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Kr. Valdemara str. 33
Office 11 (entrance from courtyard)
Phone: +371 67218043
Fax: +371 67218045
info@bccl.lv |
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| March 27 |
| Anita Kalēja at the BCCL Annual General Meeting |
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Dear Members,
My report will be mostly positive because I am full of optimism about the future of the BCCL. In the last year we have gone through many changes – the staff of the chamber has changed a few times, the chamber has started to implement its new strategy of getting more closely engaged with local businesses and the community at large, we are starting to attract a new kind of membership. All of these changes have been successfully implemented and the chamber has started a new phase and is ready to grow and further develop within the next years. In this development we will be assisted by a very generous commitment from Air Baltic, represented here by Mr. Gregory Pomerantsev, to distribute our British-Latvian Trade magazine on its flights from London to Riga.
In my report, I will address in detail the strategy for the future of the chamber as well as the hurdles that need to be overcome to implement it. Ieva Gruzina, our executive director—for her professionalism and dedication an envy of any other chamber, will shortly inform you as to the statistics about the attendance of our events and other administrative matters. I am glad to acknowledge that, in general, the interest in our events has grown almost twofold and that our membership base is sound and growing. You will also hear the financial report which shows that the chamber is financially solid. This is something that all of us can view as a sign that the business community has positively responded to the new initiatives of the chamber and is endorsing the direction in which the chamber is heading.
The Latvian economy is growing at an unprecedented pace. That is to say, regardless of the growing pains, the Latvian economy is offering and will continue offering, new opportunities to the members of our chamber. In this situation, the chamber must take the leadership role in order to help our members capitalise on these opportunities. Not only the economy of this country is growing but also the public sector is changing, which means that in Latvia, corporate and national governance is evolving along the same path. We are entering a time where businesses in Latvia, need to develop a new breed of lobbying power. We have many good examples from which to learn both in the UK and elsewhere in Europe. The chamber will accept this new task of expanding and improving its lobbying capacity by positioning itself strongly on issues of social corporate responsibility. But this leadership doesn’t have to remain as an end in itself. By acquiring more public recognition our members can provide benefits not only the community at large, but also to themselves. In this new situation the lobbying of business interests takes a new form - it is genuinely a win-win situation.
Hence, I propose that the new board makes CSR a priority in order to acquire added recognition and influence for the members.
What can be the obstacles for the future of the chamber? It is of course the quality of the board that represents the chamber and the diversity of the membership.
I participated in the fortnightly board meetings and the committee meetings headed by various members of the board and these are my observations. We had four committees: The events committee headed by Malcolm Dent has been extremely active, as you witnessed yourselves, at the many dinners, seminars, commercial breaks and other events. Our most active participants from the board at events organised by the BCCL have been of course Malcolm himself, who has been very enthusiastic and has become a integral part in the way the board functions and Henrik Mjoman who I should also thank for attracting new members to the chamber.
The personnel committee has been very active as well. Perhaps not so much by choice but due to the many staff changes at our office, this committee, headed by Girts Greiskalns, provided continuity to the work of the chamber. Girts, for example, ran the BCCL office for a couple of months.
The new members and PR committee headed by Neil Jennings has developed new and, I should say, excellent ideas in order to attract members, such as the member to member discount scheme and the introduction of the new membership category for graduates. Neil’s next project is to attract to the BCCL foreign businesses that do not have their own national business support networks, such as the Norwegians and others. If he successfully implements this task next year, we will be fortunate to have an added diversity in the membership that should benefit us all.
Finally, we had the finance committee headed by Steve Austwick, which met a few times.
Amongst my biggest concerns is the issue of discipline of the board members. The members should know that last year there were three times when the board did not have a quorum at the board meetings. Several times board members neglected to inform the executive director of their absence from meetings, even though enough members were present for a quorum. Most board meetings were attended by Ieva Broka, Neil Jennings, Malcolm Dent and Girts Greiskalns.
I would like to emphasize that when standing for election to the board you are taking on a large responsibility towards the membership. It is a privilege which cannot be taken lightly. The next board should pay special attention to the issue of regular attendance and active participation at board meetings, attendance at events and helping in their smooth running, as well as keeping up and improving relationships with the membership.
Finally, I would also like to express gratitude to our representatives from the British Embassy for their engagement with the board activities and to Ieva Broka for all the legal work she has provided to the chamber. I am very proud about the close working relationship that has been developed and maintained between the Embassy and the chamber. At the beginning of the year the Ambassador designated Nils Students to work with the chamber and he was successfully replaced by Santa Plivča. I trust that this cooperation will continue.
Our chamber has a clear vision of the future, we have excellent professionals in our office, we have intellectual and financial resources. Let us add, with your wise decision, a dedicated and capable board to this winning combination. And, voila, we have an organization that will make us proud; we will have a process that will give us fun; and we will make a lasting impact that will make us strong.
Anita Kaleja
Chairman
BCCL
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