Event Information

The Congress was attended by 1,600 delegates from 118 countries. ICC Chairman Marcus Wallenberg brought the 5th World Chambers Congress to a close and, in a special ceremony, handed over the hosting of the congress from Istanbul to Kuala Lumpur, where the biennial congress will take place in 2009. “Our memories of the event and this city will stay with us for many years to come,” Mr Wallenberg told delegates assembled at the congress closing. “But, more importantly, the partnerships and connections made here will also continue long into the future. This is what the congress is all about: building the links that ultimately facilitate trade among nations.”

Mr. Wallenberg also highlighted the multilateral trade declaration produced at the congress: to press harder for a global trade accord in the World Trade Organization’s Doha round of trade negotiations. The statement was issued during this afternoon’s plenary on threats to multilateralism and endorsed by the 1,600 delegates from 118 countries attending the congress.

“We are counting on you to redouble your efforts when you return home, to convince your government leaders to act swiftly to finalize an agreement in the Doha round of world trade talks,” said Mr Wallenberg, who is also Chairman of the Swedish banking group SEB.

Rona Yircali, Chair of ICC’s World Chambers Federation; Guy Sebban, ICC Secretary General; Rifaat Hisarciklioglu, President of the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey; Kadir Topbas, Mayor of the City of Istanbul; Halim Borhan, Mayor of the City of Kuala Lumpur and Yong Poh Kon, President of the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers, accompanied Mr. Wallenberg on the stage.

Highlights from the three-day Congress also included:

• Opening statement by Turkish Prime Minister Reycep Tayyip Erdogan

• An address by former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright

• An address by Mohammed Yunus, 2006 Nobel Peace Prize winner and founder of Grameen Bank, on microcredit and reducing world poverty

• Five plenary sessions on threats to multilateralism, managing global risks, supporting SME development, securing the future of energy and chambers and migration

• A series of 23 workshops covered a wide range of topics, including customer service, chamber branding, leadership versus management, intellectual property, IT and e-business for chambers and empowering businesswomen

• A Bosphorus Strait cruise and banquet dinner at the Ciragan Palace

• A dinner at the Rahmi Koc Museum

• The 2007 World Chambers Competition for the most innovative projects from chambers of commerce

The winners of the 2007 World Chambers Competition were announced at the Gala Dinner on the last night of the Congress.  By category, they were:

Best International Cooperation

Confederation of Brazilian Commercial and Business Associations and Essen Chamber of Crafts

Best New Membership Recruitment

Vancouver Board of Trade

Best Skills Development Program

The Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry

Best Unconventional Project for SMEs

Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Sri Lanka

Best Project from a Developing Country

Anguilla Chamber of Commerce and Industry Ltd.

Chamber of Economy of Sarajevo Canton

The Congress attracted considerable attention from the world press. Approximately 200 journalists attended the congress.

This year’s Congress was hosted by the International Chamber of Commerce, the World Chambers Federation, and the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey.