Business News President’s Focus
This month’s President’s Focus is taken over by Saqib Bhatti, of Asian Business Birmingham Chamber. Earlier this year, Saqib was re-elected as ABCC president for a fourth term, in what will be a momentous 12 months for the organisation, as it will be its 30th anniversary. Here, Saqib talks about the success of ABCC, its history, and where it goes from here.
There is no doubt in my mind that the Asian Business Chamber of Commerce (ABCC) is in its golden era. We are quite simply living up to our mission; to be the “Gateway for Asian Businesses in the West Midlands”. What makes this particularly poignant is that we are currently in our 30th year and it is quite a privilege to be leading the organisation in what promises to be a celebration of our heritage, success and our intention to operate for another three decades. Our success has not been an
easy task but the recipe has been simple. Simply put, we all act as conduits for our members to network, build relationships and create business. Whether it is our festival events (Diwali, Eid or Vaisakhi) or our 1,000 people- strong flagship annual dinner and awards, I love it, at the end of the evening when the room is still buzzing with conversation and there is no end in sight. The ABCC has evolved as the
‘The ABCC derives its strength from our family of supporters and members and it allows us to lobby the policy makers at regional and national level’
Asian community has too. We are proud of our heritage and the fact that a handful of pioneering businessmen and women stood up in the late 80s and early 90s and carved out a voice for us in the region. They came from South Asia with hardly anything to their name and have built multi-million pound businesses and are integral to the fabric of our society. Many of the businesspeople were in wholesale, manufacturing or the restaurant trade. Today, like any established community we operate in a range of sectors from media to property to professional services to sport. The ABCC has had to adapt to this and I have been proud to have led a diverse and talented board for the last four years. We have also championed the role of female
entrepreneurs in the city and the region. We are proud of our International Women’s Day Celebration which brings together more than 200 women from across the region to celebrate and inspire the entrepreneurs and professionals of tomorrow. The ABCC derives its strength from our family of supporters and members and it allows us to lobby the policy makers at regional and national level and we are working hard to do this. Going forward, this is an exciting time
for the region. With HS2 on the horizon, high levels of foreign direct investment and Britain looking to new markets I have no doubt that the ABCC has a significant role to play. It is why Chambers across the country are approaching us to emulate our success. I am looking forward to these developments and as we
are the premier network in the region, we will start to look at broader horizons and build our network nationally. In the meantime, I hope you can join us on 2 December
at our annual dinner and awards. It is going to be a massive celebration bringing the region’s best and brightest together. After all, isn’t that what the ABCC is all about?
10 CHAMBERLINK October 2017
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