Access to capital, networking and training are among the challenges blocking women from economic empowerment said business leaders, during the ‘Women mean business’ session, proposing increased public-private partnerships among other responses to tackling gender inequality.

Haifa Fahoum Al Kaylani, Founder & Chairman, Arab International Women’s Forum, led a discussion between Maelle Gavet, CEO of Russia’s large e-commerce company, Ozon Holdings; Leena Linnainmaa, Deputy Chief Executive, Finland Chamber of Commerce; Malitlou Morojele, Past Chair, Lesotho Chamber of Commerce and Industry; and ICC Secretary General Jean-Guy Carrier.

“I felt it was my duty and job to make my government realize that women can be strong enough to change the economy,” said Ms Morojele, who described how she started out in Lesotho as a vendor on the street with no access to financing. “As we grow older, there is a need to leave a legacy for women entrepreneurs.”

The Federation of Belgian Chambers of Commerce and Industry and the Netherlands Chamber of Commerce reinforced the global integrity of chambers yesterday by becoming the latest members to join the ICC World Chambers Federation (WCF) Certificate of Origin (CO) Accreditation Chain.

WCF Chairman Peter Mihok and Lee Ju Song, Chair of the International Certificate of Origin Council joined Belgian Federation General Manager Wouter Van Gulck and Martin van der Weide of the Netherlands Chamber to sign a letter of acceptance to join on behalf of their respective organizations.

Photo from left : Martin Van der Weide, WCF Project Officer Julie Sonladuangchanh, Wouter Van Gulck, Lee Ju Song, WCF Chairman Peter Mihok, ATA Carnet Manager Laurence C. Bottier-Heiderscheid and WCF Director, Anthony Parkes.

Steps to address the causes and impacts of crises in the world – from war, to economic upheaval and natural disasters – must include the capacity of business to take part in finding solutions, the plenary session a ‘A world in crisis’ concluded.

In a video message, World Bank Vice President for the Middle East and North Africa, Inger Andersen, spoke of common engagement between the public and private sectors and supported chambers in their drive for economic growth.

Joost Hiltermann, Chief Operating Officer of the International Crisis Group, told delegates that conflict threatens economic growth, and that competition for resources often fuels those conflicts.

Alexander Likhotal, President of the environmental organization Green Cross International, also highlighted the problem of resources and linked it to the need for a new global economic model that encourages more stability.

“Unless we have a real revolution in the way we use resources today, we will not get out of this situation,” Mr Likhotal said.

Lessons from conflicts, such as the civil war in Liberia, include the need to spread the gains of wealth, said Francis Dennis, 2nd Vice President, Liberia Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Chambers, business and a spirit of entrepreneurship played a role the rebuilding of Liberia and its economy following two civil wars between 1989 and 2003, Mr Dennis said.

Globalized business has the power to provide opportunities to the communities it reaches through education and jobs, said Alan Liebman, Chief Executive Officer, Kerzner International. In 2008, Kerzner opened Dubai’s Atlantis Hotel, which now employs 3,500 people and gives back to the community through training, he said. Innovation – fuelled by consumers’ desire for newer, faster and more innovative services – is the secret weapon for companies to thrive and be successful, said Datuk Rawther, Chairman of the UN ESCAP Business Advisory Council and Group Executive Director of Farlim Group.

“If there is something that could make a difference in your company, but you are held back by fear of innovation, just go for it!” he explained.

Since 2003, the US Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE), has supported Congress participation by chambers and associations from around the world to increase access to information, promote an entrepreneurial culture, and help shape an understanding of the role that chambers play in making markets and democracies work.

We come to for the interaction and quality of the Congress programme and also to identify new partners we can work with,” said CIPE Executive Director John Sullivan.

As well as bringing groups from the region where the Congress is taking place, CIPE makes Congress participation possible for those with new and innovative ideas that match some of the themes of the Congress such as the CIPE-led session on entrepreneurship ecosystems.

“We share a common interest in increasing the capacity and performance of chambers of commerce and associations in order for them to be able to mobilize the business community and get across the policy point of view. Our global division reaches out to all of our senior programme officers and regional directors to find who has the most innovative ideas,” Mr Sullivan said.

Thanks to CIPE assistance, Carole Kariuki, CEO of the Kenya Private Sector Alliance was one such delegate given an opportunity to share her innovative ideas with Congress participants: “The Congress is great because you not only get to share your experiences but also to learn what is happening in different parts of the world. It makes me realize that the private sector needs to build more partnerships with governments to get things done. In Tuesday’s session on the G20 is was also great to be able to provide the ICC G20 Advisory Group with feedback on the things I would like to see the G20 doing.”

The 2013 World Chambers Competition came to exciting end today with the announcement of the five winning projects.

Winners of each category are as follows:

Best corporate social responsibility project

Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry (United Arab Emirates)

Best international project

Bristol Chamber of Commerce (United Kingdom)

Best small business project

New South Wales Business Chamber (Australia)

Best unconventional project

Greater Durham Chamber of Commerce (United States)

Best youth entrepreneurship project

Estonian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Estonia)

After four days of dynamic plenary sessions and workshops, the 8th World Chambers Congress, which registered over 2,000 participants, came to a close. An official closing ceremony saw the Qatar Chamber of Commerce & Industry officially hand over the baton to the Torino Chamber of Commerce who will host the Congress when it returns to Europe in 2015.

A formal signing took place here in Doha yesterday as the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) joined the Certificate of Origin (CO) Accreditation Chain. World Chambers Federation (WCF) Chairman Peter Mihok and Bark Jae Shin, Vice-Chairman of Seoul Chamber of Commerce and Industry (South Korea) signed the documents on behalf of WCF and the Korean Chamber.

Certificates of Origin (CO) attest that goods in a particular export shipment are wholly obtained, produced, manufactured or processed in a particular country. In most countries, chambers of commerce are the key agent in the delivery of COs while in some countries, this privilege may also be extended to other bodies such as ministries or customs authorities.

Chambers join the CO Chain on a voluntary basis, agreeing to follow internationally applicable and widely accepted standards based on ICC WCF International CO Guidelines.

Photo from left to right: Homin Kang, Director, Public Division, Korea Chamber of Commerce, Bark Jae Shin, Vice Chairman of Seoul Chamber signed the documents, Lee Ju Song, Regional Director of ICC Asia, Peter Mihok, Chairman of World Chambers Federation, Anthony Parkes, Director, World Chambers Federation

Delegates gather in the foyer for a brief networking opportunity after the Opening Ceremony of the ICC WCF 8th World Chambers Congress in Doha, Qatar

Ilker Baybars, Dean of Carnegie Mellon Qatar, participates in a Plenary session on Education and Business at the ICC WCF 8th World Chambers Congress in Doha, Qatar. Alongside panelists and session leader Harold McGraw III, Vice-Chairman of the International Chamber of Commerce, he discusses how chambers contribute to education systems worldwide

The Slovak Chamber of Commerce and Industry today signed a memorandum of understanding with the Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry on the sidelines of the 8th World Chambers Congress. The MOU establishes bilateral relations between the Slovak Republic and the Sultanate of Oman. The Oman Chamber recently signed another agreement with the Torino Chamber of Commerce and Industry who will host the World Chambers Congress when it returns to Europe in 2015.

Photo: Peter Mihok, WCF Chairman and Khalil Abdullah Al Khonji, Chairman of the Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry

Muda Yusuf, Director General of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry is attending the Congress for the first time. "Our chamber if the oldest and biggest in Nigeria. With many members we have a responsibility to provide leadership. I have come to the Congress to know what best practices are and to listen to the perspectives of others," he said.

The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), ICC World Chambers Federation, Junior Chambers International and ICC's global network of national committees agreed -- during the ICC WCF World Chambers Congress -- to launch the ICC G20 Business Advisory Council.

The collaboration of these global business networks aims to ensure the inclusion of the views and priorities of large and small companies worldwide. Not only do these networks represent thousands of chambers, grouping millions of companies large and small, but they also span a wide demographic.

The participants decided to drive a series of consultations with business worldwide to further shape global business input to G20 leaders.

"ICC is the world's largest business organization present in an extensive network of countries," said Lorenzo Ysasi, WCF Special Representative to the ICC G20 Advisory Group and Director General of Mexican business organization COMCE. "This collaboration is needed to tap the broader base of companies worldwide."

These networks are also set to launch, ahead of this year's G20 Summit in Saint Petersburg, a global survey soliciting business priorities on G20 topics, building upon the ongoing work of the ICC G20 Advisory Group of CEOs who have been delivering business policy to recent G20 Summits.

"They will use this modern tool to reach deep into their constituencies to ensure even more inclusion in collecting business views for the G20 process," said ICC G20 Advisory Group Director Jeff Hardy.

In a thought provoking workshop entitled the next five years of internet development – what every business needs to know, Zahid Jamil, Senior Partner at Jamil & Jamil; Chair of ICC Pakistan's Digital Economy committee enlightened participants on the opportunities and the challenges arising from the introduction of internationalized domain names – web addresses in non-Latin scripts such as Devanagari and Arabic – and new generic Top Level Domains (alternatives to .com)

Speaking to a full house in a Congress workshop on Certificates of Origin, Viboon Chaojirapant, Senior Manager at CrimsonLogic Trade Facilitation Centre of Excellence said: "Governments must encourage the use of electronic documents though initiatives such as the Electronic Transactions Act of Singapore, which gives electronic documents a legal status."

Mr Chaojirapant, a strong advocate of paperless trade, has 17-years experience in the IT and software development industry, 12 of which have been spent in the trade facilitation domain.

ICC Secretary General Jean-Guy Carrier, speaking to over 1,000 delegates gathered for the opening of The ICC World Trade Agenda Summit in Doha, recalled being in Doha in 2001 for the World Trade Organization's Doha Development Agenda, which is now stalled.

"Our programme today will mobilize business leaders to ensure the Doha Round delivers some results for the global economy," Mr Carrier said.

World Trade Agenda Website