World Chambers Federation announces Council election results

More than one third of ICC WCF chamber members, from over 125 countries, submitted votes for their 20 preferred representatives using an online election platform.

The Council comprises 50 members with representation from transnational, national, regional, local, public and private law chambers, large and small.

“I am looking forward to a fruitful, efficient and highly professional cooperation with members of the WCF General Council. We received numerous proposals of high quality personalities from economic life from all over the world and it was my great pleasure to follow the interest attracted by the elections,” said WCF Chairman Peter Mihok. “All applicants met the rigorous qualification criteria and it was not easy to make a final choice. I am deeply persuaded that re-elected as well as newly elected members of the WCF General Council will dedicate their capabilities and experiences to the benefit of WCF, effectively contributing to its work and acting as a source of knowledge, experience and information for chambers the world over.”

Council members, joining the members of the WCF Executive Committee and Transnational Chambers are as follows:

Members

Stephen Cartwright, Chief Executive Officer, NSW Business Chamber (Australia)

Richard Schenz, Vice-President, Austrian Federal Economic Chamber (Austria)

Wouter Van Gulck, General Manager, Federation of Belgian Chambers of Commerce (Belgium)

Sergio Papini de Mendonça Uchoa, Vice-President, Confederation of Brazilian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Brazil)

Shunjie Lin, Secretary General, China Chamber of International Commerce (China)

*Monica de Greiff, Executive President, Chamber of Commerce of Bogota (Colombia)

Petr Kuzel, President, Czech Chamber of Commerce (Czech Republic)

Jens Klarskov, Chief Executive Officer, Danish Chamber of Commerce (Denmark)

Marja-Liisa Peltola, Director of International Affairs, Finland Chamber of Commerce (Finland)

Hans-Jorg Schmidt-Trenz, CEO, Hamburg Chamber of Commerce (Germany)

Emmanouil Vlachogiannis, 1st Vice-President, Thessaloniki Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Greece)

Dr. Laszlo Parragh, President, Hungarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Hungary)

*Ram Gandhi, Past President, Indian Merchant’s Chamber (India)

Uriel Lynn, President, Federation of Israeli Chambers of Commerce (Israel)

Alessandro Barberis, President, Torino Chamber of Commerce (Italy)

Toshio Nakamura, President, The Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Japan)

*Kiprono Kitony, National Chairman, Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kenya)

*Haya Rashed Al Khalifa, Deputy Chairperson, Legal Committee, Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kingdomof Bahrain)

*Yong Poh Kon, President, Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (Malaysia)

Ricardo Navarro Benitez, Chairman, Mexico City National Chamber of Commerce (Mexico)

*Alhaji Ismaila Aderemi Bello, Deputy President, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Nigeria)

*Junaid Esmail Makda, Vice-President, Karachi Chamber of Commerce & Industry (Pakistan)

*Khalifah Bin Jassim Bin Mohammad Al-Thani, Chairman, Qatar Chamber of Commerce (Qatar)

Georgy Petrov, Vice-President, Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation (Russia)

*Chose Choeu, President, South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry (South Africa)

Miquel Valls Maseda, President, Barcelona Official Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Navigation (Spain)

*Abdul Rahman Attar, President, Federation of Syrian Chambers of Commerce (Syria)

Ayhan Zeytinoglu, Chairman of the Board, Kocaeli Chamber of Industry (Turkey)

John Longworth, Director General, British Chambers of Commerce (UK)

*Jay Byers, Chief Executive Officer, Greater Des Moines Partnership (US)

The final composition of the Council sees representation from all parts of the membership worldwide, comprising 10representatives from the Americas, 10 representatives from the Africa/Middle East region, 12Asia representatives and 18representatives from Europe.

The Council will be responsible for determining the policies and programmes of WCF and each elected member will serve for a period of three years.

Seven transnational chambers, holding memorandums of understanding and cooperation agreements with ICC also have positions on the Council

Transnational Chambers

• Peter Hill, President, Association of Latin American Chambers (Chile)
• Jemal Inaishvili, Vice President, Confederation of Asia Pacific Chambers of Commerce and Industry  (Georgia)
• Vikramjit S Sahney, President, South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation Chamber of Commerce (India)
• Dennis Cunanan, Secretary General, Junior Chamber International (Philippines)
• Abdullah Saeed Al Mobty, Vice President, General Union of Arab Chambers of Commerce and Industry, (Saudi Arabia)
• Vu Tien Loc, Chairman, ASEAN Chamber of Commerce (Vietnam)
• EUROCHAMBRES (Representative TBC)

Executive Committee

Peter Mihok, Chair, World Chambers Federation, President, Slovak Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Slovakia)

Hamad Buamim, Deputy Chair, World Chambers Federation, President, Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry (UAE)

Rona Yircali, Honorary Chair, World Chambers Federation, President, Balikesir Chamber of Industry; Past President, Union of Turkish Chambers and Commodity Exchanges (TOBB) (Turkey)

Jean-Claude Karpeles, WCF Vice-Chair; Elected Member, Paris Ile-de-France Regional Chamber of Commerce and Industry (France)

Mahendra Sanghi, WCF Vice-Chair, Past President, Associated Chambers of Commerce & Industry (India)

Olive Kigongo, WCF Vice-Chair; President, Uganda Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Republic ofUganda)

Bark-Jae Shin, WCF Vice-Chair; Vice Chairman, Seoul Chamber of Commerce and Industry (South Korea)

Ambrosio Bertolotti, WCF Vice-Chair; Past President of the National Chamber of Commerce and Services of Uruguay (Uruguay)

Mick Fleming, WCF Vice-Chair; President, American Chamber of Commerce Executives (US)

Lee Ju Song, Chair, ICC WCF International CO Council, Deputy Chief Executive, Singapore International Chamber of Commerce (Singapore)

Cindy Duncan, Chair, ATA Carnet Council, Senior Vice President, Carnet Operations,

US Council for International Business (USCIB)

Lorenzo Ysasi Martinez, WCF Special Representative, ICC G20 Advisory Group; Deputy Chair, World Chambers Network (WCN); Past President, Mexico City National Chamber of Commerce (Mexico)

Georges Fischer, Chair, World Chambers Network (WCN)

Manager, International Networks, Paris Ile-de-France Regional Chamber of Commerce and Industry (France)