The president of the Malta Chamber of Commerce and Enterprise, Victor A. Galea has taken part in the annual congress of Eurochambres – the European Association of Chambers of Commerce and Industry – held in Paris between 24-26 October on “Business and Regional Development: Growth will come from the Crossroads”.

Among those addressing the congress were the vice president of the European Commission and Transport Commissioner, Jacques Barrot; the president of the Committee of Regions, Michel Delebarre; and the president of the Assembly of the French Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Jean-François Bernardin.

Mr Galea said after the congress that “according to the Lisbon Strategy, Europe is striving to become the most dynamic and competitive knowledge-based economy in the world. This congress addressed concrete actions which must be taken to lead to the fulfilment of the Lisbon goals, such as training and enhancing the employability and profile of the European workforce as well as finding the right balance between economic, social and environmental sustainability.”

Mr Galea insisted that chambers are in a privileged position to translate these actions and messages upwards from their grassroots.

During the same period, chamber director-general Kevin J. Borg and the chief executive officer of the Malta Business Bureau, Lino Mintoff attended the general meeting of the 46 directors general of national chambers represented within the same organisation. The meeting mainly addressed the revised treaty of the European Union and the recently published Eurochambres Regional Competitiveness Atlas.