“We do not want a board that we elect and see only after four years”

Business Community in Bahrain, for the time being, is looking for the upcoming Board of Bahrain’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) to be a board that is results-oriented and one that achieves the objectives of the business community in Bahrain in all its sectors and divisions. 

When a trader or a businessman chooses you, his voice means that he has chosen you to carry his concerns, his suffering, his goals and what he wants from the chamber of commerce and industry. 

At this juncture, the economy is facing challenges, and business and trade are facing some difficulties in terms of what is happening around us in the region. 

Everyone knows that traders and businessmen pay huge fees and that everyone who comes to the presidency and management of the Chamber has to take this into consideration and to maintain a balance between the fees paid by trade and granting them more facilities and incentives in return. 

I do not mind that the government collects taxes and fees but in return, we hope that more facilities will be granted to business owners. At the same time, I call upon the concerned authorities to gradually apply these taxes and fees so as not to put pressure on the business sector in exchange for more facilities. Otherwise, doing business and commerce will be truly difficult.

We do not want a board that we elect and see only at the time of elections and when the elections are over they disappear and only show up in the next elections after four years.

We also want as a business community to see new blood in the board of directors who are able to change and achieve results. As we have seen in the current or previous board of directors, there are frequent faces lasted more than eight to twenty years and these faces must be changed in order to keep pace with reality and developments. They are thankful for their role but at the same time, they should give the opportunity to young faces.

And I call upon traders from different sectors to elect the faces capable of giving and fulfilling promises and if they did not keep their promises and slogans, we must hold them after four years and change them so that we can always choose the best.

We also know that the economy of Bahrain is diverse and there are traders and investors from Bahrainis and from other nationalities, especially Asian and foreign companies. They contribute with their Bahraini colleagues in the renaissance of the Bahraini economy. They have already given their votes to someone who claims to represent Asian traders and that he will work for their benefit, but unfortunately he did not do so. 

As I said, we want a strong board that represents all sectors and we do not want to say who claims to represent Asians or non-Asians. This propaganda must end. We are all traders, businessmen and the interests and reputation of Bahrain above all considerations, and it is the main concern for the whole business community and traders.

I reiterate that we want a board that cooperates with the government and understands how to deal with it and obtain from its advantages and facilities for the business sector and traders. We want a board that communicates the concerns and voice of the business sector to the government while at the same time understanding the interests of the government as well and being able to convince the government to achieve the aspirations and desires of the business community in a way that achieves a win for both parties.