“The focus of this meeting on the need for cooperation between public and private enterprises is a clear sign that the way forward needs to be delineated not by who we are, but by our commitment towards higher standards and a better quality of life,” German-Maltese Chamber of Commerce president Henry J. Borg said in his welcome speech at a seminar co-organised with AIS Environment and ITUT of Germany on the Implementations of the European Packaging Waste Directive in Malta.

Mr Borg stated that as the main entity representing German commercial interests in Malta, the German-Maltese Chamber of Commerce is keen to promote public-private initiatives that could not only result in better results, but also through methods of operation which are more cost-effective.

He insisted that what he had said in a previous presentation at a similar seminar two years ago, still holds. Back then he had stressed that “for German firms to come to Malta we need to get our house in order... not for the sake of some bureaucrat in Brussels... but because this will benefit us. The implementation of the European Directive for Packaging Waste should be one of the topmost items on our agenda as people in business.”

He concluded by saying that the developments achieved over this period of time show that the business community is on the right track. “But we need to move forward. We need to get more businesses to understand that this is not something optional. This is not a matter of choice, but a matter of opportunity... of taking the initiative before it is too late.”