AMCC Newsletter, Volume1, Issue 1, 21st September 2012
It has now been over one year since the opening of the Malta Enterprise representative office in Australia and it gives me great pleasure to note that, during this period, the Australian-Maltese Chamber of Commerce and Malta Enterprise have already developed a strong working relationship to achieve their common goal, that is, to strengthen commercial ties between Australia and Malta.
A highlight of our collaboration during 2011 was the organisation of the Maltese business delegation to Australia, where Malta Enterprise and the AMCC co-organised a networking event that brought fifteen Maltese private sector representatives and over twenty AMCC members together. The AMCC also played a key role in the promotion of a number of investment seminars that were organised by Malta Enterprise over this period, most notably a Business Lunch that was hosted by the Deputy Prime Minister of Malta in Perth on the 31st of October, 2011.
Looking ahead, in line with Malta’s Vision 2015 and Beyond, Malta Enterprise’s objectives over 2012 and 2013 will focus on attracting investment from Australia’s ICT industry, the biotechnology industry and the high-value added manufacturing sector. To achieve this objective, Malta Enterprise will continue organising sector-specific business seminars around Australia whilst engaging in one-to-one meetings with heads of companies to present a tailor-made investment proposal that fits with the company’s long term financial and strategic goals.
In this regard, the Australian-Maltese Chamber of Commerce will play a crucial role. Malta Enterprise recognises the Chamber’s importance in building and maintaining a representation of the Maltese business community in Australia and recognises that with its vast network and access to industry leaders, it can significantly enhance the delivery of its message about Malta to the Australian business community. Hence our commitment to collaborate with the AMCC in the organisation of networking events and business fora as well as working together to enhance trade relationships between the two countries. With this in mind, Malta Enterprise and the AMCC have signed a Memorandum of Understanding which sets out areas of collaboration between the two organisations with a view towards boosting trade flows and investment opportunities between the two countries. Malta Enterprise’s contribution to the AMCC’s quarterly newsletter and the information provided about Malta and its growth industries on the Chamber’s website is indeed a result of this MOU, whereby the two organisations have agreed to support each other and the businesses they assist.
Malta offers a unique value proposition as an EU member state in the centre of the Mediterranean, with businesses in the country having access to the neighbouring European and North African markets from a stable, strategically located and business-friendly location. In a year of great upheaval in Europe, Malta’s economic growth rate exceeded the Euro area average and the unemployment rate, at 6.2%, remains one of the lowest in the Euro area, maintaining the country’s reputation as a stable location for business. Australian companies locating to Malta can also benefit from operating in a highly familiar environment – where English is one of the two official languages and business laws are based on the British system – while availing themselves of a highly skilled, multilingual and competitive labour force as well as a multitude of fiscal and financial incentives provided by Malta Enterprise to support their growth.
Through our collaboration with the AMCC as set out in the Memorandum of Understanding, I am confident that more Australian businesses will learn about the advantages Malta offers and which they can avail themselves of to grow their business.
Jean Claude Uhlenhaut, Commercial Attache Malta Enterprise
News from AMCC member UBEECO Packaging Solutions
2012: the year that was!
UBEECO™ Packaging Solutions recently announced that it achieved record top line sales for financial year 11-12: in fact sales represented the best ever year in the business’s 42 year history. UBEECO™’s MD Joseph Borg paid tribute to the hardworking 100+ employees of the company as well as a number of subcontractors for their contribution in delivering customer service, quality and price competitiveness which in turn saw UBEECO™ not only retaining its market share but actually increasing it thus laying additional groundwork for continuing growth.
June 2012: Senior Management Appointment
UBEECO™ Packaging Solutions announced the appointment of Benjamin A Borg to the role of Production Manager. Benjamin comes to the role with considerable experience required of this demanding and often challenging position.
Meeting the Challenge
After deliberating at length, the Board of UBEECO™ Packing Solutions decided in July to escalate its on-going multi-million dollar mechanisation/automation program to prepare itself for when the economy finally rebounds which it surely must at some point. The level of escalation will deliver higher productivity, better quality and set the benchmark in employee safety. Indeed some of the automation being acquired represents “state-of the-art” in industrial packaging in Australia. Despite the current “doom & gloom” environment, the Board of UBEECO™ is determined to hold on to its industry leadership position by pursuing an aggressive growth program into ’12-’13 and beyond.
Proposed Trade Mission
The AMCC is considering organising a TRADE MISSION to Malta for 10-14 days in early June 2013. The event will have a different format this time around as it will be part of the Malta Annual National Trade Fair. Its envisaged that the AMCC will have a stand within the framework of Trade Fair large enough for attending AMCC members to showcase their products.This format will allow for interested parties to come to us rather than having to source appointments before arriving. This will also lead to a huge reduction in logistics and by extension, a reduction in costs. The AMCC will further advise as the trade Mission nears.
AMCC member Mr Steve Vassallo
-An article from The Advisor-
A Bio on AMCC Member Mr George E Bongiovanni
Born in Sliema, Malta 1949 and emigrated to Melbourne with my parents and 2 sisters in 1957 on the Italian ship Aurelia. Completed education in Melbourne and commenced work as a medical laboratory technician at the Royal Women’s Hospital. After further experience at Sacred Heart Hospital and St Vincent Hospital, I ventured out into the commercial arena of medical laboratory equipment. In 1984 I was offered a posting in New Zealand to manage the business for the company I had been working for in Australia on a 2-3 year contract. I decided very early that NZ was my new home. I married a kiwi (Jeanette) and had 2 children (Paul – a chef who has been living in Malta the past 12 months) and Hayley – a paramedic with the St John Ambulance Service). I also have a daughter from my first marriage (Bianca – an arts teacher at a private girls college in Melbourne).
In 1993 I decided that I wanted to work for myself, so to my wife’s horror I formed Medica Pacifica Ltd, a business with the intention of better servicing the South Pacific islands. This was an area I had a lot of experience in and could see the future potential business of up skilling the region’s medical laboratory expertise with some careful attention, education and on-going support. The NZ business continued to grow year on year from a zero base. We are now one of the major providers of medical devices, (diabetes monitoring equipment) laboratory equipment & consumables in New Zealand with a staff of 15.
In 2008 I set up an office and warehouse in Suva Fiji specifically to service the Pacific Islands where we now have 5 staff based in Suva.
I have been a member of the AMCC since 2003 and participated in the Trade Mission to Malta in 2008. I look forward to perhaps doing the 2013 Trade Mission representing some NZ innovations in medical device technology. I have put the ‘feelers’ out to the medical device manufacturing sector for a show of interest in my representing them in Malta as a gateway to Europe and North Africa.
Over the past 20 years I have been active in the Malta Society of New Zealand and President since 1999. This role and our family’s contribution to the Maltese Community in NZ was recognized by the Society with Life Membership for myself and Jeanette in 2009.
In 2007, sponsored by John Bonello, I had the great honour of becoming a Knight of the Order of St John of Jerusalem. My charity of choice is The Little Sisters of the Poor.
I look forward to meeting up with members of the AMCC and the KOM on the few occasions I get to Sydney for functions.
“It was Beautiful as long as it lasted”
A tribute to our friend John Bonello, by Victor Gauchi
Just two weeks ago, our Chamber, The Order of The Knights of Malta and indeed the entire Maltese Community in Australia lost a dear friend with the passing of John Bonello Esq. John was a true gentleman in every meaning of the word. Although his own wife Lillian would argue that John had a fiery side to his personality, a trait born in just about every Maltese man it would seem, this was just a part of what made John the person every one loved, admired and aspired towards. John made many friends in his journey of life, but none more special than Victor Gauchi, a friend who was there from the very beginning when he arrived in Australia in 1963.
We asked Victor to write a few words about his dear friend, John.
“it was beautiful as long as it lasted , the journey of my life. I have no regrets whatsoever save the pain I’ll leave behind”. This was John Bonello’s final declaration as quoted on the booklet of the order of his funeral service.
Truer words were never spoken in respect of John’s life. His sixty seven years were packed with adventures and experiences at both ends of the globe. John was an astute businessman with an eye for opportunity and until quite recently often spoke about yet one more venture.
“If only I was in better health” he would tell me, “I would be back doing what I love most, working hard at my business”
Although John had lived in Sydney Australia for nearly fifty years, he still missed Malta, his country of birth which he referred to as Paradise on Earth. Were it not for his total love and devotion to his family, his wife Liliana, his son Brendan and his daughter Natasha, his daughter-in –law Rachel, son-in-law Vince and, of course, his five grandchildren-Justin, Sarah, Christian, Marcus and Victoria – he may well have retired there. But he would never leave his family for too long and satisfied his longing by taking a short holiday in Malta every now and then.
John Gavin Bonello was born in Msida, Malta on the 14th March 1945, the third-born of four boys. He attended Saint Albert the Great College in Valletta and subsequently completed a radio officer’s course at the Nautical College in Mosta. He was not destined to use this qualification however, as in August 1963, at the tender age of eighteen he decided to emigrate to Australia to join a childhood friend, Victor Gauci, who had emigrated there three months earlier.
The two young men initially worked together for Cahill’s Restaurant Chain, at their bakehouse in Chippendale. They shared a bachelor flat and numerous adventures in Balmain, then Leichhardt and in 1966 they moved to Fairfield where John met Liliana, his future wife.
John and Liliana were married in 1968 and initially lived in Fairfield West.
During the first few years of their marriage, John held a number of jobs including process work at ACI Glass, Borg-Warner and clerical work at the wharves. But he was never comfortable working for a boss and was keen to own and run his own business. His initial foray was a pizza shop in Lidcombe followed by a delicatessen in Newport. Both businesses did quite well. But his most successful venture by far was as a cheesemaker. He went back to “school “and obtained a cheesemaker’s certificate. John’s strong work ethic backed up by his business acumen and the support given by his family ensured that this business prospered for many years.
Socially, John was a jovial, larger than life character. He was highly regarded, made friends easily and was very active in a number of circles. He belonged to the charitable Order of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem, the Catenian Association, Castle Hill Circle and the Australian Maltese Chamber of Commerce amongst other activities.
Though he worked hard and led a busy social life throughout his relatively short life, John’s main focus was his family whom he treasured. He was, according to his son Brendan, an exemplary role model, a good husband and great Dad. He was openly proud of their achievements at school when they were growing up and in sport later on in life.
John will be sadly missed but not forgotten by his family and friends. May he rest in peace.