World Chambers Federation announces Council members

The WCF General Council is responsible for determining the policies and programmes of WCF. The Council comprises 50 members in total, with representation from transnational, national, regional, local, public and private law chambers, large and small. Each elected member will serve for a period of three years, as 12 coopted members also do. Seven transnational chambers, holding memorandums of understanding and cooperation agreements with ICC also have positions on the Council. The final composition of the Council sees strong representation from all parts of the membership worldwide, with eight representatives from the Americas,10 representatives from the Africa/Middle East region, 14 Asia representatives and 18 representatives from Europe. “WCF is proud of the level of enthusiasm and support by members to serve on the Council. We have succeeded in bringing together an important cross-section of members from all regions of the world, who I count on in helping us strengthen the WCF and the chamber movement, providing new services for them and their members companies,” said Rona Yircali, Chair of the World Chambers Federation. Council members, joining the members of the WCF Executive Committee and Transnational Chambers have today been confirmed and are as follows: Members * Eduardo Eurnekian, Vice President, Argentina Chamber of Commerce * David Frost, Director General, British Chambers of Commerce, UK * Hassane Berkani, President, Casablanca Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Services, Morocco * Risto E J Penttila, Chief Executive, Central Chamber of Commerce of Finland * Georgy Petrov, Vice President, Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation * Josep Manuel Basanez, First Vice Chairman, Chamber of Commerce of Barcelona, Spain * Sha Kezhong, Deputy Secretary General, China International Chamber of Commerce * Fahad Al-Sultan, Secretary General, Council of Saudi Chambers, Saudi Arabia * Uriel Lynn, President, Federation of Israeli Chambers of Commerce * Abdul Rahman Attar, President, Federation of Syrian Chambers of Commerce * Nermana Bicakcic, Member in Charge of Multilateral Affairs, Foreign Trade Chamber of Bosnia and Herzegovina * Mohamad Choucair, Chairman, Beirut Chamber of Commerce, Lebanon, representing the General Union of Arab Chambers of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture * Philippe Meyer, Director International Affairs Department, Geneva Chamber of Commerce, Switzerland * Jemal Inaishvili, President, Georgian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Georgia * Hans Jorg Schmidt Trenz, CEO, Hamburg Chamber of Commerce, Germany * Laszlo Parragh, President, Hungarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Hungary * Ram Ghandi, Chairman, India Merchant’s Chamber, India * Mohammad Nahavadian, President, Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Mines * Abdul Majid Haji Muhammad, President, Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Pakistan * Ayhan Zeytinoglu, Chairman of the Board, Kocaeli Chamber of Industry, Turkey * Otunba Samuel O Deru, President/Chairman of the Council, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Nigeria * Kok Seng Vong, Vice President, Board of Directors, Macao Chamber of Commerce * Arturo Mendicuti Narro, President and CEO, Mexico City National Chamber of Commerce, Service and Tourism * Stephen Cartwright, Chief Executive Officer, NSW Business Chamber, Sydney, Australia * Jean-Claude Karpeles, Vice President – International, Paris Chamber of Commerce and Industry, France * Khalifah Al-Thani, Chairman, Qatar Chamber of Commerce and Industry * A W M Geerts, General Manager, Rotterdam Chamber of Commerce, The Netherlands * Bark-Jae Shin, Vice Chairman, Seoul Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Korea * Valentin Cismaru, President, Valcea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Romania * Michel Barsalou, Executive Vice President, The Canadian Chamber of Commerce, * Toshio Nakamura, President, The Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Japan * Emmanuel Vlachogiannis, 1st Vice President, Thessaloniki Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Greece * Rifat Hisarciklioglu, President, The Union of Chambers of Commerce and Industry and Commodity Exchange of Turkey, Turkey * Alessandro Barberis, President, Torino Chamber of Commerce, Italy Transnational Chambers * Ambrosio Bertolotti, President, Association of Latin American Chambers * ASEAN Chamber of Commerce, Indonesia (Representative to be confirmed) * Edson Kodama, Secretary General, Junior Chamber International * Federation of Central American Chambers of Commerce (Representative to be confirmed) * Benedicto Yujuico, President, Confederation of Asia Pacific Chambers of Commerce and Industry * Annisul Huq, President, South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation Chamber of Commerce * Mohamad Choucair, Chairman, Beirut Chamber of Commerce (Lebanon), representing the General Union of Arab Chambers of Commerce, Industy & Agriculture (GUACCI) WCF Executive Committee * Rona Yircali, Chair, ICC World Chambers Federation * Peter Mihok, WCF Deputy Chair; President, Slovak Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Slovakia * Peter Bishop, ATA Carnet Chair; Deputy Chief Executive, London Chamber of Commerce and Industry, United Kingdom * Georges Fischer, Chair, World Chambers Network; Manager, International Networks, Paris Chamber of Commerce and Industry, France * Lee Ju Song, Chair, Certificate of Origin  Task Force; Deputy Chief Executive, Singapore International Chamber of Commerce * Hamad Buamim, WCF Vice Chair; Director General, Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry, UAE * Mustafa Mansur,  WCF Vice Chair; President, Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers, Malaysia * Mahendra Sanghi, WCF Vice Chair; Assocham, India * Prince Sifiso Zulu, WCF Vice Chair; Past President, Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industry, South Africa * Lorenzo Ysasi, WCF Vice Chair; Past President, Mexico City National Chamber of Commerce, Mexico * Mick Fleming, WCF Vice Chair; President and CEO, American Chamber of Commerce Executives, USA