Publicat pe 22/06/2023

Geneva, June 21, 2023: The President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Romania (CCIR), Mr. Mihai Daraban, participated, as a member of the General Council of the World Chamber Federation (WCF), together with the general secretary of the CCIR, Mr. Ovidiu Silaghi, at the World Congress of Chambers of Commerce, held on June 21-23, in Geneva.

The event benefited from the presence, as speakers, of Mr. António Guterres, Secretary General of the United Nations (UN), as well as Mr. Nicolás Uribe Rueda, President of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC). During the congress, representatives of the business environment addressed some of the most important current global issues, the event being structured around three main themes: multilateralism, innovation and sustainability.

“Perhaps the most important conclusion that can be drawn from this event is that, worldwide, there is a common point of view that refers to strengthening the role that business has in ensuring the prosperity of nations. Certainly, performing businesses can be the main drivers of job creation. Through medium and long-term investments, employment opportunities can be generated, thus contributing to reducing unemployment and raising living standards. Also, companies that invest in technological research and development can bring significant innovations and advances that lead to the creation of more efficient products and services that can thus improve people’s lives and contribute to economic growth. Perhaps it is time for the voice of businessmen to prevail over the voice of the political decision-maker. We have all seen that when political ambitions arise, conflicts also arise and, obviously, the prosperity of nations ceases to exist, and here I am obviously referring to the armed conflict in Ukraine. Thus, the proposal of the WCF leadership to create interoperable platforms for the promotion of multilateral trade between states becomes very important. At the CCIR level, there is already such a functional platform, SNIA, which promotes the concept of free trade and which is used by both Romanian and foreign investors”, said the president of the CCIR, Mr. Mihai Draban.

Background:

The World Chambers Federation (WCF) is a non-political and non-governmental body of the ICC. Originally established in 1951 as the International Bureau of Chambers of Commerce, WCF aims to unify and support the global network of chambers of commerce. The WCF plays a key role in the interaction between different organizations and chambers of commerce around the world. Thus, partnerships are created that help implement several initiatives to strengthen chambers of commerce in developing and emerging economies. At the moment, there are partnerships with more than 12,000 chambers of commerce around the world.