Iran Chamber of Commerce vice president presented Tehran’s bid to co-host the 12th World Chambers Congress (WCC) in 2021 to the organization’s chairmanship and representative judges.
April 10th and 11th were the dates for the latest WCF General Council Meeting, which was held in Beijing, China, for this year. Additionally, the other 3 cities (Addis Ababa, Dubai and Nairobi) competing for the 2021 Congress also put forward their case for being the best venue for this event.
Tehran had entered its bid through Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (ICCIMA) pursuant to the strategy of putting Iran back on the road to internationalization of its economy and private sector for the ultimate goal of growing the country’s economy and GDP. The WCF, and its parent institution, the ICC, headquartered in Paris, have a long history of aiding private sectors of variant countries and regions grow their business and connect to the rest of the world. The ICCIMA is implementing a long term strategy of finding Iran’s place on the world economic stage through non-political means, such as through international organizations, networking, private sector responsibility, and growing SME export capacities.
At this private meeting of WCF General Council representatives, Pedram Soltani, vice president of ICCIMA and Iran’s official representative at the World Chambers Federation (WCF), presented Tehran’s case in the allotted time of 20 minutes, 10 of which were used for the ICCIMA produced publicity clip and a PowerPoint Presentation, with a Q&A Session. During this period, Tehran was presented from an economic perspective while its historic, natural, touristic and culinary strengths were highlighted for this audience, many of whom were unfamiliar with this city’s, and the country’s, unique capacities and splendor. Furthermore, the number of venues in which the Congress could be hosted at, and exhibition conducted, Espinas Palace and Milad Tower, were also brought to count.
The ICCIMA, its subsidiary public and private sponsors, and its Organizing Committee composed of staff and management were also highlighted at this meeting. Soltani also unveiled the ICCIMA’s own plan for building an exhibition center on its own property before 2021. He also revealed the ICCIMA’s motto for its bid, “Partnership, Peace, Prosperity and Responsibility”, which accounts for the war-ridden reality of the region and the need to create lasting partnerships between even the unlikeliest of candidates in order to increase the chance for peace to survive. Peace, an integral element necessary for prosperity is also a fundamental tenet of ICCIMA actions, just as much as the responsibility to society at-large, which is indicative that prosperity is not the endgame. The ICCIMA has set aside a generous budget for networking and promoting Tehran and the Chamber Movement while more information on the details of the bid are to be found in the organization’s bid-book produced for this purpose. The dates proposed for the event by ICCIMA would fall in May of 2018.
On the second day of the General Council congregation, issues of combatting corruption, global mobility, 2019 WCC Competition categories, trade facilitation (ATA Carnet/Certificate of Origin), and digital platforms were covered through reports by various council members. Soltani announced at this gathering ICCIMA’s decision to host a “Chambers for Peace” conference in Tehran in 2019 and put the matter on the agenda for discussion and decision in coming weeks. In follow-up to Qatari representative’s call to change the venue of the next GC meeting from Dubai, which was turned down by the chairman due to the motion’s period having already expired, Soltani reiterated the relevance of this conference and offered for ICCIMA to bring the contentious parties together in Tehran in order to find solutions through dialogue and contact.
The day was brought to end by a meeting hosted by CCOIC for WCF representatives and companions with executives of a number of important provincial chambers of commerce from across China. These chamber executives discussed opportunities and obstacles facing their chambers and achievements which placed them amongst the country’s most active. The Belt & Road Project, a program initiated by the government of China with plans for reviving the old silk roads, terrestrial and maritime, was the context of the programs set by the CCOIC, the host of the 3-day gathering. This project has been promised by the Government of China to be a two-way street benefitting not just its progenitor but all the nations involved, with its net spread over a majority of the countries of the world, far beyond the original Silk Road. However, Soltani put forward the need for more transparency in exactitude of the plan, since after half-a-decade from its unveiling, we still are not aware of the level and type of imports or investments which China is willing to set for itself. He ended his thoughts with his hosts by asking them of their plans for their private sector responsibilities towards society-at-large.