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It would be an understatement to say we live in interesting times. Today times are not only interesting but they are difficult and for some becoming even more difficult. 

With the "credit crunch" and the loss of liquidity in the banking system, businesses are finding it difficult in some cases to survive, never mind grow and flourish. The economy overall is predicated to shrink possibly, if the IMF figures are to be believed, by 2.8%, although the Government would have us believe that the UK is better placed to recover than some other countries.

Although the North-east of Scotland has quite a diverse economy the dominant business is the oil and gas industry, not only in terms of employment by oil companies, large and small but also the extensive service and supply chain.

With an oil price fall of over 100 dollars a barrel in the past six months or so there is a feeling that the relative insulation our part of Scotland may experience, could be short lived. Those more optimistic feel that we may "slide over" the worst effects, particularly if the oil price recovers somewhat. Although exploration and appraisal activity may well decline on the UKCS, in the coming months, the international focus on most of the supply chain could probably pay dividends. Pressure on margins however will be universal.

Your Chamber has been extremely active on a number of relevant fronts.

AGCC has provided input to the UK Government's consultation on the UKCS fiscal regime through British Chambers, producing one of the best papers on the subject that I have seen. It was all the more powerful in that it was not produced by the oil industry or their trade association and was presented to Government by the British Chambers of Commerce.

We have also provided input to the Scottish Government's consultations on climate change and on energy, in conjunction with Scottish Chambers of Commerce (SCC) and were able to weave into the latter submission, strong cases for better public transportation.

Still in the energy arena, the Chamber made verbal representations to the energy sub-committee of the Scottish Government together with other interested bodies such as Oil & Gas UK. The good thing was that the messages were the same from wherever they came, a very powerful message to Government to take away - they always look for division as a potential "get out".

SCC with input from your Chamber has been in direct conversation at a very senior level with all of the major banking entities, pressing hard not only for lower interest rates and increased liquidity but also more consistent behaviour and better fee structures. More locally your Chamber is active in its relationships with related public bodies and in particular with the Shire and City Councils, and in this context we have had direct conversations with the Scottish Government with regard to the distribution of Government funding for councils.

As part of this exercise we held an open meeting with members of the Chamber Council and Board and other representative members in an attempt to get a summary of the perceived state of the economy in the North-east at the end of 2008.

The results have been fed through the Chamber network to both the SCC and BCC for their use in continuing discussions with the Governments and other agencies.

All in all AGCC is making its presence felt and the conventional offerings by the Chamber on training, export documentation, insurances and export promotion are even more relevant in these tougher times. They are cost effective and of the highest quality.

These, with the traditional Chamber role, are providing opportunities for networking, making your membership proposition very attractive.

We are punching above our weight and we are supporting our membership in every way we can.

AGCC is a great proposition - spread the word!