Sharjah to boost productivity and efficiency of retail sector

Business Bureau, Gulf Today

As part of the ongoing efforts to develop the shopping campaigns and promotions in the Emirate of Sharjah, the Sharjah Chamber of Commerce & Industry (SCCI) has underscored the importance of formulating a standard plan for the shopping centers across the emirate, as this would help upskill the emirate’s position and reputation in this sector and contribute to reviving the retail sector, especially after the repercussions of COVID-19 pandemic.

This was stated during a meeting with the Shopping Malls Business Group, headed by Ibrahim Rashid Al Jarwan, Director, SCCI Economic Relations and Marketing Dept, in the presence of Jamal Bu Zinjal, Head of Media Department, Amjad Awad al Karim, Head of the Sectoral Business Groups Department, Hana Al Suwaidi, Head of the Festival and Exhibitions Department, and a number of directors and representatives of shopping centers.

The meeting touched on the outstanding success of the exceptional shopping season, ‘Sharjah Shopping Promotions’ campaign which was launched by the Sharjah, the Sharjah Chamber of Commerce & Industry. The campaign has succeeded in boosting the sales of the retail sector in the emirate, achieving over Dhs600 million, in addition to the fantastic atmosphere and positive vibes throughout the campaign.

Further, the meeting discussed the upcoming shopping seasons and how to provide all the support and facilities for the success of such events, while underlining the importance of maintaining the precautionary and preventive measures, including social distancing rules and face masks.

Ibrahim Rashid Al Jarwan said: “The SCCI constantly works to enhance the cooperation with the Shopping Malls Business Group, as a representative of this important sector, to discuss launching exceptional events in the upcoming stage, as this would help strengthen Sharjah’s economy, stimulate commercial traffic, fulfil private sector demands and address its challenges, and contribute to developing different sectors.”

“We have also reviewed the future of the shopping seasons and campaigns organised by the SCCI and the importance of the visuals in organizing festivals and promotions and the retail sector in general,” he added.

It was also discussed developing new mechanisms for encouraging relevant government entities to take part in such campaigns to enrich their various activities and events.

Jamal Bu Zinjal said the SCCI is keen to provide more activities and events during shopping seasons, besides diversifying the prizes offered to the winners of the daily, weekly, and closing raffles, stressing the significance of media and social networking sites in helping those events to gain more visibility.

The directors of the shopping malls commended the SCCI’s cooperation and its keenness to organise various shopping campaigns, underlining the importance of the meaningful cooperation between shopping centers and retail stores and the need to create new programs and activities that help increase goers and visitors and meet their expectations.

Meanwhile the Board of Directors of the Sharjah Chamber of Commerce & Industry (SCCI) lauded the directives of Sheikh Sultan Bin Mohammed Bin Sultan Al Qasimi, Crown Prince and Deputy Ruler of Sharjah which were adopted by the Sharjah Executive Council in terms of resuming activities of the exhibitions and conferences held under the management of government authorities.

The board members also expressed their confidence in the decisions of the wise leadership and its exceptional management of the Covid-19 crisis, stressing the importance of the comeback of the exhibitions and conferences sector to drive the economy and provide a positive contribution to other relevant sectors.

This was stated during the Chamber’s 13th periodic meeting, headed by Abdullah Sultan Al Owais, Chairman, SCCI, in the presence of Sheikh Majid Faisal Khalid Al Qasemi, SCCI First Vice Chairman, Waleed Abdul Rahman Bu Khatir, SCCI Second Vice Chairman, Mohammad Ahmed Amin Al-Awadi, SCCI’s Director-General, and board members. The meeting touched on the SCCI’s most important achievements over the past months as per the approved action plan. This includes the surge in the new and renewed memberships rate and the launch of the Sadder” (export) Fund, the first of its kind fund across the Emirate Sharjah for financing export operations, as well as the outstanding success of “Sharjah Shopping Promotions”.

The meeting also commended the accreditation of Sharjah Training & Development centre as a certified training centre by the Sharjah Private Education Authority and the renewal of the Integrated Management Systems Certification (ISO 9001: 2015), ISO environmental management system (ISO 14001: 2015), and the ISO Occupational Health and Safety Certification (ISO 45001: 2018) at the SCCI and its affiliated institutions.