Chamber & Banif to set up Malta-Portugal Business Council
The Malta Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry is proud to announce the signing of a Gold Partnership with Banif Bank. This is the first-ever Support Agreement between the two organisations. The agreement was signed by Malta Chamber President Mr. Tancred Tabone and Banif CEO Mr. Joaquim Silva Pinto.
Through this agreement, the Malta Chamber will provide new additional benefits to the local business community whilst extending support to the Portuguese economy and business. “In fact, our agreement provides for the creation of a Malta-Portugal Business Council within the Malta Chamber. This shall seek to explore and develop business opportunities for Malta in Portugal and vice versa,” said Mr. Tabone.
Mr. Tabone explained that the objectives behind this joint project are in line with the Malta Chamber’s mission to assist and encourage members to internationalise. “We have discovered through experience that Business Councils are a very effective vehicle to reach this aim,” he stated. “So far the Malta Chamber has established three business councils covering Scandinavia, Tunisia and Germany. All such Councils are very active – suffice to mention that the Tunisian Business Council organised our first outgoing business delegation last June,” said Mr. Tabone.
Whilst thanking Banif Bank for its support, Mr. Tabone remarked that the Malta Chamber treats Support Agreements as constructive alliances rather than mere “sponsorship deals”. “Nevertheless, it is through commendable actions such as Banif’s, that the Malta Chamber is able to generate benefit and value to the local business community,” he said.
The Malta Chamber is confident that the Malta-Portugal Business Council project and the remaining aspects of the agreement will be equally successful. “Meanwhile, we are proud that yet another international financial institution and multinational business player has chosen to associate itself with our Chamber as a collaborating partner of the highest tier,” Mr. Tabone concluded.
On his part, Mr. Joaquim F. Silva Pinto commented that Banif Bank was proud to be considered a worthy corporate partner for such a long-standing voluntarily-constituted body like the Malta Chamber. “We believe that the Malta Chamber’s declared mission to promote enterprise and growth for the benefit of the nation’s economy is worthy of our special backing and we are very pleased to have signed this Support Agreement as one of the Malta Chamber’s Gold Collaborating Partners,” declared Mr. Silva Pinto.
Mr. Silva Pinto added that one of Banif’s priorities, ever since establishing a presence in Malta, has always been to encourage and promote cross-border opportunities. “Banif was part of a Maltese business delegation that had accompanied H.E. The President of Malta to Portugal and had been instrumental in setting up meetings at the Chambers of Porto and Lisbon which led to a good number of serious business leads being established to the mutual benefit of both Maltese and Portuguese companies. Earlier this year, Banif Bank also invited a number of prominent Portuguese entrepreneurs to visit Malta for a seminar discussing local infrastructure opportunities,” he stated. Mr. Silva Pinto augured that through this Support Agreement, Banif will be able to continue tangibly contributing towards the Maltese economy.
