JEDDAH -- Dr. Ghassan Al-Suleiman was elected chairman of the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI) yesterday to succeed Adel Al-Faqeeh, who has been appointed mayor of Jeddah.
Dr. Al-Suleiman was vice chairman of the JCCI under Faqeeh and is currently acting chairman.
Members of the JCCI board also elected Mazin Batterji and Waleed Al-Juffali as vice chairmen. Fourteen board members out of 18 attended yesterday's meeting and Dr. Al-Suleiman was elected chairman by a two-vote margin over Ibrahim Al-Jumaih.
One of the main aims of the new chairman is to improve the chamber's style of functioning. "Improvement is a continuous process that cannot be achieved in the next six or seven months. The process may take years to yield results," he said.
An important proposal by the JCCI, said Dr. Al-Suleiman, is to establish a rapport with Jeddah Municipality. "An agreement on this is expected to be reached in the next few days."
He added that the JCCI's cooperation with the municipality would be in such areas as exchanging information, infrastructure development and public bus transport system.
According to him, another primary goal is the development of industrial areas in Rabigh jointly with the Ministry of Petroleum and Minerals. Two industrial areas will be established in Rabigh city to make it the industrial hub of Jeddah region.
The JCCI board also approved this year's budget, which projected SR87 million in revenues and SR86 million in expenses, Batterji told a press conference. Last year, JCCI earned SR61 million and spent SR59.3 million.
He added that the JCCI would focus this year on encouraging small businesses to participate in the activities of the chamber through a number of programs and workshops.
Dr. Al-Suleiman, who has very good relations with the local press, promised to open more channels of communication between the media and the JCCI in order to ensure transparency of the chamber's activities.
Samir Al-Saadi
© Arab News 2005
