Representing more than 1,400 chambers from around the world, the World Chambers Federation (WCF) of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) has announced election results of its General Council, which scores high on regional and gender diversity.
In collaboration with ICC, the WCF provides all the tools to support Chambers and MSMEs, connecting chambers worldwide to develop and reinforce our chamber community.
Chamber leaders from local, regional, national and transnational chambers were eligible to run for the General Council, each member serving a three-year term with the opportunity to run twice.
In addition to the 20 elected seats, 15 WCF members are appointed by the WCF Chair, in coordination with the ICC Secretary General and the WCF Executive Committee, to ensure a balanced General Council. This secures diversity in the network, ensuring members are varied in terms of gender and geography, including developed and developing economy, chamber size and type of chamber. Five Transnational Chambers representing different regions of the world have also been invited to join the Council.
The final composition of the Council sees representation from all parts of membership worldwide. It includes nine representatives from the Americas, thirteen from the Africa and Middle East region, nine from Asia-Pacific and twelve from Europe.
With thirteen women set to serve on the council, it is also the most gender diverse membership in WCF history.
Commenting on the new members, WCF Chairman Nicolás Uribe said: “We are proud of the level of enthusiasm and support of our members who showed interest in serving on the ICC WCF General Council. We have successfully brought together one of the most diverse and inclusive Councils in our long history, and I look forward to working with all members to strengthen the WCF and the wider chamber community, with the overarching objective of elevating and empowering businesses worldwide to be leading players in tackling our most pressing issues. As the representative of chambers of commerce worldwide, we must lead by exemplarity to drive an impactful future for chambers everywhere.”
The new members of the WCF Executive Council are as follows:
Elected Members
Mr Marcelo Elizondo, Director – prosecretary, Argentina Chamber of Commerce and Services (Argentina)
Mr Andrew McKellar, CEO, Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Australia)
Mr Olivier Willocx, Chief Executive Officer, Brussels Enterprises Commerce and Industry (Belgium)
Mrs Maria Teresa Bustamante, President, FIESC Foreign Chamber of Commerce (Brazil)
Mrs Min Yu, General Director, ICC China Secretariat, China Chamber of International Commerce (China)
Mrs Rim Siam, President of Economic Business Women Council, Alexandria Chamber of Commerce (Egypt)
Mr Giorgi Pertaia, President, The Georgian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Georgia)
Mr Volker Treier, Chief Executive of Foreign Trade and Member of the Executive Board, Association of German Chambers of Industry and Commerce (Germany)
Mr Mohammed Khazaee Torshizi, Senior Advisor to President, Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines & Agriculture (Iran)
Mr Kazuo Nishitani, Executive Director, Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Japan)
Mr Seong Woo Lee, Vice President, Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Korea)
Mr Trajan Angeloski, President, Macedonian Chambers of Commerce (Macedonia)
Mrs Tamader Al Thani, Director of International Relations and Chamber Affairs, Qatar Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Qatar)
Mr Mihai Daraban, President, Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Romania (Romania)
Mr José Luis Bonet, President, Spain Chamber of Commerce (Spain)
Mr Vincent Subilia, Director General, Geneva Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Services (Switzerland)
Mr Izzet Volkan, Chairman of the Board, Corlu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Turkey)
Mr Gennadiy Chyzhykov, President, The Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Ukraine)
Mrs Shevaun Haviland, Director General, British Chambers of Commerce (United Kingdom)
Mr Tim Giuliani, President and CEO, Orlando Economic Partnership (USA)
Appointed Members
Mr Peter Hill, Past Chairman, Santiago Chamber of Commerce (Chile)
Mr Dilip Dandekar, Former President, Indian Merchants Chamber of Commerce (India)
Mr Arsjad Rasjid, Chairman, Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Indonesia)
Mr Amir Shani, Vice President & Chair of the International Committee, Federation of Israeli Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Israel)
Mr Richard Ngatia, President, Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kenya)
Mr Rabih Sabra, Director General, Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture of Beirut & Mount Lebanon (Lebanon)
Mrs Viviane Dewa, President, Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Madagascar (Madagascar)
Mr Raul Uranga, President Guadalajara Chamber of Commerce (Mexico)
Mr John Chinyelu Udeagbala, National President, Nigerian Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (Nigeria)
Mr Mark Nowitz, Director, Johannesburg Chamber of Commerce and Industry (South Africa)
Mrs Alikie Perera, Deputy Secretary General, Ceylon Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Sri Lanka)
Mrs Dalenda M’Hamdi Mekki, Director General International Relations, Tunis Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Tunisia)
Mr Ambrosio Bertolotti, Honorary President and Board Member, Uruguay National Chamber of Commerce and Services (Uruguay)
Mrs Liza Garcia Velez, Executive Director, Puerto Rico Chamber of Commerce (USA – Puerto Rico)
*An additional appointment from an African Chamber to be made soon
Appointed Transnational Chambers
Mr Francisco Herrero, President, Iberoamerican Association of Chambers of Commerce – AICO (Americas)
Mr Peter McMullin, President, Confederation of Asia Pacific Chambers of Commerce and Industry – CACCI (Asia Pacific)
Mr Christophe Eken, President, Conférence Permanente des Chambres Consulaires Africaines et Francophones (CPCCAF)
Mr Ben Butters, President, EUROCHAMBRES (Europe)
Mr Khaled Hanafy, President, Union of Arab Chamber – UAC (MENA)