TEHRAN – As the Deputy Head of the Confederation of Asia-Pacific Chambers of Commerce and Industry (CACCI), representative of Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (ICCIMA) Pedram Soltani attended CACCI’s 34th annual conference which was held through video conference.

The member countries attending the conference dubbed “Achieving Sustainable Growth in a Turbulent and Disruptive Global Market” were gathered virtually to discuss a variety of issues including current trends in the global market, challenges, the volatile global market environment, geopolitical perspectives, and the role of governments and businesses in mitigating the effects of the current situation and the global economic and trade turmoil.

As reported by the ICCIMA portal, this year, the event was organized by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).

Participants in the conference also discussed policies adopted by governments and chambers of commerce to combat the negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

They underlined a 0.7 percent slowdown in the economy of Asian developing countries, noting the sharp decline in intra-regional trade growth and GDP as unprecedented in the past six decades.

Speaking in the conference, Soltani noted that the outbreak of the coronavirus has imposed a great threat to the global economy, saying: "Chambers of commerce and industry are trying to adapt and apply new business models to the existing risks.”

“Based on the definition of the principles of risk and risk management, chambers of commerce and industry should be in a position to consider themselves as representative of small and medium industries (SMEs), that is, they have to consider SMEs as their priority,” he stressed.

Further in the meeting, the dangers of a long-term pandemic were examined and the participants stated that the more the pandemic prolongs (first wave and subsequent waves), the harder the economic recovery would be, and this could even create a crisis in some economies.

The Confederation of Asia-Pacific Chambers of Commerce and Industry is a regional association principally composed of the national chambers or associations of commerce and industry in Asia and the Western Pacific.

EF/MA