The Chambers of Commerce and Industry they are Legal Entities under Public Law with the aim of protecting and developing trade, industry, handicrafts, service professions and exports and have a number of very serious responsibilities. The Chambers are not subsidized by the state, their income, essentially, comes from membership fees, GEMI, remunerative services, etc.
2024 is an election year and “P” took the initiative and is presenting research for the first time to the members of the Chamber of Achaia in order to provide documentary evidence and open the relevant discussion.
Through her research DATA CONSULTANTScarried out on behalf of the PELOPONNISOS newspaper, reflects the relationship between the businesses of Achaia and the Chamber of Achaia, i.e. how informed are they about the services it offers them and the activities it develops? How much do they use these services or how much do they participate in the activities? What are the issues that should be the priorities of the Chamber of Achaia?
Conclusions:
The conclusions of the research among the members of the E.A. they are extremely interesting and very clear.
- It is certain that businesses need the Chamber. But only a small part of them know what it can offer them. They are not aware of its services, as stated by 78%. This results in the Chamber’s interaction with its members, mainly the smaller ones, being limited to issuing certificates.
- A second key conclusion is that the businesses ask the Chamber for more and better communication and organization, to be a strong lever of pressure on the respective government, to support its members in an advisory capacity (especially for financial issues) but also to provide information on subsidized programs.
- The vast majority of Chamber members do not receive the services they desire from it. 53.5% report weaknesses in its operation, 29.3% state that they “don’t know” and 17.2% state that they are “satisfied”.
- The result is that if the participation of businesses in the E.A. became optional 46.1% of them would keep their membership and 40.4% would stop.
Level of information about services and activities of the Chamber of Achaia
From the question: “How informed are you about the services offered by the Chamber of Achaia and the activities it develops?”
Comments:
25.9% of businesses consider that “they are informed about the services offered by the Chamber of Achaia and the activities it develops”. Larger companies (with 6 or more employees) state that they are “informed” quite a lot at a rate of 43.9%, twice as much as companies with no staff or with 1-5 employees.
74% of respondents state that they are little or not at all informed.
Degree and intensity of use of the Chamber’s services in the last 5 years
From the questions: “In the last 5 years have you been in contact with the Chamber of Achaia to receive any of its services or participate in any of its actions, such as… (list 8 categories of services)?”
Comments:
- 63.6% of the members of the E.A. states that they have received at least one service during the last five years and 36.4% none. The possibility that 63.6% underestimates the reality is possible because the survey was answered by business owners who in many cases have “transferred” communication with the EA. to their accountants and do not have full knowledge of a potential contact.
- In particular, 30.6% of businesses have received 1 service (in the last 5 years), while 16.5% have received 2 services.
- The intensity of use of EA services is related to the size of the company, so at least 1 service has been received by 75.6% of companies with 6+ employees, 68.2% of companies with 1-5 employees and 50.5% of businesses without employed staff.
Comments:
- Issuing GEMI or other certificates is the main service used by the Chamber’s member companies (55.9%).
- Other services that businesses have used are:
- receiving information on subsidized programs (19.5%) which, as it turns out, has been received to a greater extent by businesses with 1-5 employees (26.2%) and to a lesser extent by businesses without employees (11.2%)
- the “One Stop” service they have used to establish their company
- attending lectures, seminars, conferences (14.8%)
- All other services have been taken in small percentages.
Weaknesses – suggestions for improvement
From the question: “Tell us any weaknesses you have identified during your cooperation with the Chamber of Achaia, any suggestions you have for ways to improve the services provided or mention new services or actions you want it to undertake as well as anything else that would improve the operation of the Chamber : MULTIPLE ANSWER”
Comments:
- The entrepreneurs were asked to report any weaknesses in their cooperation with the Chamber of Achaia or possible suggestions for improving the cooperation.
- “No weakness” in the operation of EA. states 17.2% while 29.3% declares that they “don’t know”. 53.5% mention weaknesses or suggestions for improvement.
- “Lack of communication” is the biggest as it is mentioned by 35.7% of entrepreneurs, lack of information about financing programs follows with 24.2%, while 11.4% consider that more organization is required.
“Commitment” with the Chamber of Achaia
Comments:
- If the participation of businesses in the Chamber changes from mandatory to optional, 46.1% of businesses will continue to be members while 40.4% will stop. 13.5% do not know what they will do. No differences are observed in the opinions of companies of different departments, headquarters, size.
- Differences are observed in the answers given by businesses that have used at least 1 E.A. service. in the last five years of which 54% say they will remain members of the Chamber in contrast to businesses that have not used any service which 55.6% say they will stop being members of the EA.
Priorities of the Chamber
Spontaneous reports
From the question: “What do you think are the issues that the Chamber of Achaia should deal with as a matter of priority?” What are the most important to you personally and your business? Tell me the most important thing? The second most important? The third most important?’ OPEN QUESTION
Comments:
- The businessmen’s opinions on the priorities of the Chamber of Achaia were first recorded with spontaneous answers and then they declared the importance of 12 important areas of employment that were mentioned to them.
- In the spontaneous responses (graph 6), according to the majority of businesses, the EA’s priorities are informing entrepreneurs about subsidized programs (50.8%), interest in small and medium-sized enterprises (36.7%) and providing information on financial issues (26.7%).
References with assistance
From the question: “How important are the issues that I will mention to you and with which the Chamber of Achaia should deal with as a matter of priority?”
Comments:
- Referring to the 12 areas – issues and asking the businessmen to say the degree of importance for each of them, it emerged that the issues that the businessmen consider important and with which the Chamber of Achaia should deal with as a priority is to constitute a strong lever of pressure towards the each government, they want to provide advisory support to its members but also provide information on subsidized programs.
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