In the early 1970s, an eminent architect, Roger Degiorgio, shared his idea of setting up a federation for professional organisations, with John Chadwick, then director of the Commonwealth Foundation. The latter immediately gave his full support to this concept and on February 19, 1971, the Malta Federation of Professional Bodies was born, changing its name to Malta Federation of Professional Associations (MFPA) in 1999.
It was founded by seven members, five of which are still active today: Kamra tal-Periti, Dental Association of Malta, Malta Institute of Accountants, Medical Association of Malta and Malta Association of Electrical Engineers, which later joined other engineering disciplines and formed the Chamber of Engineers.