The Sharjah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) said that exports and imports in 2020 have amounted to nearly AED21.5 billion ($5.85 billion).

SCCI’s  accomplished transactions in 2020, where the total number of new and renewed memberships reached 57,103, of which 4,320 new memberships and 2,128 free zone memberships, while the number of certificates of origin issued during the past year reached 71,961, reported state news agency Wam.

In 2020, the Chamber has achieved 100 percent in the smart transformation of its services to meet the requirements of its members.

This includes completing 141,596 digital transactions, developing a bunch of smart services to help members run their businesses without the need to visit the Chamber or its various branches, providing electronic attestation services for all transactions, and printing the certificates of origin from the companies' offices, in addition to providing membership certificate printouts from four service centres in the Eastern Region "Tasheel" (Dhaid, Khor Fakkan and Kalba).

The Chamber has also made great strides in the 10th industrial zone infrastructure reconstruction project which is worth AED120 million, completing 60 percent of the infrastructure works for the first phase.

The SCCI has won the 13th cycle of the Arabia CSR (corporate social responsibility) Awards in the category of public sector organisation/departments and has completed the processes of renewing the ISO certification for the Integrated Quality Management System ISO 9001: 2015, Environment ISO 14001: 2015 and Occupational Health and Safety ISO 45001: 2018 in the Chamber and its affiliated institutions.

Furthermore, the Chamber has launched the "Sadder" (export) Fund, the first-of-its-kind fund across the Emirate of Sharjah for financing export operations. "Sadder" Fund falls under the Sharjah Exports Development Centre (SEDC) of the SCCI and it aims to increase the rate of exports, open new markets, expand the export map of the SEDC’s affiliates, provide liquidity to exporters, and reduce the risk ratio in export operations through credit insurance.

The year 2020 witnessed intensive meetings between the Chamber and private sector representatives, especially the sectoral business groups, where more than 12 meetings were held to discuss challenges and solutions, while the number of meetings and business meetings with representatives of diplomatic missions, specialised bodies, and official delegations reached 22, in addition to a tour for business councils in the Emirate of Sharjah and launching the identity of business councils under the umbrella of the Chamber. This is in addition to organising the UAE-Luxembourg Business Forum, the UAE-Japan Business Forum, the Executive Emirati-German Economic Roundtable organised by the UAE Embassy in Berlin, and the Sharjah-Alexandria Business Forum.

And as part of its commitment to enhancing the emirate’s competitiveness and fulfilling the private sector requirements, the Chamber has launched the "Sharjah Shopping Promotions".

The Sharjah Excellence Award, one of the Chamber's initiatives witnessed a bunch of fundamental changes to cope with the repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic, where the 2020 and 2021 editions were merged, in addition to enhancing support for entrepreneurs, SMEs, and entrepreneurs with disabilities. This included allocating cash prizes for the distinguished entrepreneurs and waiving the participation fees for this year’s award.

The Chamber also celebrated the first anniversary of the establishment of the Small and Medium Enterprises Centre (Tijarah 101), one of the SCCI’s initiatives to support and motivate young people to engage in commercial and economic business, and to create a positive work environment to promote sustainable development in society, in addition to prioritising the centre’s members from the event management companies to take part in organising several exhibitions at Expo Centre Sharjah, Expo Al Dhaid, and Expo Khor Fakkan.

Abdullah Sultan Al Owais, Chairman of the SCCI, said: "What has been achieved during the past year confirms the correctness of the strategic thinking we have pursued, in line with the vision and guidance of His Highness Dr. Sheikh Sultan bin Muhammed Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, and the strenuous follow-up of His Highness Sheikh Sultan bin Muhammad bin Sultan Al Qasimi, Crown Prince and Deputy Ruler of Sharjah, and the fruitful efforts exerted to enhance business sustainability and resilience to cope with the current circumstances by facilitating business practices in the emirate."

Al Owais expressed his optimism about the performance of the emirate's economy during 2021, stressing that the success of Sharjah and the UAE in general in overcoming the pandemic challenges is attributed to the directives of the wise leadership.

Mohammad Ahmed Amin Al-Awadi, SCCI Director-General, lauded the high performance and tremendous efforts exerted by the Chamber’s teams, especially during the remote work stage, as well as their keenness to serve the business community and overcome the challenges.