The Chamber of Commerce is an autonomous statutory body whose organization, in accordance with the Special Statute for Trentino and South Tyrol, is regulated by regional laws. The duties and responsibilities of the Chamber of Commerce of Bolzano/Bozen include the collective representation of the economy in the interests of South Tyrol’s companies, counselling public service decision makers, economic research, promotion of the economy and provision of economic-oriented services for local companies, as well as implementation of its sovereign functions.

In the process, there is a strong emphasis on the autonomy of the Chamber of Commerce. The economy itself determines the structure of the internal organs of the Chamber of Commerce and through these organs its programme of activity. Consequently, the Chamber of Commerce is a self-governing corporation of South Tyrol’s economy.

Promoting the economy is an important function of the Chamber of Commerce of Bolzano/Bozen. It is geared to the needs of South Tyrol’s companies and includes the sectors of Training and Further Education, Company Development, Business Start-up and Transfer, Innovation Service and Business Cooperation, Exports and Sales Promotion and the Arbitration Court and Mediation. Another important sphere of activity of the Chamber of Commerce is the economic research and monitoring. Based on objective information, it draws up economic studies and analyses that allow a factual and professional discussion of economic policy to take place in South Tyrol. The ongoing economic information aimed at the public and companies leads to a better understanding of economic processes.

The Chamber of Commerce of Bolzano/Bozen, however, also exercises official functions. These include maintaining a register of companies and lists of business professions, registration of patents and trade marks, legal metrology and complying with regulations in the environmental sector, as well as issuing documents for foreign trade. The objective of the Chamber of Commerce is to carry out these functions defined by law in an efficient, citizen-friendly and non-bureaucratic way.

Michl Ebner

President