The election to the board of directors of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) for 2017-19 tenure has gotten underway, Saturday morning at the Bangabandhu International Conference Centre (BICC).

Voting began at 9:00 am and will continue through to 5:00 pm while the Election Board chairman, Prof Ali Ashraf, will announce the results after counting ends.

 Two panels are contesting for the 18 director posts. The panels are Sammilita Ganotantrik Parishad led by Shafiul Islam Mohiuddin and Babosayee Oikya Forum led by Abdul Motaleb.

 The board of directors will elect the FBCCI president from the association group, one first vice-president from the chamber group and one vice-president from the association group.

 Eligible voters will elect only 18 directors from the Association group this time as the remaining as many (18) directors from the chamber group have already elected unopposed, according FBCCI election board.

 Usually, voters elect 36 directors--18 each from Association and Chamber groups-to the board of the country's apex chamber.

 Government has already nominated 24 directors -- 12 from chambers and 12 from associations.

 This time around, four directors have newly been added to the government-picked set of directors, taking the total nominees to 24.

And the number of directors on the FBCCI board will stand at 60 for the period of two years to middle of 2019.

 The new directors to be nominated by the government are from Bangladesh Women Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Chittagong Women Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Real Estate and Housing Association of Bangladesh and Bangladesh Association of Information and Software Services.

 The FBCCI is comprised of 81 chambers and 382 associations. A total of 2,342 people can cast vote, this year.