Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry should adopt ‘No fees, No service’ principle

TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Businessman Yaqoob Al Awadhi, a candidate for the Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s board of directors’ elections, has emphasised the necessity of following the principle of “No fees, No service” at the chamber.

He explained that the chamber’s board of directors has two options: either adopt qualitative initiatives that all chamber members, including SMEs owners, find beneficial, or abandon the membership obligation, and each merchant must pay a minimum of BD20 to renew his business registration.

The Chamber of Commerce, according to Al Awadhi, is ultimately a civil society institution whose function is to care for merchants and defend their interests, not to amass subscription funds in its treasury without all merchants, or at least most of them, feeling the Chamber’s benefit to them.

Al Awadhi pointed out that if the Chamber cannot provide its services to all its members, at least it can initiate the implementation of major projects that benefit the national economy, and whose benefit is reflected on Bahrainis by creating direct and indirect job opportunities, supporting GDP providing real support for the government’s plans.

“The Chamber’s role should not be limited to ceremonies, visits, and press releases; instead, those in charge should take the lead in doing fieldwork on the ground, getting to know the needs of small and large businesses, and putting the commercial sector at the centre of the Chamber’s interests and activities. It should also endeavour to expand new markets for Bahraini goods and services, as well as reactivate the committee’s activity.

“If this occurs, the Bahraini merchant will go to the Chamber on his own to pay his subscriptions and renew his membership, motivated by his confidence in the Chamber’s value in supporting and promoting his business,” Al Awadhi added.

Al Awadhi noted that the issue of linking subscription to service was one of the goals he had set for himself in his campaign for the elections of the Chamber’s Board of Directors’ 30th session. “I raise this subject in my election platform to attract attention to its importance, and if I win membership on the chamber’s board of directors, I guarantee every one will work on it,” he concluded.