Abu Dhabi
The first round of votes to elect the board of directors for the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce kicked off on Thursday as hundreds of people gathered in Abu Dhabi city, Al Ain, and the Western Region to register their votes.
The elections will see 13 Emirati board members being elected the national members of the chamber, and two expatriate members being elected by the foreign members of the chamber.
One of the voters, Rashid Al Hajiri, who was voting for the first time, described the process as an easy one, which involved presenting his ID card and voter’s card to obtain authorisation for the computer-based votes.
“What I hope to see out of the new members is an elevation of Abu Dhabi’s economy to compete on a global scale with international economies. I hope the new board will improve the level of trade and commerce in the UAE. The chamber is already doing a great job, but I think we can take it to the next level,” Al Hajiri said.
Another voter, Mohammad Al Mansouri, was also voting for the first time, and discussed his anticipation for the elections.
“I hope the new board will work on easing the process for obtaining a business license especially for small and medium enterprises. Of course, I would also like to see a development in trade in Abu Dhabi,” Al Mansouri said.
He added that the voting process was simple, as there were delegates to guide voters through every step of the process, and even meet them at the gate to help them with directions to the ballot box.
Among the voters was Amer Al Tamimi, who is also running as a candidate for the board of directors. Al Tamimi agreed about the ease of the voting process, saying that the chamber has taken measures to facilitate voting, through better organisation of the event.
“I think there’s good turnout of voters so far, but I hope more will show up. I hope the new board of directors will develop communication with government entities further in order to ease doing business in Abu Dhabi, and ease paperwork for things like getting approvals, and licenses,” he said.
Al Tamimi added that he expected the new board to invite more investors — both international and local ones — to start business in the emirate.
“The Expo 2020 is coming up, and the board of directors will also have to focus on that, and how to facilitate business ahead of the Expo,” he noted.
