11th World Chambers Congress Report

The 11th edition of the Congress was held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 12-14 June 2019, and took place at the Windsor Expo Convention Center. More than 900 chamber and business leaders from 77 countries participated. It was the first time that a World Chambers Congress took place in South America. With unparalleled opportunities to connect and strengthen relations with such a diverse group, the Congress was the ideal venue to establish institutional ties and promote trade and investment opportunities from attending companies, countries and regions. 

Under the theme “Creating a shared future”, the Congress had 6 plenary sessions and 12 workshops, for a total of 32 hours of learning, with the 80 leading speakers who discussed key topics from sustainability and diversity challenges to digital growth and the slowing of global trade. We welcomed 25 exhibitors and many sponsors.  

We were also very proud to have achieved key initiatives, from the Chambers Climate Coalition for real climate action to the introduction of the Global Trade Helpdesk with the ITC-WTO-UNCTAD. We have made blockchain technology more accessible thanks to the ICC-Perlin partnership,  announced of the ICC-Parley for the Oceans partnership and collaborated with the World Trade Organization in conducting a consultation of MSMEs on global trade. 

ICC WCF, in partnership with the Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE)  launched the new “how-to” guide for Chambers to fight corruption. ICC’s WCF also published a Global Mobility toolkit to help migrant integrate into the local workforce. 

Regarding trade services, we announced that the ATA Carnets are now going digital and shared new additions to the International Certificate of Origin Accreditation Chain.