Paris, 16 December 2016
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. It was a pleasure to have the confirmation of the renewal of Wouter Van Gulck, head of the Belgian Chambers.
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.