 110th Assembly of the Administrators of Italian Chambers of Commerce which was held on 3 December at the European Parliament in Brussels.

Speakers included Romano Prodi, President of the Commission; Enrico Letta, Italian Minister for European Affairs; Guido Podesta, vice-president of the European Parliament; Danilo Longhi, President, Unioncamere; and Jorg Mittelstein Scheid, President of Eurochambres. The Malta Chamber of Commerce is an active affiliated member of Eurochambres. The theme of the meeting was Chambers of Commerce networking with Europe.

Prof. Prodi spoke about the crucial role of the Chambers to represent local interests. He encouraged Chambers to be positive and forward looking about the immense challenges confronting Europe, in particular the enlargement process.

Guido Podesta from the European Parliament argued that a lot still needs to be done at a European level, especially for SMEs.

The infrastructure deficit is still large (especially in southern Europe). The Chambers of Commerce are a crucial link between citizens and the European Institutions, including the European Parliament, to successfully manage the transformation process.

Enrico Letta highlighted three main challenges for Italy to become effective at a European level. First, more technical expertise needs to be mobilised - in terms of personnel, training/re-training and new structures. Political decisions need to be based on technical notions and efficiency in the decision-taking process needs to be considerably enhanced. Objectives and priorities need to be clearly defined in advance. There needs to be more communication. Information diffusion cannot be passive and government initiatives need to be intimately linked with initiatives of the Chamber movement. This would not only benefit SMEs and craft industries but also individual citizens.

Last but not least, the priority of the Italian government for the period 2000-6 is to mobilise the resources to increase the absorptive capacity to utilise Structural Funds more effectively. "But before we engage ourselves we need to understand why our absorptive capacity is low," he said. There is scope for co-operation, he added, in the utilisation of funds, between the government and the Chambers of Commerce.