The President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Republic of Abkhazia Tamila Mertskhulava paid a working visit to Dubai (United Arab Emirates). She participated in the 12th World Chambers Congress (12WCC) organized by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), World Chambers Federation (WCF) and Dubai Chamber of Commerce & Industry (DCCI).

Ms.Mertskhulava held a number of meetings with her colleagues. In particular, she met with the head of the Russian delegation-President of the CCI of RF Sergei Katyrin and heads of its regional chambers, head of Turin CCI Mr. Dario Gallina, chairman of Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry Redha Juma Al-Saleh and delegation of the Syrian CCI led by Naji Shaui.

World Chambers Congress is the only global forum for chamber leaders and their business members to share best-practices, exchange insights, develop networks, address the latest business issues and discover new areas of innovation.

The 12th World Chambers Congress (12WCC) in Dubai began with a call for chamber leaders from around the world to embrace innovation as part of their existing models and adapt their services to meet the changing needs of businesses in the post-Covid era and beyond.

Congress participants were interested in the Republic of Abkhazia, its location, trade and economic cooperation with foreign countries, leading sectors of economic development, population size, supply of goods, logistics, safety of doing business and forms of its organization. It should be noted that many representatives of foreign chambers took part in the congress for the first time.

The President of the Abkhaz Chamber of Commerce and Industry was greeted by the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Dubai Chamber Mr. Hamad Buamim. Tamila Mertskhulava presented him with a memorable gift - an Abkhaz banknote of 500 apsaras and invited him to visit Abkhazia on a business visit.
During the conversation, Mr. Buamim emphasized the importance of the 12WCC in Dubai: the event offers its participants an ideal platform for communication, knowledge exchange, development of cross-border cooperation and raising their global status.

“The World Chambers Congress hosted leaders of more than 80 chambers around the world renew the global conversation about the challenges and opportunities created by COVID-19, sharing best practices and a new approach to how Chambers of Commerce should serve their members and social ecosystems in the digital age after pandemics. The key discussion points for experts were the challenges and opportunities for chambers of commerce and businesses around the world, the changing role of public-private partnerships, health and safety standards, business resilience and preparation for future crises, logistics support for the sector in new business paradigm and what tools are needed to facilitate investment in the post-COVID-19 era”,-noted Tamila Mertskhulava.

As part of the business program, the President of the CCI of Abkhazia visited the Dubai Expo 2020.
After the 12WCC, the 13th edition of the Congress (13WCC) will take place in Geneva, Switzerland, in June 2023. It will be co-organised with the Geneva Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Services.