Qatar Chamber of Commerce & Industry is one of the oldest Chambers of Commerce in the GCC Countries. Having been established in 1963, it used to operate within the structure of Government agencies until the promulgation of statute No. (11) Of 1990 which empowered the Chamber to operate independently. This enabled the Qatar Chamber of Commerce & Industry to exercise a wide range of activities commensurate with national, regional and international developments and serve the commercial, industrial and agricultural interests of its participants in the private sector.
Despite the promulgation of statute No. (11) of 1990, the QCCI Board Members were still appointed by the Government through an Emiri Decree. The Board Members would, in their first meeting, select a President, a Vice President and a Treasury Secretary. The term of office of the Board was Five years.
On 8th July, 1996 Qatar witnessed, in its first democratic experience, the promulgation of statute No. (11) of 1996, which amended some of the provisions of statute (11) of 1990, article (13) in particular, that Board Members shall be directly elected by the QCCI General Assembly which represents the various economic sectors in Qatar.
The Minister of Finance shall determine the proportional representation of these sectors following consultations with the concerned Ministers. The Board's term of office is four instead of five years. The QCCI internal regulations shall specify how elections should be held.
Accordingly, the Minister of Finance, Economy & Commerce has issued resolution No. (10) of 1997 determining the sector's proportional representation in the QCCI board as follows:-
The Trading Sector. 5 Members
The Contracting Sector. 4 Members
The Manufacturing Sector. 3 Members
The Services Sector. 2 Members
The Banking & Investment Sector. 1 Membe
The Tourism Sector. 1 Member
The Agricultural Sector. 1 Member
The Board Members shall, in their first meeting elect a President, a Vice President and an Honorary Treasurer.