– People are not foolish to say they will not be members of the Chamber of Trades, while doing harm to themselves. If they see a benefit, they will remain in that association or establish a new one. If the Chamber claims that people are not aware they are working against their own interests, then it is clear what they think of craftsmen. I would advise them to try to adapt to the market, and that from that 150 kuna monthly membership fee, plus a percentage of income, people see some benefit. Anyone who sees that for something they paid for, they received back multiple times, is not so foolish as to give that up – said Gordan Maras, the Minister of Entrepreneurship and Crafts, today in the Weekly Interview at Soundset.
If the Chamber positioned itself better, adds Maras, even more craftsmen would get involved in it.
– Sometimes it seems to me that the Chamber of Trades is an end in itself. Once when we went to a fair in Munich, there were more people in the Chamber’s delegation, those who went officially. There were 10-15 of them, and five or six exhibitors. Or at the Crafts Games, when half is paid by the Chamber and half by the members, then they go for seven days to the games, and not all craftsmen can go. And those who prepare the Games still receive compensation. The Chamber will have to work harder and offer services that people are looking for and thus motivate them to stay in the Chamber – he says.
