World Chambers Federation

World Chambers Federation announces newly elected Council members

  • 16 December 2016
Investment

The World Chambers Federation (WCF) of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) has announced election results of the WCF General Council. Chambers from almost 130 countries voted for their 20 preferred representatives using an online election platform.

Composed of 50 members, the General Council is responsible for determining WCF policies and programmes. The Council helps promote and reinforce the concept and relevance of chambers of commerce in society, and interconnects the exchange of expertise and experience between chambers in addition to collaborating globally.

Chamber leaders from local, regional, national and transnational chambers were eligible to run for the General Council.  This year, the governing body will welcome almost half of the newly elected members for their first time. Each member serves a three-year term and has the opportunity to run twice. In addition to the 20 elected seats, 12 are filled by co-option to ensure a balanced General Council. This secures diversity in the network,  ensuring members are varied in terms of geography, including developed and developing economy, chamber size,  type of chamber, whether public or private law chambers,  as well as chamber elected leadership and permanent chamber executives. Three transnational chambers, holding memorandums of understanding and cooperation agreements with ICC, also have positions on the Council.

Commenting on the appointed members, WCF Chairman Peter Mihok said: “We received numerous proposals of high-quality personalities from all over the world. It was my great pleasure to follow the interest attracted by the elections, not just from the 48 candidates, but chambers eager to cast their vote as well.

All applicants met the rigorous qualification criteria and making the final choice was not easy. I am convinced that even those not successful in their Council bid will be ready to work with us on specialised committees and task forces, which is most encouraging for the global chamber movement.”

The final composition of the Council sees representation from all parts of membership worldwide.  It includes 10 representatives from the Americas, 10 representatives from the Africa and Middle East region, 10 Asia-Pacific representatives and 20 representatives from Europe.

The new Council members of the WCF Executive Committee are as follow:

Members

Victor Dosoretz, Treasurer, Camara Argentina de Comercio y Servicios (Argentina)

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

*Richard Schenz, Vice Chairman, 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)

Adam Legge, President and CEO, Calgary Chamber of Commerce (Canada)

*Peter T. Hill, Chairman, Santiago Chamber of Commerce (Chile)

Yu Jianlong, Secretary General, China Chamber of International Commerce CCOIC (China)

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

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

Dominique Brunin, CEO, CCI France International (France)

Nino Chikovani, President, Georgian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Georgia)

Volker Treier, Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Association of German Chambers (Germany)

*Emmanouil Vlachogiannis, First Vice-President, Thessaloniki CCI (Greece)

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

*Ram Gandhi, Chairman, President’s Advisory Council and Trustee and Past President, Indian Merchants’ Chamber (India)

Pedram Soltani, Fisrt Vice President, Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (Iran)

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

Vincenzo Ilotte, President, Torino Chamber of Commerce (Italy)

Toru Ishida, President, the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Japan)

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

Rabih Sabra, Director General, Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture of Beirut and Mount Lebanon (Lebanon)

Bhanu Pratabsingh Jaddoo, Secretary General, the Mauritius Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Mauritius)

Magvan Oyunchimeg, Chief Executive Officer, Mongolian National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Mongolia)

*Khalifa Bin Jassim Al Thani, Chairman, Qatar Chamber of Commerce (Qatar)

Vladimir Padalko, Vice-President, Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Russian Federation (Russia)

Mark Nowitz, Managing Director, Johannesburg Chamber of Commerce and Industry (South Africa)

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

Vincent Subilia, Deputy Director, Geneva Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Services (Switzerland)

*Ayhan Zeytinoglu, Chairman, Kocaeli Chamber of Industry (Turkey)

Adam Marshall, Director General, British Chambers of Commerce (United Kingdom)

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

*Returning WCF General Council members

Appointed transnational Chamber representatives

  • Julian Dominguez Rivera, President, Association of Latin American Chambers (AICO)
  • Jemal Inaishvili, President, Confederation of Asia Pacific Chambers of Commerce and Industry (CACCI)
  • Arrey Obenson, Secretary General, Junior Chamber International (JCI)

WCF 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; Past President, Union of Turkish Chambers and Commodity Exchanges (Turkey)

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

Mick Fleming, WCF Vice-Chair (Americas); President and CEO, American Chambers of Commerce Executives (United States)

Jean-Claude Karpeles, WCF Vice-Chair (Europe); Vice Chair in International Development and European Affairs, Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Greater Paris Region (France)

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

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

Alhaji Ismaila Aderemi Bello, WCF Vice-Chair (Africa); Past President, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Nigeria)

Yassin Al Suroor, WCF G20 Representative; Chairman, ICC Saudi Arabia, Council of Saudi Chambers (Saudi Arabia)

Ruedi Bolliger, Chair, ATA Carnet Council; Director, Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Services of Geneva (Switzerland)

Peter Bishop, Chair, International CO Council; Deputy Chief Executive, London Chamber of Commerce and Industry (United Kingdom)

Hans-Jorg Schmidt Trenz, Chair, WCF Membership committee; Chief Executive Officer, Hamburg Chamber of Commerce (Germany)