The New Nation - Internet Edition

Staff Reporter

Election Board of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industries (FBCCI) has announced the date of the stalled election for the term 2007-09.

According to the board-meeting announcement yesterday with the Board Chairman Prof Ali Ashraf in the chair, the election would be held on March 17, 2008. According to the announcement, the elected directors will choose the President, First Vice-President and Vice-President in an election at 4:00 pm on March 19, 2008.

Intending candidates for directorship election have been requested to collect CIB (Credit Information Bureau) form of Bangladesh Bank along with the nomination papers from the office of the FBCCI election Board.

Candidates, who have already submitted their nomination as per the previous schedule, would not need to submit again, but will have to submit the CIB form with the latest information on their credit status.

The FBCCI election was stalled over a membership dispute with a FBCCI member-body, BGMEA.

As a result, the Ministry of Commerce, the regulatory authority, extended the tenure of the FBCCI Board of Directors with president Mir Nasir Hossain to December 6, 2007. However, they could not hold the election during the extended period due to the court order over the membership dispute.

The Nasir -led committee took over charge of the apex trade body on September 5 in 2005 for a two-year term until September 5, 2007.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Commerce on December six last year appointed Syed Manzur Elahi as the administrator of the apex trade body with the main assignment of conducting the election in his three-month tenure.