Business group’s election

Bradley Hope and Hadeel al Sayegh

• Last Updated: November 24. 2009 7:27PM UAE / November 24. 2009 3:27PM GMT

ABU DHABI // It is election time at the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ADCCI), with candidates pulling out the stops with spending on newspaper advertisements, lavish receptions and even helicopter rides to woo voters.

Eighty-five candidates will vie for 15 board seats on December 7 in what will be the second election since the voting system was first introduced in 2005.

With a budget of hundreds of millions of dirhams and a membership of more than 70,000 private companies in the emirate, the ADCCI is a powerful lobbying group with membership ranging from hairdressers to high-powered financiers. Membership is mandatory for companies in Abu Dhabi.

“This is a kind of a democracy for businesses,”says Saeed bin Jabr al Suwaidi, a former appointed president of the ADCCI and the chairman of the Bin Jabr Group.

“I believe it’s a great thing to elect the people you think will support the business community in this country.”

The board comprises 21 seats, with six appointed by the Government. By law, two of the Government appointees must be women. Of the 15 elected positions, two are reserved for expatriates.

Already, political blocs are forming among the candidates. Abu Dhabi First a slate of 15 candidates headed by the ADCCI board member Khalfan al Kaabi, is running on a platform that includes reducing membership fees — which vary according to type of business — by 50 per cent and updating the ADCCI to catch up with the economic growth.

“We think we have a group of people who understand the concerns and are ready to serve the community,” says Mr al Kaabi, the chairman of the engineering and consulting company Ascorp Holdings.

But as the five-year term for the board members comes to a close, there are new discussions of reforms at the ADCCI among candidates.

Muneef Othman Tarmoom, a former Abu Dhabi Investment Authority official and the former chief executive of the Dubai sovereign fund Istithmar, yesterday launched a campaign called “Change at Chamber” with a website, www.changeatchamber.com.

Calling himself “the small companies candidate”, Mr Tarmoom said he was trying to build a bloc of candidates from small and medium-sized companies to take over the majority of open seats. About 97 per cent of the members of the ADCCI are by definition small companies with less than 50 employees.

“Now is a chance for members to make their voice heard,” says Mr Tarmoom, 42, who heads ISAT Consulting and Development in Abu Dhabi. “A lot has changed since the first election four years ago.”

He said he would reduce fees by at least 20 per cent, improve Emiratisation policies and increase transparency by publishing annual financial statements.

While Mr Tarmoom expects his budget to be about Dh25,000 (US$6,800), candidates have been known to spend more than Dh1 million on posters, helicopter rides, advertisements and events.

Mr al Kaabi was scheduled last night to host a campaign dinner at the Hilton Abu Dhabi.

Afif Ziad Salloum, a French lawyer and businessman who grew up in Abu Dhabi, said he was running for election so that he could “give something back”.

“I want to use my experience as an advantage,” says Mr Salloum, 30. “I’ve seen a lot of the problems that businesses face working here and I would hope to alleviate some of that. I can see where there are areas of improvement.”

Mr Salloum, who is an attorney at Samir A Salloum Advocates and Legal Consultants, said that if he were elected he would try to improve the ADCCI’s ability to mediate disputes between companies.

Elections are a relatively new phenomenon in the Emirates. Starting in 2006, half of the 40 members of the Federal National Council were elected by an appointed electoral college.

The ADCCI elections, however, allow for a direct democratic vote for 70 per cent of the board. Each Emirati business owner in the emirate, including those in Al Ain and the Western Region, is allowed to vote for 13 of the board seats. Expatriate executives can vote for representatives to fill two of the seats.

bhope@thenational.ae



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Law 27 of 2005 restructured the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ADCCI) into the first democratic body in the Emirates. The law require elections for 15 board positions, out of a total of 21, every four years.

The next election takes place on December 7. If less than 25 per cent of the more than 70,000 members of the ADCCI do not vote, then the election will be rescheduled for December 21.

Six of the board members are appointed by the Government, and two of those must be women. Of the remaining 15, 13 are Emiratis and two are expatriates.

Candidates must be at least 21 years old, have practised business in Abu Dhabi for at least three years and have fully paid their membership dues.

The ADCCI serves as the primary lobbying group for the private sector in the Emirate. Its roles include providing opinions on draft laws and regulations that would affect businesses, compiling data and statistics, hosting foreign businessmen and sending delegations to promote trade in other countries as well as providing services for businesses setting up in Abu Dhabi.

To learn more about the electoral process, go to elections.adcci.ae.