Abu Ras replaces Mustafa Sabri, who retired after serving the chamber for nearly 20 years, the JCCI announced. It said the appointment was made during the meeting of the board of directors on Wednesday.
The announcement also said Adnan Hussein Mandoura, the director of the department of sectors and committees, has been appointed deputy secretary-general in place of Osman Basaqr.
Sheikh Saleh Kamel, chairman of the chamber, said the 18 members of the board were unanimous in the appointments. The new secretary-general will take office after four weeks while his deputy will start duties on Saturday.
He said the new appointments were made within plans to reconstruct the executive structure of the chamber that were announced during the first meeting of the board of directors in October.
Many employees of the chamber expressed fears that the restructuring of the chamber might affect their jobs.
The chairman said the meeting adopted a decision to construct a new building for the chamber in Al-Laith. He also said the board referred the chamber’s budget for 2010 to the executive committee for thorough revision and added that the deficit of SR13 million in the previous budget has been reduced to SR8 million.
He said a meeting of the general assembly of the chamber will be held on April 27 concurrently with the meeting of the board of directors and added that a special committee will be formed to make preparations for the 11th round of the Jeddah Economic Forum.
