ABCK-AmCham Kuwait holds Annual General Meeting of 2021
KUWAIT CITY, May 23: The ABCK-AmCham Kuwait held their Virtual Annual Membership and Elections event, consisting of ABCK-AmCham Kuwait members and non-members from across different industries in Kuwait and the GCC region. The event was aimed at informing guests about ABCK-AmCham Kuwait’s goals, initiatives, updating them on past performance as well as upcoming plans.
In his opening statements, ABCK-AmCham Kuwait’s Chairman, Frank Belonus, thanked the membership and the Board of Director on their constant support and contribution to the organization. He informed the membership that Fred Shuaibi, former Board of Directors Member had been granted an honorary membership with the organization due to his contributions as one of the 15 founding members of the organization. Belonus gave a snapshot of the organization’s activities over the past year: “We saw a 45% increase in organizational growth over the past 12 months, despite the challenges that the pandemic brought to our organization and members We currently have over 600 members from top companies and leaders in virtually every industry in Kuwait”. Belonus also touched based on the organization’s increased regional collaborations with other AmChams and entities throughout the region, as this has increased the number of online activities that the Chamber has been able to do for their membership, to keep them engaged and informed.
Belonus then spoke about AmCham Kuwait’s industry-based focus groups which are comprised of every member within the organization, as this has allowed members to connect with others within their industry and collaborate to find solutions for challenges within their industry. Belonus introduced Dr. Arezou Harraf, Chair of the Women in Business Focus Group and Board Member, who spoke about AmCham Kuwait’s most recent achievement on becoming on the 30th signatory in the State of Kuwait for the Women’s Empowerment Principles from the United Nations Global Compact and United Nations Women.
Belonus also spoke about the new ‘Champion’ recognition that has been created for Chairman’s Club companies who have supported
AmCham Kuwait within the past 18 months, with a special sponsorship that has strongly contributed to the sustenance of the organization. He announced to the participants the 2 companies that earned this prestigious recognition: GOFSCO and Lockheed Martin; He thanked the 2 organizations for the crucial support during the year of 2020, which allowed AmCham Kuwait to continue with its advocacy efforts.
Paola de la Roche, ABCK-AmCham Kuwait’sActing Executive Director, then presented attendees with the financial performance for 2020, and allocated budget for the upcoming year.
De la Roche then introduced Rashed AlManee, Chair of the Policy & Strategic Committee and Board Member, who spoke about the U.S./ Kuwait Strategic Dialogue of 2020, and thanked the U.S. Embassy for their crucial role in the strategic dialogue which involved topics such as economic diversification, education, economic growth, collaborations, among other topics during these visits.AlManee also spoke about AmCham Kuwait’smembership with the Middle Eastern American Chambers of Commerce (MECACC), as there will be a door-knock at the U.S. Capitol which will be held in September, and encouraged the American Members
to be part of this door-knock in order to have their voices heard during the organization’s visit to the U.S..
Almanee finalized his updates by informing the members that AmCham Kuwait’s Membership with AmCham MENA has enabled stronger collaborations throughout the region, and he announced that AmCham MENA will be launching a virtual market soon for our membership base to announce their business opportunities around the region. This will also be reflected on AmCham Kuwait’s website in order to further showcase the members businesses.
After that, ABCK-AmCham Kuwait’s Vice Chairman, Pete Swift, spoke about past events and highlighted some of the events that ABCK- AmCham Kuwait has in store for 2021.Swift also reminded the attendees about the Board of Directors’ Elections for 2021, and he asked that each company choose 1 representative to vote on behalf of the whole company, as he informed the attendees that the results of the elections would be announced on the 20th of May.
The event concluded with virtual speed networking where new and existing members had the chance to get to know each other and learn about different businesses and industries.
ABCK-AmCham Kuwait:
Is a non-profit organization operating since 1985 and is composed of 500 corporations, small and medium sized companies, as well as prominent business leaders and entrepreneurs, both American and Kuwaiti. ABCK-AmCham Kuwait has acted as an advocate for American interest in the state of Kuwait. For More Information, please visit our website at www.amchamkuwait.org or follow us on social media channel @ abck1985.