IBEC director meets FOI officials

Brian Callanan, Director of Membership, Trade and Regions at the Irish Business and Employers Confederation (IBEC), recently had an extensive meeting with Malta federation of Industry officials headed by FOI Vice President Adrian Bajada.

During the meeting aspects related to the membership base were discussed, a discussion that included issues relating to member categories and development, range of services, internal marketing, the shift from manufacturing to service industries, income generation, as well benchmarking of the FOI activities with other federations.

This meeting was made possible through the FOI-IBEC twinning arrangement, drawn up under the UNIMED project, which is coordinated by the Union of Industrial and Employers’ Confederations of Europe (UNICE), of which the FOI is a member, and funded by the European Commission.

At the meeting Mr Bajada was accompanied by FOI Director General Edwin Calleja, FOI Administration Manager John Scicluna and FOI Executive Cecilia Vella.

In another recent event, FOI Deputy President, Anton Borg, accompanied a delegation led by the President of Malta on a state visit to Greece.

Mr Borg took the podium following an address by President Guido de Marco and addressed a gathering of businessmen.

Mr Borg explained that Malta’s economic activity and development in the context of the Mediterranean and international dimension. He gave an overview of industrial activity in Malta, the part played by Foreign Direct Investment in the development of Malta’s economy, and the opportunities and benefits that exist for investment in SMEs in our country. Mr. Borg remarked that there is ample scope for increasing trade between the two countries and it is up to Greek and Maltese businessmen and entrepreneurs to come to understand the possibilities in both countries and to grasp the available opportunities.

The meeting was chaired by the President of the Greek Federation of Industry, Mr Kyriakopoulos. Mr Borg took the opportunity to discuss with his Greek counterpart ways and means of extending co-operation between the FOI and Greek industrialists. Dr Marc Bonello, Chairman of the Malta Maritime Authority, also addressed the meeting.