Okaz/Saudi Gazette JEDDAH — Minister of Commerce and Investment Majed Abdullah Al-Qassabi has appointed six members, including two women, to the board of directors of the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI). The two women are Dina Bint Hassan Al-Nahdi and Sara Bint Ayed Al-Ayed. The four men appointees are Ahmed Bin Sajdi Al-Atawi, Raid Bin Ibrahim Al-Midaihim, Saleh Bin Nasser Al-Suraie and Mohammed Bin Youssef Naghi. The elections to the board of directors were held more than three weeks ago. The four-year term of the 22nd JCCI board of directors will start on May 5. With the six members appointed by the minister, the board will consist of 18 members of whom 12 have won the elections consisting of six traders and six industrialists. Ten women candidates participated in the elections but none of them had won. Sixteen out of the 18 members are taking the seats in the board for the first time. The newly women appointee, Dina Al-Nahdi, ran in the elections in the category of traders but she withdrew her candidacy before the voting while Sara Al-Ayed, who also ran in the category of traders, obtained only 116 votes out of 25,375 polled. In all 17 out of 109 candidates had pulled out of the March 24 race, according to Yahya Azzan, chairman of the election committee. Azzan said a total of 92 candidates remained in the race for 12 seats on the 18-member chamber board. Six seats on the JCCI board are reserved for businessmen and another six for industrialists. The remaining six members are filled by the minister of commerce and investment by appointment. According to JCCI regulations, candidates should be Saudi nationals, not less than 30 years of age and must have been involved in commercial or industrial activities for a minimum of three years. Out of about 100,000 members of the chamber, some 75,000 are eligible to vote in the elections. The candidates were allowed to campaign through local newspapers, social media and billboards but were forbidden to use TV channels, mosques and sports and cultural clubs for campaigning. For the first time ever the chamber had printed a guidebook on electronic voting. This time the JCCI elections had the largest number of candidates and voters in its history, according to a senior chamber official.
