Dubai Chamber membership rises considerably.

In the first half of 2008, Dubai Chamber sees a 13.4% rise in membership and 50% increase in the values of exports/re-exports

Enjoys an extensive role in setting up and supporting Dubai-based Business Groups and Councils

Its long-term mission of providing the best services to its members and supporting the business groups and councils in all their endevours seems to have paid off for Dubai Chamber of Commerce & Industry as the august business facilitator notched up a remarkable rise in its membership numbers, and an unflinching increase in the number of Certificates of Origin which the Chamber issued to the exporters in the first six months of the year.

In addition to establishing new business groups/councils and receiving a number of presidents and ministers, trade commissions and business delegations, Dubai Chamber was crowned with the Dubai Government Excellence Programme 2008 award for Best Administrative Project that was bagged by its Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Business Award initiative, which came like an icing on the cake.

Also, in line with its strategy of achieving the highest level of corporate performance in ensuring the best satisfaction of employees, Dubai Chamber managed to attract a large number of national qualified professionals to enhance its staff strength in order to cope with the increase in the number of members registered during the second quarter.

Dubai Chamber Director General HE Eng Hamad Buamim pointed out that this extensive activity is attributed to the receiving of a large number of trade delegation and prospective investors wanting to set up high profile projects in Dubai due to the emirate's increasing global importance highlighted by Dubai's Chamber's significant role of positioning the city on

the world economic map.

The membership number increased 13.4% from 101,899 in January 2008 to reach 115,595 by the end of June this year, while the Certificates of Origin issued by Dubai Chamber recorded a 15.5% rise and an increase of 50% in their values comparing to the same period last year. The Chamber issued 315,674 Certificates of Origin from January to June 2008 in contrast to 270,976 issued during the same period in 2007. The total value of exports and re-exports of commodities during the first six months reached AED 109.6 billion from AED 72.9 billion according to the value of Certificates of Origin issued during the same period last year.

"This remarkable increase in the number of membership and the Certificates of Origin and its related value reflects on the strategic growth of Dubai's economy and the success of Dubai Chamber in coping with the unprecedented development of various economic sectors by providing excellent services to the local business community in boosting their trading activities," said Buamim.

The first quarter exports of 6,592 members of Dubai Chamber reached a record high of AED 49 billion, posting a year on year growth of 36% from the AED 36 billion for the same quarter last year, while the second quarter witnessed the setting of the bullish export trend by Dubai Chamber members as total exports valued at AED 57.6 billion, representing a growth of 44% over the value recorded for the same period in 2007 and higher by 17% over total exports in the first quarter. After Iran, the GCC was the largest destination of Dubai exports with Saudi Arabia leading the pack followed by Qatar, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain.

As a major administrative change, Dubai Chamber Board of Directors elected HE Abdul Rahman Saif Al Ghurair, as Chairman, Majed Hamad R. Al Shamsi as 1st Vice Chairman and Hisham Abdullah Al Shirawi as 2nd Vice Chairman.

A major achievement in the first half of the year for Dubai Chamber was its winning of the Dubai Government Excellence Programme 2008's Best Administrative Project award for its Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Business Award initiative, the selection of which is based on Business High

Performance Model developed by Dubai Chamber and covers issues related to the management and performance of the firms and complements the Dubai Strategic Plan 2015.

Last March, HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of Dubai Civil Aviation Authority, Chairman and Chief Executive Emirates Group, presented the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Business Awards to 17 winners from a cross-section of organisations and business establishments for their outstanding performance and unflinching contribution to the development of the UAE national economy, the overall business atmosphere and the society at large.

During the first half of 2008, Dubai Chamber received 103 trade delegations and missions including the President of the Philippines, the President of the Islamic Republic of Muritania, Prime Minister of Czech Republic, ministers, ambassadors and consuls from all over the world, while the Chamber signed eight MoUs with international and local bodies including Tejari and Coface Emirates.

The Director General of Dubai Chamber represented Dubai's business community at the first World Business Summit organised by International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) in Stockholm, Sweden, last month which was attended by more than 350 top businessmen from 70 countries and issued a statement stressing the vital importance of the multilateral trading system and called upon all governments to make the concessions necessary for a successful deal in the Doha round of world trade negotiations.

As part of the "Making it Our Business" fight against breast cancer project, a social awareness initiative led by Dubai Chamber under its Corporate Social Responsibility programme, three of its female staff members out of the 44 from 12 participating companies, participated in the Train the Trainer course organised in collaboration with Vital Voices Global Partnership and the US Middle East Partnership for Breast Cancer Awareness and Research at the Chamber premises. These trainees are now making the difference in society by educating their colleagues as well as family members and friends about the dreaded disease.

Dubai Chamber's Center for Responsible Business organised CSR Reporting Workshop in April that apprised participants about the practical use of sustainability reporting in their individual organizations as participants came to grips with sustainability reporting, its role as a communication and management tool, trends and developments in sustainability reporting, the link between CSR reporting and business strategy.

Last April, Dubai Chamber also organized a seminar that took stock of the traders' expectations about commercial activities of the year. The seminar revealed that the traders expectations remained positive for the current year as a number of traders surveyed showed optimism and an increase in demand for their products and an overall increase in sales despite rising prices, but they said that a lot needed to be done to improve after sales service and that the traders still needed appropriate commercial laws for the development of trade.

Dubai Chamber also organized breakfast meetings with the office bearers of the business councils and groups operating under its umbrella. This came as part of its strategy to serve all the stakeholders better as it also helped launch the Dubai Computer Traders Group. The Chamber also released the bilingual Dubai Industrial Directory 2007-2008 that contains a listing of over 2,150 companies with 1,950 from the industrial sector and 200 from the services sector.

For the second year running, Dubai Chamber welcomed global CEOs as it once again supported the World CEO Forum 2008 which was held in April and provided an opportunity for the Chamber's members to meet, network and connect with global business leaders. Hosted by the CEO Club UAE, the event being attended by over 250 decision makers, CEOs of major companies and other business leaders in Dubai, paved the way for the business community to explore future business potentials and to share ideas and thoughts with global experts about how to make businesses more productive, more profitable and more protected.

Under its Emiratisation process and as part of its new strategy to attract more qualified national workforce, Dubai Chamber appointed two national directors for its Human Resources and the Corporate Communication and Customer Service departments. With these new appointments the percentage

of Emiratisation process in the higher management category at the Chamber has reached 64% as the august body has set a 50% Emiratisation target for the current year.

Dubai Chamber has also introduced several changes to its HR policies and procedures which aim to further enhance the motivation and productivity of its employees and make the Chamber an attractive employer in the job market as it also implemented a new salary structure which followed the first performance-based bonus scheme launched in April.

In order to involve the staff members more into its daily functioning, Dubai Chamber also introduced an automated staff suggestion and complaint system to enable staff members to submit ideas on how to improve processes and procedures in the Chamber and also encourage innovation amongst employees which is supported by a reward system.

[c] 2008 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)