Dubai Chamber President & CEO Hamad Buamim: Several Multinationals and Family Businesses Have Pledged Support for Community Solidarity Fund Against COVID-19

H.E. Hamad Buamim:

• Dubai  Chamber will help blue collar workers who have completed their projects  to return home
• The Chamber will be assisting blue collar workers in the construction and real estate projects, especially those who completed their work and were unable to return home as airports closed around the world.

• The Chamber will make an initial contribution of AED10 million, towards the newly established fund

• The Dubai Chamber’s Centre for Responsible Business will be playing a larger role in the upcoming period, incentivising companies to fulfill their social responsibilities.

Dubai, UAE – The Community Solidarity Fund Against COVID-19 is a major step towards mitigating the economic, social, and health challenges posed by the outbreak of the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19), asserted His Excellency Hamad Buamim, President and CEO of the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

The private sector will have a leading role to play in supporting the initiative, launched by the Islamic Affairs and Charitable Activities Department, H.E. added, revealing that the Chamber will make an initial contribution of AED10 million, to be followed by a series of additional initiatives that seek to empower the business community to minimise the negative impact of the Coronavirus in the emirate.

The Chamber reported receiving a considerable number of pledges from multinationals and family businesses in the emirate to contribute to the Fund, give back to their communities, and support Dubai’s business sector through these difficult times. “The upcoming period will see the private sector come together even further to face common threats,” H.E. said. “The sector will prove that it is beyond prepared to play its part in serving the community.”

“The Chamber will work closely with all relevant government entities to dedicate the Fund’s proceeds to supporting the private sector in Dubai,” H.E. Buamim continued. “We have set a complete plan to assist  the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) sector, mainly those companies that are  particularly struggling through these exceptional conditions. Most importantly at this stage though, is providing blue collar workers who have completed their work and would rather return home the financial means to do so.”

“The issue of construction workers has economic, social, and health aspects to it. With that in mind, the Chamber is committed to supporting workers in the sector from a logistical and humanitarian point of view, in keeping with our mandate to represent, support, and protect the interests of the business community in the emirate,” H.E. stated.

H.E. Buamim went on to reveal that the Chamber will be conducting studies on market performance, and assessing the current crisis, its development, and potential ramifications. This would then allow decision makers in the government and the business sector to see the full picture and propose pragmatic solutions to address the crisis.

On a similar note, the Dubai Chamber’s Centre for Responsible Business will be playing a larger role in the upcoming period, incentivising companies to fulfil their social role, H.E. said. The Centre encourages businesses to implement concrete measures that align with the emirate’s vision and cement its status as a world-leading destination for responsible, sustainable business.

The Dubai Chamber President and CEO reiterated that the business sector has a social and community role that is every bit as important as its corporate mandate to provide products and services. The Chamber will ensure business sustainability, and work to mitigate the repercussions of the Coronavirus crisis on the private sector.

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Editor’s note

Established in 1965, the Dubai Chamber of Commerce & Industry is a non-profit public entity, whose mission is to represent, support and protect the interests of the business community in Dubai by creating a favourable business environment, supporting the development of business, and by promoting Dubai as an international business hub.