DCCI announces dates for Pakistani Business Council elections

This was announced by Mr. Ahmed Abdul Rahman Al Banna, the Deputy Director General of the Dubai Chamber of Commerce & Industry.

The committee formed by the DCCI to oversee the formation of the Pakistani Business Council, and to establish the new constitution, distributed nomination forms amongst the members, which are 164 in number to date. Mr. Abdul Wahid Nagda, a member of the committee called onto the Pakistani Business community in Dubai to take a proactive role in the coming few days by applying for membership of the Council for those who have not done so yet, and to complete the nomination process by the 27th March, which is the deadline date for nominations.

Mr. Al Banna stated that the final list of nominees will be distributed amongst the members of the PBC on the 29th March, and the voting will take place in the General Assembly meeting to be held in the Chamber's premises on the 30th March, 2004.

The decision to set up the Pakistani Business Council came in a meeting held in January 2004 with a number of Pakistani businessmen based in Dubai. This was followed by the formation of a committee by the DCCI to oversea the establishment of the PBC, constituting of three members, Haji Abdul Razzak Yaqoob Abdul Wahid Nagda, and Najeeb Abbasi, commercial councilor at the Pakistan consulate. In coordination with the legal department and the Department of Trade and Industrial Development at the Dubai Chamber, the Committee established the constitution of the PBC which was reviewed by the DCCI and will be approved at the General Assembly meeting, as well as the membership rules, regulations and fees.

As stated in the draft constitution, some of the objectives of the PBC are to establish dialogue channels between Pakistani businessmen and the government of the United Arab Emirates and the Chambers of Commerce and Industry in UAE and Pakistan. It would also provide the Pakistani business community in Dubai with a forum to discuss business and commercial opportunities available in Pakistan and the UAE, and it would promote and help develop investment opportunities between businessmen on both sides.