25 years of service Past MBB Presidents and CEOs have their say on the organisation’s role over the past 25 years, including at critical times in Malta’s challenging journey leading to EU membership and in the postaccession scenario.
Leonard Mizzi Director in 1996, MBB’s 1st year of operations My role as the first Director of the Malta Business Bureau just after summer of 1996 got off to a rocky start when Malta’s EU application was frozen following the General Elections of 26th October 1996. One of the tasks I was entrusted with was an options analysis of the costs of non-membership, which included a Swiss type of Free Trade Agreement or the European Economic Area. The uncertainty on the future of the office was resolved once the EU application was reactivated in 1999. The subsequent years were amongst the most intense, not only in terms of informing the
various sectors of the Maltese business community membership of what the EU body of legislation implied on say a particular economic activity – but also how to navigate EU policy making. In the first years as MBB Director, I was mentored by the Irish Business Bureau Director and staff (to recall that Ireland had benefited significantly from EU membership) and then we became fully autonomous as the office grew, in Brussels and in Malta. I cherish my formative years in Brussels with MBB until I joined the European Commission a decade later.
MALTA BUSINESS BUREAU ANNUAL REPORT 2021
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