A Family Affair - Safeguarding Malta and Europe's Beating Heart shall celebrate as well as discuss family businesses and their important role in the Maltese and European economy.

Ferrero R&D chief Briano Olivares, Buffa founder Paolo Buffa and Grimaldi Lines director Eugenio Grimaldi shall headline the national conference about family businesses which is being organised by the Malta Chamber on occasion of its 170th anniversary on 1 October.

The conference will discuss themes revolving around issues of shareholding, structure, governance, procedure, finance and succession. The international heavy-weights are expected to shed light on the global success of their brands and how they managed to reinvent themselves across generations and consolidate their market share.

The international speakers shall be joined by a previously announced line-up of top local entrepreneurs - Joseph Zammit Tabona from Infinitely Xara, Denise Xuereb from AX Group and Benjamin Tabone Grech from Engel & Völkers Sara Grech.

Olivares is Strategic R&D and Soremartec chief Global Brands officer at Ferrero SpA. He joined the company in 1996 as Global president of the premium chocolate category but he very quickly took on the position of Mr Ferrero's principal assistant, working mainly on R&D, marketing and research. In 2015, he was appointed executive chairman, as Global Brands chief officer, director of Worldwide Media and R&D and head of the recently opened Innovation Lab of Singapore.

Ferrero Group is present in 55 countries. Their products are sold in more than 170 countries and produced in 23 production plants in five continents, eight manufacturing plants and six agricultural companies. In a few decades, Ferrero reached the number three position in the world ranking of confectionery companies and is known worldwide for its range of products, most notably Nutella, Kinder, Rocher and Tic Tac brands, among others.

Buffa is the founder of Buffa Srl. Starting the business in the late 1970s, Buffa developed the company in one of Italy's leading companies in the sector of construction materials, paints and related services. The company is present in numerous countries including Canada, Pakistan and the North African region, among others. Buffa specialises in finding innovative and effective solutions to the needs in the sector, through an extensive research and development effort that allows it to propose new products and services which would be tailor-made for the end-users' needs.

Grimaldi is a director of Grimaldi Lines SpA. Established in 1947, Grimaldi is a fully integrated multinational logistics group specialising in the maritime transport of cars, rolling cargo, containers and passengers. Wholly owned by the Grimaldi family, the Group is led by members of the family, who are complemented by a highly skilled international management team, based both at the Group's headquarters in Naples and at subsidiary companies and branches located in over 25 countries.