French President Emanuel Macron has bestowed the very prestigious Officier de la Légion d’honneur to Joseph Bugeja, President of the Maltese French Chamber of Commerce.
The honour was presented by the French Ambassador to Malta H.E. Béatrice Le Fraper du Hellen during a recent reception at her residence in Żebbuġ for friends and members of the Maltese-French Chamber of Commerce in aid of the Victim Support Malta NGO. Also present during this event was Marie-Pierre Rixain, Chairperson of the Malta-France parliamentary Friendship Group and of the Bureau for women’s rights and gender equality of the French National Assembly.
Presenting the decoration to Mr Bugeja, Ambassador Le Fraper described him as “a man of great integrity, passion and commitment towards his mission to develop and strengthen business ties between Malta and France. His energy and sense of duty has been inspiring and has constantly been the driving force behind the excellent work of the Maltese-French Chamber of Commerce.”
The Ordre national de la Légion d’honneur or the National Order of the Legion of Honour is the highest French order of merit for military and civil merits. It was established in 1802 by Napoléon Bonaparte and retained by all the divergent governments and regimes later holding power in France, up to the present.
Visibly surprised but mostly moved, Mr Bugeja thanked the Ambassador for the honour which he said, will accept and forever carry with great pride. He dedicated the award to his wife and his family who unknowingly to him, had also been invited to attend the event. He also thanked all his colleagues and members at the Maltese-French Chamber of Commerce together with the newly elected Board and vowed to keep working to further strengthen the already great business ties that exist between Malta and France.
Mr Joseph Bugeja was recently reconfirmed President of the Maltese-French Chamber of Commerce during the Chamber’s latest Annual General Meeting leading to his third term in office as President.
