HOW COBCOE CAN HELP

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HOW COBCOE CAN HELP
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About COBCOE

• COBCOE is an independent and non-profit
  organisation
• Founded in 1973 to provide a common platform for
  the British chambers of commerce in Europe
• Liaising closely with governments and trade
  organisations
• Protects and promotes the collective interests
  of its 23 chamber members and their members
  approximately 6,000 businesses - through united
  representation, cooperation and trade
  stimulation.
• Supports every member chambers objectives to
  enhance British business in its specific country
  as well as promoting Britain as a place to do
  business.

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Aims objectives

• COBCOEs main aim is to protect and promote the
  collective interests of its chamber members - and
  their business members - through united
  representation, cooperation and trade
  stimulation. Our efforts support the objectives
  of every member chamber to enhance British
  business in its specific country. In more detail,
  COBCOEs objectives are
• To represent the collective interests of its
  members in the UK and Continental Europe to
  official and private bodies that are concerned
  with the furtherance of trade and business and to
  co-operate with them where possible.
• To make known to these organisations the views of
  COBCOE members on subjects of common interest,
  and to make representations to them in order to
  further the interests of COBCOE members.
• To increase awareness of COBCOE within trade
  promotion bodies in the United Kingdom and the
  EU.
• To promote and protect the trading, commercial,
  financial and manufacturing interests and
  relations between the over 6,000 business members
  of COBCOE's constituent chambers and the United
  Kingdom.
• To act as a platform for networking and
  communication between COBCOE member chambers,
  promoting best practices and enhanced
  effectiveness.
• To provide training, access to resources, and
  other services to member chambers and their
  business members.

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Statement of Principles

• COBCOE
• Believes in constructive dialogue as a partner
  with "government", whether local, national or
  supranational, and the business community, with
  the objective of encouraging successful trade and
  commerce for the common good
• Is committed to free trade and open borders for
  business, and supports equal treatment and
  liberalisation of goods and services
• Supports the objective of making Europe a
  "dynamic and competitive knowledge-based
  economy"
• Is opposed to unnecessary legislation and
  bureaucracy
• Encourages business to act responsibly within the
  greater community
• Adopted by the Council in London on 25th April
  2006.

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The Executive Committee

• President
• Howard Rosen CBE, Howard Rosen Solicitor,
  Switzerland
• Honorary Chairman
• Bryan Jeeves OBE CMG, Jeeves Group, Liechtenstein
• Vice President Treasurer
• Jeremy Jennings OBE, Ernst Young, Belgium
• Executive Members
• David Crackett, Deloitte, Italy
• Michel de Fabiani, France
• Anne-Marie Martin, BRCC, Romania
• Andreas Meyer-Schwickerath, BCCG, Germany
• Renata Prokovà, AJS Management, Slovakia
• David Thomas, Financier, Poland
• Secretary General
• Céline Duckworth, London

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Members
Austria Belgium Bulgaria Czech Republic
Estonia France Germany Greece Hungary
Iceland Italy Latvia Lithuania Luxembourg
Macedonia Norway Poland Romania Slovak
Republic Spain Sweden Switzerland /
Liechtenstein Turkey
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Helping UKTI achieve its targets
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Helping UKTI achieve its targets
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Assisting UKTI to provide outstanding services
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Assisting UKTI to provide outstanding services
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Inside the chambers

• Each chamber is an excellent voice and
  representative body for the local British
  business community and local companies involved
  with them or the UK.
• To boost British business locally and champion
  the UK as a place to do business, the chambers
  offer a wide range of services including
• Business promotion marketing jointly with the
  chamber - a high profile platform for
  advertising
• Business data market information, statistics
  and economic data, databases
• Networking events, business seminars and
  conferences
• Business publications E-newsletters or news
  digest, annual business directories, business
  guides for developing business in the UK or in
  their country.

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Challenges Solutions

• COBCOEs 23 chambers vary greatly in size and
  resources.
• the smaller chambers have only 1 part time
  Executive Director
• the larger chambers will have 3 to 9 full time
  staff
• Energetic and enthusiastic the main challenge is
  financial as the chambers are self-supportive.
• The chambers overcome this by
• exchanging marketing business services they
  provide and services provided by a partner such
  as hotels, website designers, media, etc
• raising funds from their publications events.

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The chambers USPs

• COBCOE chambers are
• a wealth of first hand experience in doing
  business - the chamber members network as well
  as chamber Executives have first hand experience
  of setting up a business locally and/or in the
  UK
• self financed businesses speaking to other self
  financed businesses
• at the heart of the British and the local
  business communities
• often the first port of call for local interest
  in the UK
• and finally, a promotional business networking
  platform for their members to grow their business
  and generate new opportunities.

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Further Action

• We propose an ongoing COBCOE/UKTI dialogue with
  the following objectives
• Upgrade Memorandum of Understanding
• Develop standard outsourcing protocol for local
  Chambers to assist local posts and UKTI
• Focus on inward UK visits
• Review where COBCOE can distribute UKTI
  information
• Co-operation on ministerial visits
• Regional joint activities

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Contact your local COBCOE chamber

• Austro-British Chamber www.abchamber.org
• British Chamber of Commerce in Belgium
  www.britcham.be
• British Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce www.bbcc.gb
  
• British Chamber of Commerce in the Czech Republic
  www.britishchamber.cz
• The British-Estonian Chamber of Commerce
  www.becc.ee
• Franco-British Chamber of Commerce
  www.francobritishchamber.com
• British Chamber of Commerce in Germany
  www.bccg.de
• British Hellenic Chamber of Commerce
  www.bhcc.gr
• British Chamber of Commerce in Hungary
  www.bcch.com
• British-Icelandic Chamber of Commerce
  www.verslunarrad.is//page.asp?Id669
• British Chamber of Commerce for Italy
  www.britchamitaly.com
• British Chamber of Commerce in Latvia
  www.bccl.lv
• British Chamber of Commerce in Lithuania
  www.bccl.lt
• British Chamber of Commerce in Luxembourg
  www.bcc.lu
• British Business Group Macedonia www.bbgm.co.uk
• British-Norwegian Chamber of Commerce
  www.bncc.no
• British Polish Chamber of Commerce
  www.bpcc.org.pl
• British Romanian Chamber of Commerce
  www.brcc-ccbr.org
• British Chamber of Commerce in the Slovak
  Republic www.britcham.sk