Easi Print is 13 years old this month! Unlucky for some but definitely lucky for a company which is happy to announce further expansion in the local printing trade.

They have decided to invest further in the Gibraltar market and will shortly be upgrading and increasing their machinery to further cater for the growing local business sector.

It’s good news all round for a family business which continues to go from strength to strength.

All the building development which is going on around their offices, may make it difficult for some clients to get to Easi Print, but rest assured you only need to call and they will come to you. After all they are only minutes away… www.easiprint.gi

15 year-old, Tom Gladdis has recently been awarded a scholarship worth £35,000, to drive in next season’s Formula BMW UK Championship.

Following an evaluation by a panel of judges, including former Formula One World Champion Nigel Mansell, Tom, who graduated in the 2005 Karting Championship in Spain, is now amongst five winning scholars, named as the new UK BMW Junior Drivers.

As well as financial backing, Tom will also receive a place on the prestigious BMW Education and Coaching Programme. The aim of the programme is to provide a fully-rounded foundation for a career as a professional racing driver and includes benefits such as driver coaching at each race, media and PR tuition and health and fitness training.

The selected 24 drivers whom Tom excelled against, came from all over the world to enter this prestigious event. Tom had the least amount of previous driving experience than his peers but excelled himself and was rewarded with a placement in the much sought-after place within the BMW scholarship.

Formula BMW is raced around the world within 4 continents. It is now regarded as the world’s leading Formula for up and coming young drivers.

The series within the UK is held over 10 meetings with 2 races taking place at each meeting. Races are held at the top UK circuits: Silverstone, Donnington, Brands Hatch, Thruxton, Oulton Park, Croft and Knockhill in Scotland, plus one round at the Southern Ireland circuit of Mondello Park.

Each round attracts at least 20,000 spectators and is broadcast live on satellite to approximately 53 million homes around 14 different countries across Europe. It is also shown on the ITV Motorsport programme broadcast.

Tom is currently undergoing a significant intensive training programme in preparation for the 2007 Formula BMW season.

With a Master’s degree in Marketing from Madrid and a MBA from Boston, she has a very solid background in marketing.

Over the past years Loreto has worked with major multinationals in several countries within the EU.

Originally from Tenerife, she moved back to Spain in April 2005 after living in Dublin, Ireland, for several years.

“I have always wanted to work on the agency side of things” says Loreto “My previous roles have always been on the client side and I consider this a great opportunity to really see the big picture when it comes to creating and developing new strategies and marketing tools.”

During the autumn, Chamber Board members held a series of meetings at the Chamber with a number of Government agencies. The main purpose of these meetings was to develop a closer working relationship and so better represent members’ interests.

Details of what was discussed at these meetings is summarised below. However, should members want further information on what was discussed, or if there are particular issues they want raised at future meetings, please contact the Chamber directly on 78376.

Chamber Board meets with Commissioner of Police

Board members held an informative session with Luis Wink, the Commissioner of Police in October. A number of matters of mutual interest were raised during the meeting, including the enforcement of traffic regulations on loading bays. The Commissoner referred to the Annual Policing Plan, available on the Government website: www.gibraltar.gov.gi/judiciary/police_index.htm,
as the guiding policy for changes and challenges in the year ahead for the RGP. During the meeting, the Commissioner stressed the importance of working together to resolve problems. They are currently looking at initiatives to work more closely with all members of the business community and hope to be able to work with the Chamber and announce concrete ways of doing this, in the next few months.

Collector of Customs in talks with the Chamber

John Rodriguez, the Collector of Customs, met with Board members in November to discuss, among other things, the ongoing Customs review. The review has recommended a number of changes that will enable the Collector to allocate resources more efficiently. A main concern of members who are Main Street traders, is to ensure that checks on personal imports into Gibraltar are more rigorous. Personal imports into Gibraltar often go undeclared and this has a particular impact when many people shop for gifts in Spain in the busy pre-Christmas season. The Collector had already set up a more thorough system of checks at the frontier in the lead up to Christmas to ensure that personal imports are declared. The new lane layout at the frontier should also help to assist with this.

Mayor of La Linea visits the Chamber Of Commerce

Juan Carlos Juarez, Mayor of La Linea visited the Chamber before Christmas. The purpose of the visit was to share ideas and explore commercial opportunities following the signing of the Tripartite Agreement in September 2006. At the meeting, the Mayor was able to explain some of the plans La Linea has, not least the commitment to ensure traffic flow across the frontier, is as smooth as possible. He also indicated tentative plans to develop part of the land running alongside the frontier for a shopping centre. The size of the development is still undecided, but the Mayor said that he would give equal consideration to Gibraltar businesses looking to invest in this shopping complex. We will keep members informed as plans develop.

Malaysian Trade Commissioner visits Gibraltar

In November the Chamber hosted a visit by Mr. Abu Bakar Koyakutty, the Commissioner from MATRADE, the Malaysian Trade Commission. His visit was to evaluate the market potential for Malaysian produced products in Gibraltar and focused on three sectors in particular: OEM car parts, wood products – particularly for building materials and food products.

Although the local market is relatively small compared to other markets, Mr Koyakutty thought that there might be some potential demand for certain product lines in Gibraltar. During his visit he met a number of local Chamber members who he thought might be interested in distributing Malaysian products.

One area that was also discussed, was the possibility of having a trade mission to Malaysia to sell Gibraltar goods and, particularly, services.

MATRADE’s website which gives an overview of the various products and services available from Malaysia is at: www.matrade.gov.my

A number of DVDs with fully searchable supplier contacts directory, are available to members for use free of charge at the Chamber (see below). Please contact the Chamber directly on 78376:

Malaysia as a Trading Partner: DVD of the various business opportunities with Malaysia
Malaysian Exports: Overview of Malaysia’s principle business sectors
Malaysia Heavy Vehicles & Machinery: Directory
Food & Beverage Directory: Directory
Producers and exporters of Halal products: Directory
Information & Communications Technology: Products & Services Directory

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