Many businesses will ‘wait and see’ on Brexit, AmCham’s Europe chairman says

The Chairman of AmCham in Europe, Patrick Mikkelsen, has said that businesses will wait out the Brexit process and the uncertainty surrounding it before deciding whether to relocate.

“My experience is that a lot of companies will wait and see,” Mr Mikkelsen told the Chronicle.

“I’m in touch frequently with a colleague in London and what he tells us is that a lot of financial institutions relocated to Europe because they needed a licence to operate in the EU,” he said.

“But a lot of other businesses are still waiting to see what the outcome of the whole process will be,” he said, adding that at the moment that situation is “very insecure”.

Mr Mikkelsen has held the position of Chairman of the European Council of American Chambers of Commerce, the umbrella organization of 44 American Chambers of Commerce in Europe and Eurasia, since 2016 and he was in Gibraltar in this capacity.

During his visit Mr Mikkelsen met with the Board of AmCham Gibraltar, including its president James Lasry, as well as members of the local network.

“It gave us the opportunity to discuss current topics and to talk about cooperation across Europe,” he explained.

Additionally, Mr Mikkelsen met with the Chief Minister Fabian Picardo and Deputy Chief Minister Dr Joseph Garcia.

“It was very very interesting, there are a lot of things going on of course that harm also the investment climate in the UK and in Gibraltar,” he said.

“I took the opportunity to give a little insight into how our network functions, the benefits of course, and to tell the board members and the members a bit more about it because the network is very valuable,” Mr Mikkelsen said adding that “of course” a lot of conversations centred on Brexit.

AmCham is an NGO that represents over 400 American businesses – amongst them many Fortune 500 companies.