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Destination
Istanbul for 5th World Chambers Congress
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| Istanbul
will play host to the 5th World Chambers Congress in 2007. |
Paris,
23 June 2004
-- After several weeks of deliberation, the ICC World Chambers Federation
Congress Selection Committee announced that Istanbul will be the host
city of the 5th World Chambers Congress in 2007.
The Union of Chambers
and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB) beat strong competition from
finalists Bratislava (Slovak Chamber of Commerce & Industry) and Monaco
(Economic Development Chamber of Monaco).
Chamber leaders from
India, USA, France, Germany, Japan, Ecuador, Mexico, New Zealand, Korea,
Canada, Malaysia, Singapore, Switzerland, South Africa, Ethiopia and Syria
helped make up the Congress Selection Committee that picked Istanbul as
the overall winner from the three finalists. Chamber leaders were chosen
for their differing perspectives on what they considered to be the key
aspects for attracting potential congress participants from their region.
World Chambers Federation
(WCF) Chair Mr Avijit Mazumdar said: "Our judges have not had an
easy task choosing the winner. Each country and chamber has something
unique to offer as host of the Congress.
"WCF has been
extremely impressed by the way that chambers have embraced the World Chambers
Congress. The three finalists should all be extremely proud of their commitment
to WCF and particularly of their understanding of the vision we have to
make this event a showcase of chamber best practice and a forum for chambers
to reach out and build relationships with our colleagues from all around
the world."
The 4th World Chambers
Congress is set to take place in Durban on 20-22 June 2005. Ever since
the first World Chambers Congress was held in Marseille in 1999, chambers
from every continent have lined up as candidates to host this important
event.
The success of the
congress has already taken its schedule into the beginning of the next
decade. Chambers from Asia Pacific and the Americas are already registering
their interest to host the Congress in 2009 and 2011 when the congress
returns to those regions. This year, for the first time, the selection
committee also had to implement a transparent process for choosing its
host, involving members and past hosts from the global chamber community.
The World Chambers
Congress is the only event of its size and scope that brings chambers
of all sizes and nationalities together. The congress is a forum for them
to share best-practice experience, develop networks and learn about new
areas of innovation from other chambers as they face the chal
lenge of
remaining relevant to companies in their region.
The last congress
in Quebec saw chamber leaders and executives attending from over 91 countries.
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