The Abu Dhabi Chamber concludes “Chamber Talk” Program

The Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and Industry has concluded its flagship 23 webinars “Chamber Talk” program in September 2020. The free program came as an initiative to support the private sector in navigating the adverse impacts of Covid-19 Pandemic.

Chamber Talk brought together the Big 4 consulting firms (KPMG, EY, Deloitte, and PWC) in addition to renowned names like Gartner and Salloum & Partners under one roof in an interactive platform to deliver  23 specialized webinars covering various topics from applying best practices at different business functions within an organization to digital transformation, legal frameworks, innovative financial solutions, sector specific discussions and generally getting back to work in the context of the impacts of the pandemic. The 23 webinars raised awareness and spread knowledge to help businesses confront the unanticipated challenges presented by the pandemic and offered innovative solutions to navigate through the short, medium and long-term periods of the three different stages of reacting to the pandemic represented by responding, recovering and thriving.

“Chamber Talk initiative has shaped the concept of communication into new forms. It is the perfect interactive platform that brought key and critical economic topics to the table. A large number of businesses in the UAE and abroad reacted positively to this initiative,” remarked His Excellency Mohamed Helal Al Mheiri, Director General of the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

“The exceptional circumstances the world is witnessing this year as a result to the spread of COVID-19 have changed the traditional means of communication and led us to embrace new ideas and innovative solutions that go in line with the precautionary measures, especially social distancing. Businesses are adopting digital solutions in unprecedented pace and proved their resilience amidst the most severe conditions,” he added
“The Abu Dhabi Chamber was one of the first entities in the UAE to deploy the latest technologies into its operations which resulted in the creation of the “Chamber Talk” platform. The Chamber took on its shoulders the responsibility to motivate the businesses community to keep on moving forward, and to provide businesses with the necessary consultations by well-known and experienced economic consultants who helped them confront the impact of COVID-19 and overcome any challenges on the way.

“We had to respond swiftly to support the private sector and based on our knowledge and close relationship with the private sector, Chamber Talk was born. What businesses need in these challenging one-off times is advice and direction and who better than the most renowned firms in the world to provide this advice”. With our deep roots in the private sector and local and regional connections, we were able to attract attendees not only from Abu Dhabi but the UAE and the region as well.” Al Mheiri said. 

“Over 13 weeks, Chamber Talk hosted 39 high profile speakers to offer a unique opportunity to the Abu Dhabi Private Sector to listen straight from the experts in the market who have and are currently advising companies and governments as to how to handle the situation with Covid-19” added Al Mheiri. “All sessions were recorded and are open to everyone through the Abu Dhabi Chamber’s YouTube page. I am pleased to note that the program attracted more than 4,500 attendees from 39 cities in 29 countries across the globe. It was a truly exceptional initiative tailored to the local market that went international.”
Chamber Talk targeted pivotal sectors including retail, education, financial services, family businesses, trade, services, hospitality and food and beverages.

Al Mheiri expressed his gratitude to Chamber Talk’s partners for their dedication in preparing and conducting these sessions and noted that the feedbacks received from attendees have been very positive leading the Abu Dhabi Chamber to start its plans for the next rounds of Chamber Talk with additional partners planned to be onboard. He added that this would not have been possible also if it was not for the hard work and efforts done by the Abu Dhabi Chamber team leading Chamber Talk.

Unique Collaboration

For his part, Nader Haffar, Chairman of KPMG Lower Gulf, said “KPMG Lower Gulf was delighted to participate in this year’s edition of Chamber Talk. A path-breaking initiative from the Abu Dhabi Chamber, this was a unique collaboration as it brought together the Big 4 to support the UAE’s private sector during a challenging time. We hope the KPMG webinars delving into finance, retail, accounting and digitalization, in the COVID-19 context will help inform additional recovery strategies for UAE businesses going forward. In this sense, Chamber Talk plays a pivotal role in helping the private sector better navigate the adverse impacts of the pandemic as well as leverage the opportunities derived from the new normal.”

Hani Ashkar, PwC’s Middle East Senior Partner, remarked, “The pandemic highlighted that businesses have a leadership role to play in society. The crisis reinforced that a company’s broader responsibility, to its employees and community, is more important than ever. 'Chamber Talk' created a platform to share and collaborate on the challenges we collectively faced, as individuals and business leaders, but also shed a light on the opportunities to work and engage differently with all our stakeholders.”

Abdulaziz Al-Sowailim, MENA CEO and Chairman at EY, said, “EY is proud to have supported Abu Dhabi Chamber and its Chamber Talk webinars that were developed to guide members during a challenging economic environment. Through the initiative we were able to share with chamber members key insights on workforce planning and optimization, cyber resilience, education planning, and the protection of family businesses – enabling them to better apply global best practices to the issues happening on the ground. We look forward to continuing our work with the Chamber in its endeavor to provide knowledge and add value to its members and the local business community.”

Mutasem Dajani, CEO, Deloitte Middle East, said, “Deloitte is pleased to collaborate with the Abu Dhabi Chamber on its “Chamber Talk” webinar series which fueled powerful conversations for business leaders as they manage the journey for their organization, teams and stakeholders between the Respond, Recover, and Thrive phases in addressing COVID-19 implications. Through the “Chamber Talk” webinars we shared our global and regional insights on key considerations companies should adopt for returning back to business, managing operational and financial restructuring, and optimal liquidity management solutions. The aftermath of the crisis will reinforce the need for enterprises to accelerate decision making processes and increase their agility - so as to manage a changing environment and exploit opportunities for growth in an altogether new and uncertain environment. We look forward to collaborating with the Abu Dhabi Chamber on future initiatives working together to provide businesses in Abu Dhabi with value added best practices and insights.”