Winners of the 2007 World Chambers Competition were unveiled Friday night during a gala dinner in Istanbul at the end of the 5^th World Chambers Congress.

Avijit Mazumdar, Honorary Chairman of the International Chamber of Commerce’s World Chambers Federation and head of the competition jury, declared the victors in the award categories listed below.

• Best Unconventional Project for a Small Business: Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Sri Lanka, which, following the tsunami set up 10 regional help desks to assist businesses in getting back on their feet. To date, 11 119 businesses have been restored.    

• Best International Cooperation between Chambers: Confederation of Brazilian Commercial and Business Associations together with Essen Chamber of Arts and Crafts in Germany, which implemented the Programa Capacitar Nordeste in the north-eastern region of Brazil. The project has succeeded in changing the perception of chambers of commerce from social clubs to influential and important parts of the business community.  

• Best Skills Development Programme: The Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Bangladesh, which started a training centre creating human resource development programmes to assist SMEs with facing the challenges of globalization.    

• Best New Membership Recruitment Project: Vancouver Board of Trade, which leveraged its potential as the best networking venue in the region, including writing a book on the subject, and increased its membership by 30%.    

• Best Project for a Chamber in a Developing Country: Anguilla Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Chamber of Economy of Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
   

The last award was introduced this year to recognize outstanding achievement by a chamber operating in a challenging business environment.

This year’s contest was the most diverse and most competitive in the history of the awards, drawing a record number of 55 entries from 38 countries. 

The competition was established in 2003 by the World Chambers Federation and the inaugural awards were presented during the 3rd World Chambers Congress in Quebec. These honors give international notoriety to the most cutting edge projects launched by local, regional and international chambers of commerce around the globe.

One of the most eagerly anticipated events of the congress, this year’s competition covered a wide range of undertakings, from skills training for migrant workers to restoring rivers to their natural state.

For more information about the competition, please visit www.worldchamberscompetition.com