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Bill on regularizing Chamber of Commerce accepted by Parliament

The bill seeking to regularize the Chamber of Commerce was accepted by the parliament and forwarded to the parliamentary economic affairs committee for review on Wednesday.

The bill was submitted to the parliament floor by Maradhoo MP Ibrahim Shareef. The bill was accepted with the consensus of 74 members who took part in the vote. It was then decided that the bill will be sent for further review to the parliament committee on economic affairs.

Although the bill was accepted, many members voiced their concern on some aspects of the bill during the debate stage. Therefore, it is likely that several changes may be brought to the bill during the committee review.

During the debate, several members highlighted that if the bill is left as is, small and medium business may face challenges in conducting their businesses. Several members also raised concern over the bill stating that the Chamber of Commerce requires founding members. However, despite the criticism, all members were in support of sending the bill to the relevant committee for further review.

While a bill has been submitted to establish Chamber of Commerce under a legal framework, a similar organisation is currently in operation albeit without a legal framework.