Josef Busuttil, director general of Malta Association of Credit Management, participated in the second World Credit Congress held last month at The Burlington Hotel in Dublin.

During his one-hour presentation, Mr Busuttil suggested that the credit management function should contribute to gain and sustain competitive advantage in the market.

Mr Busuttil said that following the recent credit crisis, the role of the credit practitioners should be enhanced. Credit people should be more involved in the strategic decisions taken by the management team, as they are the ones who are responsible for sound cash flow – the lifeblood of business organisations.

With the aid of practical sessions, Mr Busuttil explained how the credit function could provide more value to the organisation by being more customer focused. He also described the credit function as a ‘sales’ function and explained skilful strategies and tactics to delegates that would help them improve customer service. He emphasised that sustaining long-term customer relationship is the name of the game in today’s turbulent times and the credit function should not be seen as a cost centre but a dynamic function that can contribute to organisations’ profit.

On the eve of the conference, Mr Busuttil together with Tim Paulsen, a proficient credit management consultant from Canada, delivered a presentation to the other speakers and trainers, where it was pointed out that it is time for credit practitioners to be more innovative and focus more on customers’ needs at a profit.

Other credit experts who contributed to the success of this World Credit Congress came from USA, Canada, UK, Mexico, Ireland, Brazil, Belgium and Switzerland. This important event was opened by Alan Dukes, an Irish economist and politician, and by Pat Cox, former President of the European Parliament.

The congress was well attended by delegates from 45 different countries and was endorsed by the world most renowned credit management organisations and associations, including MACM. The third World Credit Congress will be held in Sydney in 2011.