EUMCCI REVIEW Volume 2 No 2

WM RM8.00 | EM RM10.00

VOL 2

NO 2

AEC 2015: What it means for Malaysia

Interview with Datuk Dr Rebecca Sta Maria, Secretary-General of MITI

Celebrating Europe with Tastes of Europe Fest

Country Focus:

Denmark

VIP Luncheon: Penang CM Mr Lim Guan Eng

How Penang is wooing the tourists back and investing in education

EUMCCI REVIEW IS PUBLISHED BY

EUMCCI REVIEW IS PRODUCED FOR EUMCCI BY

EU-Malaysia Chamber of Commerce & Industry (EUMCCI) Suite 3.03, Level 3, Menara Atlan, 161B Jalan Ampang 50450 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Tel: +603-2162 6298 Fax: +603-2162 6198 E-mail: eumcci@eumcci.com Website: www.eumcci.com

MPH Group Magazine (M) Sdn Bhd (771396-H) Lot 1, 1st Floor, Bangunan TH, No. 5 Jalan Bersatu, Seksyen 13/4, 46200 Petaling Jaya, Selangor DE, Malaysia Tel: 603-7960 7334 Fax: 603-7960 3278 E-mail: ganesan@mph.com.my

EUMCCI Board

Deputy Chairman Daniel Pans Dato’ Andy Seo

MPH Group Publishing

MPH Group Magazine

Senior Marketing & Sales Executive Lilian Ng

General Manager Kuah Sze Mei

Chief Operating Officer Swaminathan MV

Creative

General Manager V S Ganesan

Honourary Treasurer Dato’ Robert Teo Directors Azlam Shah Alias Bjarne Foldager Jari Niemi Loong Caesar Maria Liew Olof Rapp Ron Anderson Saif Malik Stellios Plainiotis

MPH Group

Chief Executive Officer Dato’ Ng Tieh Chuan

Chairman Fermin Fautsch

Senior Editor Vimala Seneviratne

Country Representatives Artur Dabkowski Jan Vejmelka Luis López Werner Somweber

Editor Sharmila Valli Narayanan

Alternate Representative Dorothea Winkelmayer

Production Editor Shamsul Hidzry O Khairuddin Senior Sales Manager Ng Wee Ming

Alternate Director Barbara Er

Head of Department Amy Heng Deputy Creative Head (Magazine) Stephanie Yap Senior Creative Designers Ng Seng Chee, Ngan Pooi Kuan Creative Designer Amanda Fong Seok Mei

Circulation & Retail Distributors General Manager Tai Kwai Meng

Sales Managers Faridah Ismail Rebecca Gun

Editorial Commitee Minna Saneri - Editor Stefanie Braukmann Zaiton Hj Idrus

General Manager (Finance) Kelvin Chong

Assistant Sales Managers Shubhashnee Radha

Manager Koh Sook Khuen

Sales Executive John Reuben Kua

Submissions

Articles and other materials of interest to the general membership are actively solicited and may be sent to the Chamber. All materials submitted for publication are subject to editorial review and revisions.

Finance

Accountant Barbara Tay

Reproduction

Online Partner

No part of the EUMCCI Review may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical without prior written permission.

Circulation

3,000 copies of the EUMCCI Review are distributed, on a quarterly basis to EUMCCI members, all Embassies, industry associations and government officials with whom the Chamber has dealings as well as to European Chambers Worldwide.

It is also sold in all major bookshops.

Printer

MPH Group Printing (M) Sdn Bhd (142270-H) No 31, Jalan 2/148A, Taman Sungai Besi, Industrial Park 57100 K.L Tel: 603-7987 0966 Fax: 603-7984 0966 E-mail: sales@mphprinting.com.my

Distributors (Malaysia) MPH Distributors Sdn Bhd (5048-A), Ground Floor, Bangunan TH, No. 5 Jalan Bersatu, Seksyen 13/4, 46200 Petaling Jaya, Selangor DE, Malaysia Tel: 603-7958 1688 Fax: 603-7954 8215 E-mail: distributors@mph.com.my Advertising Enquiries

V S Ganesan / Ng Wee Ming Tel: 603-7960 4278 Fax: 603-7960 3278 E-mail: ganesan@mph.com.my All writers automatically agree to indemnify EUMCCI and MPH Group Magazine (M) Sdn Bhd against any loss, costs, expenses (including legal fees), damages and liabilities that might arise from their own incapacity, negligence, breach of contract or other civil misdeeds. We reserve the right to edit all articles. All rights reserved.

Copyright © 2014 by EUMCCI and MPH Group Magazine (M) Sdn Bhd. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without prior written permission from the publisher. The views expressed in the articles are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of EUMCCI and MPH Group Magazine (M) Sdn Bhd. EUMCCI and MPH Group Magazine (M) Sdn Bhd accept no responsibility for unsolicited manuscripts, photography, illustration and other editorial materials.

EDI T OR’S NO T E An active and respected chamber As one of the pioneer staff with EUMCCI, I am immensely proud of how far it has grown and how much it has achieved. Today, we are one of the most active chambers in Malaysia.

Last year we organised and executed 96 programmes and activities. We also had 26 major events last year, among them our very popular VIP Luncheons where we are able to attract the Who’s Who of Malaysia as speakers. Catch up on the latest activities of our various committees in Chamber News starting on page 26.

But it’s not only work related events that EUMCCI is famous for. Our social events like the Tastes of Europe Fest is something that everyone especially the expat European community in Kuala Lumpur looks forward to. Read about this year’s Tastes of Europe Fest starting on page 10.

10 16 4

26

On a personal note, I am very honoured to be elected the Chairperson of the European Business Organisation Worldwide Network (EBOWWN) by the members of the EBOWWN at their annual general meeting held in Brussels. I regard this as an honour and recognition for EUMCCI for the work it has been doing on behalf of European business in Malaysia and a great opportunity especially in view of Malaysia hosting the ASEAN chair next year.

Next year also sees the long awaited ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) finally coming into being. What will it mean for Malaysia and for foreign investors in Malaysia? Datuk Dr. Rebecaa Sta Maria discusses this and other issues in our cover story (page 4).

One of EUMCCI’s proud achievements last year was winning its bid for a five year project called Support for European Business in South East Asia Markets-Malaysia (SEBSEAM-M).

One of the first big events under this project is the EU-ASEAN Forum for Food Safety which will be held on October 13th and 14th in Kuala Lumpur. This is a not to be missed event.

For more information on this, please refer to page 16.

For all our Muslims friends I wish you all Selamat Hari Raya. See you in the next issue.

Minna Saneri Editor

34 20

CONTENTS 3

Editor’s Notes

4

Cover Story: ASEAN Economic Community 2015: What it Means for Malaysia

10

Tastes of Europe 2014

16

Forum on Food Safety: Concept Presentation

20

EU Country in Focus: Kingdom of Denmark

26

Chamber News

34

Corporate Partner News

38

New Corporate Partners

40

Calendar of Events

COVER STORY

ASEAN ECONOMIC COMMUNITY 2015:

WHAT IT MEANS FOR MALAYSIA ASEAN Economic Community becomes a reality in January 2015. EUMCCI Review speaks to the Ministry of International Trade and Industry’s (MITI) Secretary-General, Datuk Dr. Rebecca Sta Maria on how AEC will affect Malaysia and the rest of ASEAN.

By Sharmila Valli Narayanan, Photography by Zurin Noh

4

EUMCCI REVIEW

T

he 21st century is being hailed as the Pacific century or Asian century.

It is now Asia’s time to shine. The centre of economic growth has shifted to the east with China on its way to becoming the next economic superpower. The Southeast Asian countries, once the centre of political and social turmoil in the 1960s and ‘70s have now emerged as one of the most dynamic economic centres in the world. Southeast Asia is a market of 600 million consumers, a region rich in natural resources, with a large manufacturing and industrial base and an important trading area as it straddles the major sea lanes of the world.

2015 is a new era in this region as it marks the start of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) as a powerful trading block. According to the ASEAN Economic Community Chartbook 2013 (all subsequent figures are quoted from this booklet) ASEAN’s share of world GDP in PPP (Purchasing Power Parity) dollars was 4.3 per cent. The figure for the United States was 18.9 per cent and the EU was 19.5 per cent. However, when combined with the shares of ASEAN + 3 (refers to 10 member states of ASEAN, China, Japan and South Korea), its world GDP in PPP reached 26.8 per cent – more than the EU and the United States!

AEC is going to be a trading block to be reckoned with by the rest of the world. But what does AEC really mean for Malaysia and its neighbouring countries? Datuk Dr. Rebecca Sta Maria, Secretary-General of MITI explains in this interview on what to expect and not to expect from AEC.

“As a rule we do not protect and I don’t like to use the word protect, but we want to ensure fair trade.”

EUMCCI REVIEW (ER): AEC will become a reality in 2015. In what ways will AEC be a game changer for the business community in Malaysia?

Datuk Dr. Rebecca Sta Maria (DDR): When you wake up January 1st 2015, the life of the ASEAN citizen will not be any more different that what it is now. We do not envisage the culmination of AEC in 2015; AEC is really a journey by ASEAN that has been ongoing since the 1980s and will continue thereafter.

2015 is important because it marks a key milestone in our journey towards economic integration as it will see most of the initiatives that we have put in place take effect. It will mark the foundation for an economic community. AEC 2015 is the start of a fantastic economic journey for ASEAN as a strong trading community. It is a journey that has been going on for some time and one that will continue.

ER: Could you tell us a little bit about the road to AEC 2015?

DDR: There are three pillars in the ASEAN community: the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) which is driven by MITI (in Malaysia). There’s the ASEAN Political Security Community (APSC), driven by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the ASEAN Socio - Cultural Community (ASCC), driven by the Ministry of Tourism and Culture.

The economic community started with the preferential trade arrangements in the 1980s where we, the member states of ASEAN, began exchanging a list of products which we wanted to have preferential treatment in trading within ASEAN. Over the years the list became longer. This eventually led to the signing of the ASEAN Free Trade Agreement (AFTA) in 1992 in Singapore. AFTA came into full implementation in 2010. Its primary goal is the elimination within ASEAN of tariffs and non - tariffs barrier so as to increase ASEAN’s competitive edge as a production base in the world market and to attract more foreign direct investment (FDI) to ASEAN. In 1997 during the gathering of ASEAN leaders in Kuala Lumpur, the leaders declared the ASEAN Vision 2020 where they pledged, among other things, to create

“We cannot have some countries progressing and leaving others behind or allow the less developed countries to be a drag on the more developed member states.”

an ASEAN Economic Region where there is a free flow of goods, services, investments, freer flow of capital etc.

At the Bali Summit in 2003, the ASEAN leaders declared that the AEC would be the goal by 2020. During the 38th ASEAN Economic Ministers Meeting in Kuala Lumpur in 2006, the Economic Ministers recommended to bring forward the ASEAN economic integration on the grounds that a lot had already been done at that stage. At the 13th ASEAN Summit in Singapore in 2007, the blueprint for the AEC was signed. The blueprint chartered the course for how the AEC is to be achieved in terms of trade and looked into all aspects of the trade such as services, investment components, regulations etc. There were key milestones to be met by 2015.

ASEAN was way ahead in terms of the liberalization of goods, but we lagged behind in services liberalization as this was a new area for all of us. We did the liberalization of services in phases (we call them packages).

ER: How does ASEAN keep track of the developments towards AEC? We have a monitoring system to keep us on track to the AEC. We call it the score-card.

When drawing up the action plan to help us meet our goals of AEC we had to take into

EUMCCI REVIEW

5

COVER STORY

“AEC is really a journey by ASEAN that has been ongoing since the 1980s and will continue thereafter.”

consideration less developed countries in ASEAN like Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam (collectively known as CLMV).

These countries were given extra three years – till 2018 – to fulfil all their commitments for AEC. The others known as the ASEAN 6 (Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand) – the more developed economies in ASEAN – have 2015 as the deadline.

One of the reasons we gave CLMV the extension was because in ASEAN inclusion is important. We cannot have some countries progressing and leaving others behind or allow the less developed countries to be a drag on the more developed member states. When drawing up the blueprint we wanted to strike a balance when looking at the economic development of the region. For ASEAN, the inclusive and the sustainable development elements were important

and were taken into consideration when the blueprint and the action plans were drawn up.

ER: What are some of the challenges on the road to AEC? DDR: Although ASEAN has accomplished a lot, there is still much more things to be done. One of the biggest challenges is rules and regulations. In drawing up any trading arrangements, the most difficult things are those concerning the rules and regulations.

But I am positive that all these will be eventually ironed out.

ER: What are the targets that Malaysia has for itself when it assumes the chairmanship of ASEAN in 2015?

DDR: There are two things that Malaysia is looking to achieve during its chairmanship.

The first is the post - 2015 agenda, and secondly, perhaps the substantial conclusion of regional comprehensive economic partnership. A priority would be to manage the non - tariff barriers and measures.

ER: What are the sectors in Malaysia that are protected even with the onset of AEC? DDR: As a rule we do not protect and I don’t like to use the word protect, but we want to ensure fair trade. There are sectors in Malaysia that are strategic and important for our economic growth and to ensure a balance in the social economic development of the country. These sectors also need to continue to grow because of the beneficial economic-spin offs to the nation.

ER: What is the feedback from the local business community towards AEC? DDR: You get two sides: those who are exporting their goods see the potential of AEC and are very happy about it. The world has opened for them and it is easier to do business. On the other side, you will always get some in the business community who have some level of anxiety because of the increasing competition. Consumers benefit from a wider range of goods and services provided at more competitive prices. The rising tide of competition is

6

EUMCCI REVIEW

inevitable and our businesses must be able to compete.

Having said that, Malaysia also believes that the trading system must not just be free but it also must be fair. There are mechanisms through WTO rules, which we will use in the event of unfair trade practices. We believe that free trade is good but fair trade is better!

ER: What would you like to say to the foreign investors regarding AEC? DDR: Foreign investors will definitely benefit from AEC. When a foreign firm locates in Malaysia and invests in Malaysia you are not only investing in Malaysia but investing in ASEAN through Malaysia. It is the same when you invest in other ASEAN member states. Since 2005, intra - ASEAN trade value almost doubled reaching 602 billion USD in 2012.

Foreign investors have to start thinking differently about Malaysia. You are not just investing or exporting to a country of 29 million people, but a region with a potential reach of 600 million consumers. Given ASEAN’s network of FTAs, investing in ASEAN also extends the investors reach to the markets of our FTA partners.

Talking of foreign investors, the biggest foreign investors in ASEAN have been EU (at slightly more than 21 per cent) and Japan (at more than 13 per cent). These two countries accounted for almost 35 per cent of the total FDI inflows into ASEAN from 2008 to 2012.

ER: How is MITI engaging the SMEs? DDR: In MITI we have a very open system. Anyone can email us and we share the information among ourselves and take action. Businesses can also leave complaints on our website. We have regular meetings with businesses to understand their concerns and work to resolve them.

The Minister of MITI meets the business community on a regular basis. MITI officers go out on outreach programmes very regularly and by that I mean weekly if not every other week to different parts of Malaysia – right to the district levels. We

organise pocket talks where we give basic information to SMEs on how to access FTAs, what incentives they can get if they are a start up, what are the roles of MITI and agencies.

We bring a team along, which means someone from MATRADE, MITI, FTA, SME Corp, someone from the Bumiputra section and MIDA. I welcome businesses to come to MITI and tell us your concerns and challenges in doing business in Malaysia or ASEAN. Unless and until the business communities highlight the issues we may not know the problems they face. As we work to deepen ASEAN economic integration, we want to make doing business in ASEAN as seamless as possible. EU

“Unless and until the business communities highlight the issues we may not know the problems they face.”

EUMCCI REVIEW

7

THE SABAH DEVELOPMENT CORRIDOR (SDC) SDC will transform Sabah into an internationally recognised destination for business, culture and nature.

Maliau Basin

Sapangar Bay Port

F

or too long Sabah has remained in the shadows of development. All that is about to change thanks to the Sabah Development Corridor (SDC).

Located in the second largest state of Malaysia, SDC is one of Malaysia’s five economic corridors aspired to transform Sabah into an internationally recognised destination for business, culture and nature.

The programme is targeting to increase Sabah’s liveability index and attract investments by means of infrastructure development and lowered cost of doing business, while also promoting high-value industries and services, balanced economic growth and environmental conservation.

Six Strategic Development Areas were created to generate economic growth and ensure optimum resource allocation, namely: the Bio-Triangle, Agro Marine Belt, Interior Food Valley, Kinabalu Gold Coast Enclave, and Brunei Bay Integrated Development Area, along with the Oil and Gas Clusters. Investment in the promoted sectors within these areas is eligible for SDC fiscal incentives of up to 100% income tax exemption for up to 10 years.

8

EUMCCI REVIEW

Following the alignment of the corridor to the Economic Transformation Programme through the Corridors and Regional Cities Lab initiative, key economic sectors promoted within the SDC to realise Malaysia’s 2020 goal as a high-income nation are agriculture, tourism, logistics and manufacturing, oil gas and energy, education and palm oil.

drawing investments from China, Taiwan, South Korea, the United States, Singapore, Brunei, Australia and the European Union.

As at the first quarter of 2014, a total of RM 128 billion worth of investments have been planned and committed since the launch of the SDC. To date, about RM38 billion has been realised from the amount committed.

The SDC is implemented in three phases: Phase One (2008-2010) focused on mobilising high impact socio-economic projects in order to bring sustainable economic benefit to the rural people, and providing basic infrastructure to support economic growth. For Phase Two (2011-2015), the emphasis is in attracting greater investments in high value-added activities, promoting SMEs and mobilising new sources of economic growth, such as biotechnology and the creative industry.

Going forward, key focus areas within the SDC will be further developed, while efforts are directed on enhancing human capital and global connectivity. The efficiency of the logistics sector shall be given a boost by improving the relevant infrastructure and enhancing the integration of land, sea, and air services. Internet broadband access shall also be upgraded. Investment into SDC is facilitated by the Sabah Economic Development and Investment Authority, the One Stop Authority for SDC and can be reached at Wisma SEDIA, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah or www.sedia.com.my.

By 2012, Sabah had unmistakably emerged as a preferred destination for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) as well as domestic investment. Sabah had been Mount Kinabalu

Things are really moving forward in Sabah and investors are urged to take part in the exciting business environment of Sabah. EU

A place of

Business, Culture and Nature The Sabah Development Corridor (SDC) was established in 2008 with the aim of promoting sustainable economic growth, distributing wealth in the state and unlocking its vast wealth of diversified resources that can bolster tourism, agriculture and manufacturing reinforced by the introduction of the Government Transformation Programme(GTP), Economic Transformation Programme (ETP) and the Tenth Malaysia Plan.

The state of Sabah is a breathtaking, warm and welcoming place for tourists and investors alike.

A region from which to build a better world. SDC is definitely the corridor to expand your business in Sabah.

Come and discover the secrets of Sabah: How your holiday can turn into an exciting business opportunity!

Sabah Economic Development and Investment Authority (SEDIA) Lot 1, Wisma SEDIA, Off Jalan Pintas-Penampang P.O.Box 17251, 88873 Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, MALAYSIA Phone: +6088450650 Fax: +6088450699 info@sedia.com.my www.sedia.com.my

FEATURE

TASTES OF EUROPE 2014 Food products from Europe enthralled the guests at the 13th annual Tastes of Europe Fest.

Photography by V. Chanthiran

Tastes of Europe Fest 2014 Date: Friday, 16th May 2014 Venue: Taman Mahsuri,

The Royale Chulan,

Kuala Lumpur

O

ne of the most anticipated events for the European community in Kuala Lumpur and for local food connoisseurs is the Tastes of Europe Fest.

Organised by EUMCCI together with the European Bilateral Chambers of Commerce and Business Councils and Embassies, the annual food fest has become one of the most popular events for both expatriates and Malaysians.

Group photo of all the exhibitors

The main event was preceded by two educational workshops. The first was a Chocolate Appreciation Workshop, conducted

by Mr. Indra Seghar from Pierre Ledent, a multi award winning Belgian Master Chocolatier. The second workshop was on wines by sommelier Mr. Roderick Wong.

The main event saw a crowd of 400 people who sampled a wide variety of wine, beer, cheese, gourmet foods and other products from 14 European countries. One of the attractions of the event was the lucky draw.

Many guests walked away with prizes.

The grand prize was two flight tickets from Qatar Airways to any destination on Qatar Airways route.

Roderick Wong from the Wine Academy

Indhra Seghar at the Chocolate Appreciation Workshop

For some guests like Rouvin Thiruchelvam, Tastes of Europe is an event that he looks forward to eagerly. “I have been coming here every year for the past four years with my buddies. It’s like an annual get together with friends. I would not miss it for the world!” EU

Camelia Narcis Tudose and Andrin Raj

10 EUMCCI REVIEW

Betsy Yeuns, Datin Josephine Low and Marinella Reid

Lee Patrick, winner of the grand prize

Shireen Tan won the second prize, two economy class tickets to Europe from Qatar Airways

Prof Dr. Geoffrey Williams, Dr. Gerhard Weihs and Wang Yin

Miltos Denediotis and Rachel Suppiah

Alessandro Paolicchi, Tim Saw and Fermin Fautsch

Maria Joao Liew, Reis Chong, Chew Wivy and Shireen Tan

About 400 people attended the Tastes of Europe Fest

EUMCCI REVIEW 11

FEATURE

Stefanie Braukmann , V. Ganesan, Sharmila V.Narayanan, Cass Lai, Alun Jones

Breads galore!

Daniel Krahenbuhl, Pete and Helen Pereira and Shazmin Shamsudin

Gerradine Raj, Jacquiline Raj and Cyndie Ng

12 EUMCCI REVIEW

Natasa Zambelli and Jana Izquierdo

Inge and Ram Sharma

C

M

Y

CM

MY

CY

CMY

K

FEATURE

FORUM ON FOOD SAFETY: CONCEPT PRESENTATION

The Concept Presentation for the EU-ASEAN Forum on Food Safety gave a glimpse into what attendees can expect at the forum which will be held in October this year.

Forum on Food Safety: Concept Presentation Date: Friday, 13th June 2014 Venue: Grand Millennium,

Kuala Lumpur

A

nyone involved in the food industry – from food producers to those involved in packaging, shipping and logistics, from food scientists to regulators, etc. – should mark the dates the 13th and 14th October in their calendar as these are the dates when the EU - ASEAN Forum for Food Safety will be held in Kuala Lumpur at the Grand Millennium.

The event is organised by the EUMCCI together with the Malaysia - Belgium Luxembourg Business Council, the Malaysian Dutch Business Council, Ubifrance Malaysia, the Malaysian Spanish Chamber of Commerce & Industry, the European Business and Innovation Centre Network and Stiftelsen Europa Institutet.

The forum is co-funded by the European Union under its Support for European Business in South East Asia Markets –

16 EUMCCI REVIEW

Malaysia Component (SEBSEAM - M).

The EU-ASEAN Forum for Food Safety 2014 is one of the activities under the SEBSEAM - M project for the agribusiness services sector. The objective of this project is to promote trade and investment flows between the EU, Malaysia and the ASEAN market access, specifically for EU SMEs who have little trade support and presence in Malaysia and in the ASEAN markets.

Pans outlined further, what attendees for the forum can expect. The two day forum will be packed with an impressive range of seminars, debates and networking opportunities centered around four topics: shelf life, traceability, cold chain and labeling.

To increase public awareness of the forum, a concept presentation to the European trade counsellors and embassies, Malaysian stakeholders and the local media was held.

During the presentation, Co - Sector Leader for the SEBSEAM - M’s Agribusiness Services, Mr. Daniel Pans, gave some sobering statistics to stress the importance of food safety. “It is estimated that 48 million people fall sick from food borne diseases each year,” he said. “Losses to the food industry caused by food safety issues is more than USD 50 billion annually – and that’s just in the United States alone.”

•

He also pointed out that in this global economy, food contamination that occurs in one country have a global effect. For example, the infant formula contamination in New Zealand also affected Asia, where many consumers bought the product for their infants. “Which is why this forum will be very important,” he said.

Pans gave three important reasons for attending the Forum:

•

•

It’s a good platform for ASEAN food industry experts, decision makers and thought leaders to embark on innovative ideas and implement practical solutions.

Participants will be exposed to new concepts, technologies and experiences to support harmonization of food safety standards.

An opportunity for food exporters and food safety solution providers to present their high quality products to an audience of potential business partners.

The EU - ASEAN Forum on Food Safety is marked to be one of the biggest events in the food industry in the region. For more information, email: info@eumcci. com/eumcci@eumcci.com or visit the website: www.eumcci.com. For information on the forum visit the website at www.eu-aseanforum.com EU

Looking for a business partner in the European Union?

EUMCCI Review is a magazine that is the voice of a business community that is vibrant, dynamic and is expected to grow by leaps and bounds. Generally, analysts believe that the EU-Malaysia trade relations is set to see tremendous growth.

EUMCCI Review is distributed on a quarterly basis to EUMCCI members, all Embassies, industry associations and government officials with whom the Chamber has dealings with as well as with European Chambers worldwide. It is also sold to the public in all the leading bookshops in Malaysia. EUMCCI Review is an excellent medium to showcase your company, products or services. Rest assured that your products and services will reach a very nice market that you are targeting.

Advertise with EUMCCI Review and grow from strength to strength.

2014 is a special year for EUMCCI Review as it celebrates its 11th year.

Be a part of the celebration and advertise with EUMCCI Review.

MAR – MAY 2014 RM10.00 WM RM8.00 | EM

H NBURG EDISCOTL AND May 2014.

Commencing 28th with our will be delighted Qatar Airways you over 1,000 in-flight you step on board Indulge yourself with From the moment winning cabin comfortable seats. choices. Our award spacious cabins and and tantalizing menu flight. entertainment options,will care for you throughout your crew seamlessly you can also travel oneworld alliance and benefit a member of the over 550 airport lounges Now that we are access , s worldwide flyer program. to over 800 destination and well-established frequent from a generous ys.com/my please visit qatarairwa To book your ticket travel agent. or contact your preferred World’s 5-star airline.

& EU-Malaysia Trade2014 Investment Forum I Trade Issues Launch of EUMCC tions 2014 and Recommenda

e our “We have to chang ption society’s perce of corruption.”

, Dato’ Hisham Nordin for Corruption Director of NKRA

anti-corruption “The results of ourvisible in a few years.” measures will be Minister in

Low, Senator Datuk Paul s Department Prime Minister’

Target Market Business community with a vested interest in the growth of trade and investment between EU and Malaysia.

Magazine Details Frequency: Quarterly Issue: • Mar • Jun • Sep • Dec

Distribution • • • • • •

all EU Bilateral Business Councils / Chambers all Embassies all EU diplomats Business information counters at KLIA & MIDA EU Delegations & EuroChambers in SEA Chambers of Commerce in Europe, Government agencies & organisations in Malaysia • European Business Organisation Network and EU-ASEAN Business Council • Hotels executive lounges

Advertising Rates (Full Colour) Position Inside Front Cover Inside Back Cover Outside Back Cover Full Page – Rob Half Page Quarter Page

Casual Rates RM8 000 RM6 000 RM10 000 RM3 500 RM2 500 RM1 500

2 Times RM7 000 RM5 000 RM9 000 RM3 325 RM2 375 RM1 425

For enquiries please call: Ganesan @ 012 3739422

MPH Group Magazine (M) Sdn Bhd (771396-H) Lot 1, 1st Floor, Bangunan TH, No. 5 Jalan Bersatu, Seksyen 13/4, 46200 Petaling Jaya, Selangor DE, Malaysia Tel: +603-7960 7334 Fax: +603-7960 3278 E-mail: ganesan@mph.com.my

4 Times RM6 000 RM4 000 RM8 000 RM3 150 RM2 250 RM1 350

PML Diaries

SELANGOR HALAL HUB –

THE FUTURE OF HALAL INDUSTRIES AND SOLUTIONS Selangor has all the facilities and infrastructure ready to make it a global halal hub.

T

he Arabic word halal is today a common place in many societies with Muslim majority or minority.

The meaning simply translates into “permissible” under Islamic Law and thereby does not only include permissible food items for the global Muslim population.

Halal defines a whole way of life, since it classifies not only objects, but also actions permissible for true believers of Islam. The opposite is denoted by the word “haram”, which literally means sinful.

With a global Muslim population of more than 1.8 billion people, the word halal has become part and parcel of many industries and service sectors. According to the World Halal Forum 2013, this vast market is estimated at USD 2.3 trillion, where the halal food sector alone provides for USD 700 million. Coincidentally, the World Halal Forum is held in Malaysia, for which the country claims be a major hub of the global halal supply chain.

Malaysia is part of a global halal market, which expands at fast pace. The country has vivid trade ties with the Middle East, India and China, where Muslim majority or sizable minorities provide a large

18 EUMCCI REVIEW

customer-base. Exports of halal products amount to RM 30 to 40 billion annually, which is a share of more than 5% of all Malaysian exports or 1.25% of the global halal trade. These numbers are significant considering that of roughly 700 halal exporters at least 75% - 80% are small and medium-sized enterprises.

Key halal industries in Malaysia with sizable export volumes are food ingredients & additives at approximately 32%, food & beverages amounting to almost 41% as well

as Palm Oil Derivatives around 15%.

Other relevant sectors include industrial chemicals, cosmetics & personal care as well as pharmaceuticals, which range between 6% to 1% only. Nevertheless, there are also increasingly interesting trends in the service sector, which include tremendous growth in Islamic Finance (Malaysian Islamic banking assets rose to USD 132 billion as at end of November 2013 – 13% of global share) or halal logistics (estimated market value of about USD 1.9 billion in Malaysia).

1% 5%

6% 32%

15%

41%

Source: HDC, Department of Statistic, JAKIM, Custom Department & MATRADE, 2013

W.P.LABUAN 1%

SARAWAK 3% SABAH 2% TERENGGANU 1%

W.P.PUTRAJAYA 0%

W.P.KUALA LUMPUR 15%

JOHOR 14%

W.P. LABUAN 0%

KEDAH 4% KELANTAN 1% MELAKA 2% NEGERI SEMBILAN 3% PAHANG 2% PENANG 9%

SELANGOR 42%

W.P. PUTRAJAYA 1% JOHOR 9%

W.P.KUALA UMPUR 2%

PENANG 9%

SARAWAK 2% SABAH 1% TERENGGANU 0%

PERAK 3% PERLIS 0%

KELANTAN

KEDAH 0% 2% MELAKA 1% NEGERI SEMBILAN 2% PAHANG 0% PERAK 2% PERLIS 0%

SELANGOR 48%

Source: HDC, 2014

The Malaysian halal market is based on a stringent system of certification through public and religious bodies, which ensure that halal products are up to the highest standard. In Malaysia Federal Agencies, the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (JAKIM) in collaboration with SIRIM Corporation, are setting standards and procedures, while the actual monitoring and certification is executed by corresponding state agencies of JAKIM, e.g. JAIS in Selangor. Since Malaysia’s halal certification has obtained global recognition, media reports note that about 1/3 of all certification applications are usually unsuccessful. A recent public outrage over a potential contamination of UK’s Cadbury chocolate in violation of Cadbury’s obligations under the halal certification in Malaysia has made another strong case for the importance of certification and continuous audit. For more information on certification, please contact the Selangor State Investment Centre or consult http://www.islam.gov.my/en.

Since the Malaysian government established Halal Industry Development Corporation (HDC), efforts of supporting the development and expansion of halal industries in the country have been streamlined through incentives, training and other services. The HDC database of halal certified corporations demonstrates in a formidable way that Selangor has become a main beneficiary of this development.

More than 1,100 or over 40% of all halal certified corporations registered in Malaysia are located in Selangor. A second look at halal certified products does not

only enforce this lead on other states, but further extends it to 48%.

Selangor does not stop at attracting and nurturing most halal certified corporations, but established two leading halal parks certified by Halal Industry Development Corporation under the Halmas accreditation. This accreditation allows companies located in respective parks to benefit from all halal-related investment incentives. The Selangor Halal Hub offers 700 acres of land specifically to halal certified and related industries in direct neighborhood to Port Klang’s Westport, while Port Klang Freezone offers additionally 100 acres and again in close proximity to port facilities.

Selangor Halal Hub is offering services and assistance to foreign and domestic investors, which have not yet obtained their halal certification or wish to benefit from halal-related incentives. This comprehensive package certainly sets the location apart from competitors and is complimented by shared halal certified facilities. Consequently, several domestic and also foreign corporations such as Oleon, FELDA, Ramly Food or PML Dairies (an F&N company) are setting up operations or are already producing in the park. (For more information: http://pulauindah.com.my/) Malaysia and in particular Selangor are looking at a bright future in halal markets such as Europe and Middle East as well as India and China with their large Muslim minorities. As for Europe, the interest of collaboration, investment

Oleon

and trade has increased exponentially within countries such as Belgium, the Netherlands and France. Belgium and the Netherlands hope to become gateways into the European market, while ports such as Marseille in France are re-inventing themselves focused on halal services. Halal logistics, packaging and trading have achieved great progress, while in Selangor European corporations are looking into benefitting from the globally most reputable halal certification for halal products. As much as Europe’s vast consumer markets provide endless opportunities, Malaysia is able to provide a unique and globally respected service in order to create a win-win situation. Moreover, the negotiation of a European Union – Malaysia Trade Agreement might spur additional growth as soon as the Transpacific Partnership Agreement has been finalized. EU

EUMCCI REVIEW 19

EU COUNTRY FOCUS:

Kingdom of Denmark

I

t is a great time to be a Dane. Denmark is in the news for all the right reasons.

Denmark is said to have the world’s highest social mobility; has the world’s lowest level of income inequality and together with New Zealand is ranked no 1 in Transparency International’s ranking of least corrupt countries. Copenhagen, its capital city, has been repeatedly nominated the most livable city in the world and has also won the European Green Capital Award in 2014.

It is not without reason that the Danes are also announced as the happiest people in the world. The high degree of individual freedom, allowing people to shape their own lives, combined with a high level of security and an unusual high degree of trust among each other all contribute to making Danes happy.

“Work life balance is also important for the Danish people,” explains H.E Nicolai Ruge, Denmark’s Ambassador to Malaysia.

“They also know that money is not everything. Our CEOs don’t make the kind of money that others do in other western countries and it is not socially acceptable either. Denmark also has one of the world’s highest personal income tax rate. Denmark and the other Nordic countries have been able to combine a competitive capitalism and a strong welfare state.”

Trade

“In terms of trade, Denmark is very open and very outward looking,” explains Ruge.

“EU is of course our largest trading partner followed by North America. But there has also been a huge growth in trade outside these two spheres with Asia becoming very important to us.”

Malaysia is Denmark’s 50th largest market in terms of exports and 35th in terms of imports, informs Ruge. Denmark’s export 20 EUMCCI REVIEW

H.E. Nicolai Ruge, Denmark’s Ambassador to Malaysia

to Malaysia includes pharmaceuticals, machinery, food and dairy products.

“Malaysians consume quite a lot of dairy products compared to other countries in Southeast Asia, making it an increasingly important dairy market for us. Also, the market for pharmaceuticals, including treatment for diabetes is growing due to the increasing prevalence of diabetes,” says Ruge.

There are about 65 Danish companies with subsidiaries in Malaysia. Some of the major Danish companies with presence in Malaysia are Carlsberg, the Maersk Group (the world’s largest container ship operator and supply vessel operator), Danfoss Group (global producer of components and solutions used for refrigeration, air conditioning and heating buildings) and Novo Nordisk (a global healthcare company, well known especially for diabetes care).

Maersk, Danfoss and Novo Nordisk also have their regional headquarters for Southeast Asia, in Malaysia.

The green revolution “The next industrial revolution is going

to be green,” declares Ruge. Denmark was the first country in the world to implement an environmental law in 1973. Renewable energy policies have been at the heart of the Danish energy strategy for almost three decades. With a combination of advanced environmental legislation and companies focusing on energy efficiency, the country is in the forefront of green technology.

The world’s biggest solar heating plant, containing no less than 52,491 M2 solar collectors is in Denmark. It is also home to some of the biggest wind turbines that turn wind power into electricity. The Danish economy has almost doubled within the last 30 years and this happened without a rise in the country’s total energy consumption while the emission of CO2 decreased. This has resulted in Denmark having the lowest energy consumption in terms of economic output in the EU. Denmark has set some green goals for itself, such as being independent from fossil fuels by 2050. Copenhagen is going to be CO2 neutral by 2025 and by 2035, all electricity and heating in Denmark will be generated from renewable energy The advancement of green technology in the country was made possible by three things: tough environmental laws, heavy taxation for companies that pollute the environment and incentives for people to buy energy efficient products. “Green technology today constitutes 20 per cent of Denmark’s exports,” reveals Ruge.

The Denmark-Malaysia cooperation Not many people are aware of the help that Denmark extended to Malaysia in “promoting environmental conservation of natural resources; sustainable use of energy; and preventing air, water and soil pollution.”

Under the “Malaysian - Danish Environmental Cooperation Programme”, which lasted

from 1994 to 2010, Denmark supported the development of the Malaysian energy and environment sector. During the 16 years of cooperation 127 projects were implemented with concrete results for the Malaysian environment and positive effects for Malaysian society.

“Among the many tangible results are the Danish support in the drafting of Malaysia’s legislation on solid waste management, promotion of energy efficient solutions for public buildings as well as a number of partnerships between Malaysian and Danish companies,” says Ruge.

Denmark still continues to play an important role in helping developing countries. “One per cent of our country’s Gross National Income (GNI) is reserved for developmental and humanitarian assistance,” adds Ruge. EU

Denmark’s contribution to the world: Cinema Danish movies and actors have won worldwide acclaim. Movies such as Babette’s Feast (directed by Gabriel Axel), Pelle The Conqueror (directed

by Bille August) and In A Better World (directed by Susanne Bier) have won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Pelle The Conqueror’s director also won the Palme d’Or at the 1988 Cannes Film Festival and the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film while Susanne Bier also picked up a Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 2011.

Other famous Danish directors such as Lars von Trier (his films include Melancholia and the controversial Nymphomaniac), Bier and Nicolas Winding Refn, the director of the critically acclaimed Drive (2011) have made their debut in Hollywood.

The most famous Danish actor at the moment is Mads Mikkelsen who is a huge star back in Denmark. He won the Best Actor award at Cannes Film Festival in 2012 for The Hunt.

Mikkelsen also won international recognition for his role as the villain Le Chiffre in the 2006 James Bond film Casino Royale. However, it is his role as Dr Hannibal Lector in the acclaimed television series Hannibal that has made Mikkelsen a household name.

Architecture and design Denmark has a passion for design. Many world famous architects and designers hail from the country. The world famous Sydney Opera House was designed by a Dane, Jørn Utzon. Arne Jacobsen, an architect and designer introduced the concept of Functionalist architecture.

Today he is best known for his design of iconic chairs such as The Egg and The Swan which are highly sought after.

Other famous Danish designers who have left an indelible mark in the world of furnishings are Poul Henningsen, Poul Kjaerholm, Borge Mogensen,

Denmark at a glance: Official name Capital and largest city Population (2011 census) Official language Currency Government Monarch Prime Minister Legislature

: Kingdom of Denmark (Kongeriget Danmark) : Copenhagen : 5, 627,235 (Denmark); 56,370 (Greenland); Faroe Islands (49,709) : Danish. English is widely spoken in the country : Danish Kroner (DKK) : Constitutional monarchy with parliamentary democracy : Queen Magrethe II : Helle Thorning-Schmidt : Folketing

Kaare Klint (also known as the father of modern Danish design), Georg Jensen, a silversmith whose company would go on to be a luxury lifestyle brand, Nanna Ditzel, a furniture and jewellery designer and Han J. Wegner, a very important figure in chair design, to name a few.

with its philosophers who have had great influence in the Western world.

Among the most famous philosophers is Søren Kierkegaard, the creator of Christian existentialism.

Literature The first name that comes to many people when associating literature and Denmark is Hans Christian Andersen, whose fairy tales are known the world over and still beloved by children today. Danish writers have won the Nobel Prize in Literature. The first was awarded in 1917 to two Danish writers Henrik Pontoppidan and Karl Gjellerup and in 1944 to Johannes V. Jensen.

Gastronomy Copenhagen has emerged as one of the food capitals of the world. It has 12 Michelin star restaurants.

With two Michelin stars Noma has been announced the world’s best restaurant four times and the 2011 winner of Bocuse d’Or competition, the world chef championship, was won by a Dane, Rasmus Kofoed.

The New Nordic cuisine spearheaded in Denmark is winning fans from the world over making Denmark an international gastronomic food hub.

Philosophy Denmark has enthralled the world

Information sourced from: Wikipedia, CIA World Factbook & VisitDenmark

EUMCCI REVIEW 21

BREWING TOWARDS A BETTER FUTURE What makes Carlsberg Malaysia unique among the many MNCs in the country is its commitment to CSR. The launch of the J.C. Jacobsen Foundation, the first foundation of its kind from the Carlsberg Group in Asia that is named after the founder of Carlsberg, is a testament to the Brewer’s vision of investing in the future of Malaysia for the betterment of all.

A

nyone driving to Shah Alam will not miss the iconic green factory of Carlsberg Brewery Malaysia Berhad (Carlsberg Malaysia). Carlsberg has been present in Malaysia since 1972. It has a much longer history. It was founded

by J.C. Jacobsen in Copenhagen, Denmark

in 1847. Today the company is one of the best known companies to come from Denmark.

Carlsberg’s founder J.C. Jacobsen was a philanthropist. The Jacobsen family could be considered the early pioneers of

what is now known as corporate social responsibility (CSR). J.C. Jacobsen set up the Carlsberg Foundation in 1876. One of the purposes of the foundation was to fund social works and support other works beneficial to society. The Jacobsen family had always believed that it was not just important for their company to make money; the company also had to do its part and give back to society. This is what the 128 year old Carlsberg Foundation has done ever since. The Carlsberg Foundation has become synonymous with CSR the world over.

J.C. Jacobsen Foundation, a first in Asia From the time it first started its operations in Malaysia, Carlsberg Malaysia has been actively involved in many CSR activities that benefited the nation. The latest major milestone in the Brewer’s CSR history in Malaysia was the launch of the J.C. Jacobsen Foundation in June 2014. The launching of the J.C. Jacobsen Foundation (henceforth known as the Foundation) is historic because this is the first foundation of its kind of the Carlsberg

22 EUMCCI REVIEW

Group that has been established in Asia.

The Foundation follows in the steps of other foundations within the Carlsberg Group such as Carlsberg Foundation, New Carlsberg Foundation, Tuborg Foundation and Kronenbourg Foundation, which are renowned for their contributions for the advancement in the fields of science, arts, culture, sports and education. The CSR activities of the J.C. Jacobsen Foundation are concentrated mainly on three pillars: education, sports and the environment.

At the launch event of the Foundation more than RM400,000 was raised, of which RM300,000 was disbursed to various charities under the three pillars.

Foundation Chairman, Dato’ Lim Say Chong (also Chairman of Carlsberg Malaysia) said, “The Foundation’s mission is to collaborate with both existing and new charitable organisations as we believe that partnerships and working together will make an even greater difference. We hope the Foundation’s tagline, ‘Let’s brew a better, greener future’ will inspire us to go beyond and help shape the community and the environment.”

The three pillars of philanthropy The Foundation focuses on education, sports and the environment as these are the three pillars that hold up a society.

•

•

•

Education: Education is what makes or breaks a nation. It is one of the most important deciding factors that determines whether a country is developed or not. The Foundation will focus on raising funds for educational institutions that are in need of help. Before the creation of the Foundation, Carlsberg Malaysia had over 27 years helped raise more than RM400 million for 599 schools and education institutions.

Sports: The Foundation believes that sports is a great way to build goodwill among people of different races and beliefs. It also fosters greater cooperation and understanding.

The Brewer has a long association with sports in Malaysia as it has also been the official partner of Olympic Council Malaysia (OCM) since 1994.

Environment: Carlsberg depends on nature for the ingredients (such as malt, hops, water and yeast) to make its world famous beer. Through the J.C. Jacobsen Foundation, the Brewer is committed to safeguarding the environment by preventing pollution of air and water, recycling materials and reducing carbon footprint.

The fact that nearly 170 years after the first foundation of the company, Carlsberg is still able to carry on the vision of its founder

J.C. Jacobsen to contribute to society is a testament to the successful CSR culture of the company. J.C. Jacobsen would be so proud! EU

From left: Professor Flemming Besenbacher, Chairman of the Carlsberg Foundation and the Supervisory Board of Carlsberg A/S; Dato’ Lim Say Chong, Chairman of J.C. Jacobsen Foundation and Carlsberg Malaysia; Christopher Warmoth, Carlsberg Group Senior VP of Asia; and Henrik Juel Andersen, Managing Director of the Carlsberg Malaysia at the unveiling of J.C. Jacobsen Foundation logo

EUMCCI REVIEW 23

TRANSPORT MADE STRAIGHTFORWARD With two decades of experience in Malaysia and more than 100 logistics professionals operating out of its 4 offices across the country Danish logistics giant DSV is ready to support its customers logistics requirements in Malaysia and beyond.

D

SV Air & Sea Sdn. Bhd. is part of Danish transport and logistics Group DSV. Listed on the OMX Nasdaq Copenhagen stock exchange its 22,000 employees in 400 locations across 70 countries make DSV a truly global player.

DSV has been operating in Malaysia for more than two decades and has very quickly built a reputation as a company that offers unparalleled service to its customers.

Together with DSV Logistics Sdn. Bhd., it has a full set of custom clearance licenses in all of its offices located in the main international gateways in Malaysia – Port Klang, Kuala Lumpur International Airport, Penang and Johor Bahru.

DSV offers a wide range of services in Malaysia which in addition to its core products in airfreight, seafreight, road transportation and project related transportation include value-added services such as customs clearance, warehousing, cargo insurance and DSV e-services.

Part of the reason for DSV’s success in Malaysia has been its passionate and dedicated workforce of more than 100 people who strive to give the best services to their customers. Over the years DSV has built a strong local network and this combined with its leading edge global business system enables it to deliver total logistics solutions of high quality to its customers. EU For more information contact: DSV Air & Sea Sdn. Bhd. B-7-2, BBT One The Towers Lebuh Batu Nilam 2 Bandar Bukit Tinggi 41200 Klang Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia +603 3325 1100 pkg@my.dsv.com www.my.dsv.com

24 EUMCCI REVIEW

CHAMBER NEWS

VIP LUNCHEON SERIES - WITH THE CHIEF MINISTER OF PENANG,

MR. LIM GUAN ENG

P

enang Chief Minister the Right Honourable Mr. Lim Guan Eng was the VIP speaker in the popular EUMCCI VIP Luncheon series.

The event held on 21st May 2014 at the L’ Heritage Restaurant, The Royale Chulan Kuala Lumpur was well attended by the business community.

The Chief Minister’s speech was entitled ‘Penang Paradigm towards sustainable development.’ In his speech, Mr. Lim touched on several matters, among them: •

•

•

•

Penang has been doing well in recent years, recording a surplus on public expense. Its debts have been reduced by 95 per cent.

The state government has created a level playing field by staying out of business. Instead it focuses not only on providing the hard infrastructure, but also soft infrastructures like the rule of law where the sanctity of a contract is respected, basic freedom and a good and clear governance.

•

•

26 EUMCCI REVIEW

Penang has no natural resources and has to rely on its human capital to thrive. The Penang state government has taken some initiatives to fill in the gap in the national education system by having some innovative programmes like giving direct aid to good schools, encouraging TVET (technical and vocational education and training) to leverage on industrial collaboration.

Penang has introduced a new teaching system called STEM (Science, Technology, English, Mathematics) which puts emphasis on these subjects. One of the innovative programmes under this system is to bring in industry experts like engineers to teach science and technology to students to perk the students’ interests in the subjects. Another way in which Penang encourages interest in these subjects is by organising the Penang International Science Fair which is the premium science fair in the country. Another important step in encouraging the growth of science and technology in the state is via the establishment of the Penang Science Council, which has as its members, some of the biggest technology companies based in Penang.

In order to attract a large talent pool, Penang has taken steps to make it a livable city that is clean, green, safe and healthy. Penang has been cited as the most liveable city in Malaysia by the ECA International Locations Ratings Research. The organisation also named Penang Asia’s eighth most liveable city (Kuala Lumpur was ranked ninth).

Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) has become an important source of revenue for Penang. KPNG has cited Penang as one of the 31 emerging BPO hubs in the future. In March this

year the State Government launched a USD 1 billion BPO Park in the state.

During the Q & A session, one of the questions asked was what is Penang doing to bring back the tourists especially the younger ones and what is being done to clean up its beaches of Penang which have come under heavy criticism from tourists and hoteliers alike.

The Chief Minister was honest in his answer. “We will be the first to admit that the cleanliness of the beaches is not at par with the standard of the hotels,” he said.

He, however stressed that the situation is not as bad as it is reported and progress has been made. “Things have improved over the past few years. Cleaning the beaches will take a long time as it involves getting people to change their habits and attitudes towards littering. It is a work in progress and we are getting there.”

As for tourism on Penang island itself, Lim stressed that tremendous growth has been recorded. “We are not affected by the MAS MH370 tragedy. The hotel occupancy rates have gone up from 60 per cent to 70 per cent. Many tourists are complaining they can’t get rooms.”

He also revealed plans to further boost tourism on the island. These include building an environmentally friendly theme park in Batu Ferringhi, a proposed cable car route from Penang Hill to Teluk Bahang and sprucing up the Botanical Gardens. He also said George Town’s UNESCO World Heritage status has made it an increasingly popular choice for filmmakers from Taiwan, Hong Kong and the United Kingdom to shoot movies and television series.

Lim ended the session by saying that some of the programmes implemented in Penang could also be implemented nation wide. EU

BREAKFAST DIALOGUE WITH THE DG OF HEALTH

T

he Healthcare Committee organised the Breakfast Dialogue with the Director-General of Health, Ministry of Health Malaysia, Datuk Dr. Noor Hisham Abdullah on 24th June 2014 at the Best Western Premier Dua Sentral Kuala Lumpur.

The room was packed with guests who wanted to hear what Datuk Dr. Noor Hisham had to say about the state of the healthcare system in the country. Despite the complaints about the state of public healthcare in Malaysia, Malaysia still is able to deliver a better standard of public healthcare than some of the developed countries. This was one of the messages he had for the audience. “Bloomberg in its ‘Most efficient healthcare survices’ survey for 2013 ranked Malaysia 18th in the list, which had 48 countries in total. The United States of America was ranked 46th!

Malaysia’s healthcare cost as percentage of GDP per capita was at 3.3 per cent compared to the US which was at nearly 18 per cent,” said Datuk Dr. Noor Hisham.

Here are some of the highlights of his speech: • The Ministry of Health has a health vision for the country where both the

•

public and the private healthcare sector work together towards better healthcare.

Since there is a huge rise among Malaysians in non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as blood pressure, diabetes, heart attack, stroke etc, it is imperative that patients be empowered to take care of their own health. He stressed that the solution is to have excellent primary care in public and private hospitals. “The focus will be on the patient and it is to be driven

•

by the quality of care from both the public and private sectors,” he added.

The Government must also play a role in this by providing the platform for people to take responsibility for their health. “For example, we know that exercise is an important component in combating NCDs. Government must give people the places for them to exercise like having parks or jogging tracks near housing areas or towns.

Government has to relook at planning of township so there are parks and recreational areas,” said Datuk Dr. Noor Hisham.

Public healthcare is heavily subsidized.

At present 30 per cent of patients at public hospitals are foreigners who are enjoying the subsidies. A system has to be put into place where public hospitals are able to charge patients the market rate, especially if they are foreigners.

During the Q & A session that followed, questions were asked that touched on several topics such as the manufacturing of generic drugs, the potential integration of traditional complementary medicine into the current healthcare practices and self-medication. EU EUMCCI REVIEW 27

CHAMBER NEWS

EEGT INDUSTRY DIALOGUE WITH

MALAYSIAN PHOTOVOLTAIC INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION (MPIA)

O

n 17th June 2014, the EUMCCI Environment, Energy & Green Technology (EEGT) Committee had an industry dialogue with Mr. Ahmad Shadzli Abdul Wahab, President of Malaysian Photovoltaic Industry Association (MPIA). At the event, which was held at the EUMCCI conference room, Ahmad Shadzli updated the participants on the latest developments in the Solar Photovoltaic (PV) industry. MPIA is currently working with Malaysian Industry Government Group for High Technology (MIGHT) on the Solar Technology Roadmap 2015 - 2030. Since the Solar PV industry is being limited by the Renewable Energy (RE) quota, the industry is not growing significantly at the moment.

With oil prices increasing due to the gradual removal of existing subsidies by the Malaysian Government, the Solar PV industry is thought to be fairly lucrative if the Solar PV prices could decrease at the same time, even without the support from Malaysia’s Feed-in Tariff (FiT)

system. The FiT system helps to ensure the economic viability of renewable energy for companies, industries and individuals by guaranteeing access to the grid and setting a favourable price per unit of renewable energy. Ahmad Shadzli further shared with the participants MPIA’s proposal to the government which complements the existing FiT system and encourages more private sector-driven investments in the Solar PV industry. As the FiT system was designed to kick start the growth of the renewable energy sector and it will not be in place forever, there will be a need for the Energy Efficiency Act to be established.

The EUMCCI EEGT Committee will continue to engage with MPIA and the Energy Commission. EU

EDUCATION COMMITTEE ENGAGEMENT WITH TALENT CORP

T

he EUMCCI Education Committee engaged with Talent Corp in a dialogue session on the Employment Pass Category II (EPII). The dialogue session was well attended by participants from companies and universities.

The EPII is an initiative introduced by the Malaysian Government to enable top foreign graduates who had completed tertiary education in Malaysia and young professionals to pursue employment in the country. The current eligibility of Employment Pass was also liberalised to cater to these young foreign talents to stay on and seek employment.

Ms. Farah Delah Suhaimi Kumed Suresh, the speaker for this event, introduced the EPII and explained the application process

28 EUMCCI REVIEW

to the participants. She also introduced the participants to other Talent Corp initiatives such as the Expatriate Services Division ESD Online Portal which was launched in April 2013. During the discussion that followed, Farah explained the difference between Employment Pass Category I &

Category II, and the Residence Pass Talent (RPT). With several positive feedbacks from the participants and the speaker on this engagement, the EUMCCI Education Committee has decided to continue its engagement with TalentCorp on similar matters in the near future. EU

EUMCCI COCKTAIL NETWORKING SESSION

RAIL SOLUTIONS ASIA 2014

T

he Exhibition Hallway at Level 3, KLCC Kuala Lumpur was packed for the cocktail networking session held in conjunction with the Rail Solutions Asia 2014 Exhibition. The cocktail held on 7th May 2014 was organised by EUMCCI together with the Malaysian - Spanish Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Ubifrance Malaysia, the Malaysian - Danish Business Council, the Malaysia - Belgium Luxembourg Business Council, European Business and Innovation Centre Network and Stiftelsen Europa Institute.

The cocktail networking session was part of a project co-funded by the European Union under the Support for European Business in South East Asia Markets – Malaysia Component (SEBSEAM-M). The overall aim of this project is to promote trade and investment flows between the EU, Malaysia and the wider ASEAN market, and facilitate market access, specifically for SMEs. Under this project, the European Rail Solutions for Asia 2014 book was published to promote the participating European companies during the Rail Solutions Asia 2014 exhibition.

The cocktail networking session also served as a platform to bring together European SMEs and their Malaysian counterparts in the hope that it would stimulate potential business and investment opportunities for the European SMEs in Malaysia’s rail industry.

Deputy Head of Mission EU to Malaysia, Mr. Alessandro Paolicchi gave the opening address. The event was officiated by M r. A z m i A b d A z i z , S PA D ’s Chief Development Officer. Around 50 European companies participated in the rail exhibition and more than 200 people attended the cocktail networking event. EU

EUMCCI REVIEW 29

CHAMBER NEWS

CEO TALKS 2014

AT UNIVERSITY MALAYA

T

he EUMCCI Education Committee launched the first CEO Talks 2014 event at the University of Malaya.

The Education Committee believes that the CEO Talks series will not only enrich the learning experience of the future leaders and entrepreneurs in Malaysia but will also provide a platform for interested corporate members to directly engage with these local talents. The fact that the oldest university in Malaysia was prepared to work with EUMCCI shows the high regard with which its committees are held.

The event was held on 23rd May 2014 at the Auditorium Blok Ukur, Faculty of Built Environment, University of Malaya and was well attended by over 100 students from the faculty. The first speaker in the CEO Talks series was Mr. Daniel Loh, Managing Director of BASF (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd.

Daniel Loh

30 EUMCCI REVIEW

Loh held the audience captive as he gave insights into how the largest chemical company in the world operates. What made this session particularly interesting for the students was that Loh gave a lot of examples based on his own personal experiences. One important lesson that he imparted to the students was that one’s major in a university might not necessarily dictate one’s career path.

Loh showed himself as an example. He graduated in Mechanical Engineering and he never expected that one day he would eventually become a managing director in the world’s largest chemical company.

He urged students to never cease learning and be ready to take up new opportunities.

Second CEO Talks 2014

served him well in life and in his career.

Aime encouraged them to always have passion, integrity, and curiosity in life. He also shared with them his thoughts on energy management and efficiency and introduced them to two schools of thoughts popular in Europe: “Consume Green” and “Consume Low Carbon.” At the end of the session, the Schneider Electric team briefed the students on the Graduate Trainee Programme, including the opportunity to work in a different country.

Seeing the success of the two CEO Talks 2014 series, the Education committee will continue to engage closely with its members and improve on the CEO Talks series via a stronger collaboration with the educational institutions. EU

After the first successful CEO Talks, the second in the series was held on 30 th May 2014 at the Auditorium, Faculty of Engineering, University of Malaya. The speaker was Mr. Alexandre Aime, Vice President, Field Marketing Asia Pacific, Global Marketing, Schneider Electric. Aime’s talk was entitled ‘Culture, Growth and Leadership.’ Around 120 students packed the auditorium to listen to his talk.

Aime’s talk centered on leadership. He also gave the students a few tips which

Alexandre Aime

EUMCCI AGM

E

UMCCI’s AGM was held on 30th June 2014 at the Grand Millennium Hotel. Around 40 members from the EUMCCI and the industry attended the event. One of the AGM’s highlights was the presentation of EUMCCI’s activities in the previous year. Some of EUMCCI’s achievements for the past 12 months were:

•

•

EUMCCI’s 14 committees or industry sectorals' working groups were very active and held 33 committee meetings over the past 12 months.

EUMCCI is one of the most active chambers of commerce in the country. Last year it organised

•

•

and executed 96 programmes and activities which included among other things, industry dialogues, networking, site visits, working labs with Government stakeholders and many more.

EUMCCI held 26 major events last year, working closely with prestigious corporations and respected public figures for lobbying and networking purposes. Some of the most popular events were the VIP luncheons, trade & investment forums, panel discussions and social events such as Tastes of Europe and Sounds of Europe.

Another major triumph for EUMCCI last year was its winning bid for a five year project called Support for European Business in South East Asia Markets - Malaysia (SEBSEAM-M). EU

EBOWWN ELECTS

EUMCCI’S MINNA SANERI AS CHAIRPERSON

E

UMCCI’s General Manager, Ms. Minna Saneri, has been elected as the Chairperson of the European Business Organisation Worldwide

Network (EBOWWN) by the members of EBOWWN at their annual general meeting held on 17th June 2014 in Brussels. Saneri succeeds Jason Collins who served as the Chairman from 2011 - 2014. Saneri, who previously served as Vice Chairperson stated, “I am very honoured to take on this position and I see a lot of potential in further developing the network. In particular, I am extremely pleased with the growth of our organisation. This year’s AGM had the largest participation ever with over 24 individual European business organisations joining, including Trinidad and Tobago as well as Ghana. Network expansion remains one of the main aims of

EBOWWN together with strengthening of stakeholder relations both with European Institutions as well as host country and regional bodies.”

Saneri will lead a board of five people that together represent 24 European Business organisations that are located across the world and outside of the European Union.

As their first action for 2014, the board also co-opted Jason Collins (Australia), its former Chairman, to be an Honorary Advisor to EBOWWN. “Jason’s knowledge and experience are invaluable, and I am pleased that he will continue to support us,” said Saneri. EU EUMCCI REVIEW 31

CHAMBER NEWS

TRANSPORTATION AND LOGISTICS COMMITTEE on the topic of “Enhancing Customer Centric Service Delivery: Another Customs Initiative.” Tiong’s talk was held on 8th May 2014 at the EUMCCI conference room. The event was attended by participants from eight different organisations including DSV Air & Sea Sdn Bhd and Kelly Services Malaysia.

T

he EUMCCI Logistics & Transportation Committee invited Mr. Kenneth Tiong, an Associate of Malaysia Productivity Corporation (MPC), to share his thoughts with the industry

Tiong helped the participants to understand the global supply chain model, the ASEAN Cargo Processing Model and the “asis” and “to-be” import and export process flows. With a detailed explanation of each process from the export-side to the import side, he explained the issues concerning paperless processing and the payment of customs duty by agents. Throughout the session, Tiong gave a few recommendations to the existing systems.

The recommendations are expected to lead to significant annual savings which in turn would allow the generation of additional income from new businesses and help with productivity gains. EU

CSR OUTREACH PROGRAMME WITH ASTRO KASIH MALAYSIA

T

wenty six members of EUMCCI visited Astro’s headquarters at the All Asia Broadcast Centre in Technology Park at Bukit Jalil on 29th May 2014. They were hosted by the Astro Kasih team for a CSR sharing session.

The event started with a welcome note and introduction by Mr. David Yap, Vice President of Community Affairs, followed by a presentation by Ms. Jolyn Gasper, Head of Corporate Responsibility.

The EUMCCI visitors learned how Astro Kasih strives to build active and sustainable communities by providing education, knowledge, skills and experiences that truly make a difference. During the session, the Astro Kasih team shared four key areas of their CR efforts - Lifelong Learning, Community Development, Sports & Wellness and Environment. Each of these key areas has flagship programmes such as Kampus Astro, Astro Kasih Hostel & EkoVillage, 1MCC – Astro Kem Bola & Kem Badminton Astro and Astro Kasih's Beautiful Malaysia

32 EUMCCI REVIEW

campaign. Some of these programmes such as Astro Kasih Beautiful Malaysia (the world’s longest underwater coral cleanup) have gained international recognition. By providing a learning platform and content to all public schools and introducing better living conditions and practical hands - on approach to agriculture in rural areas, Astro Kasih continues to serve and reach out to their various stakeholders through their CR outreach programmes.

Participants were also given insights on creating and innovating sustainable CR

programmes and were invited to collaborate with Astro Kasih through various partnership opportunities. This was followed by a tour of the facilities which included a brief look at the integral components of television and radio broadcasting operations. Discussions on future possible collaborations with Astro Kasih continued over a networking lunch session and ended with an exchange of tokens of appreciation exchange between EUMCCI and Astro. To receive more information about Astro Kasih CR programmes, please log on to www.facebook.com/astrokasihmalaysia EU

HORIZON 2020

T

he EUMCCI Conference room was packed with attendees mainly from the universities. Among them were university deans, deputy vice chancellors for research, as well as a number of researchers.

They were there to attend a round table event organised by EUMCCI on Horizon 2020 – a European Union initiative that aims to promote research. The round table held on 27th May 2014 was chaired by Prof. Dr. Geoffrey Williams, chair of the Education Committee at EUMCCI and deputy vice chancellor

of UNIRAZAK, a private university in Kuala Lumpur.

Under the Horizon 2020 initiative, the European Union is giving out very generous funding in order to promote research and innovation. The funding is available to both European and international applicants, and encourages collaboration between research institutions and businesses. Because the EUMCCI has a good record of getting funding from the EU and its education

committee is very active, Dr. Williams recognised an opportunity for EUMCCI to be involved in the project by helping Malaysian universities find partners in the business sector, and to help them during the application process.

For more information on Horizon 2020 visit the website at http://ec.europa. eu/programmes/horizon2020/en.

For enquiries, please email EUMCCI at research@eumcci.com. EU

EUMCCI COMMITTEES MID-YEAR REVIEW BRIEFING

T

he EUMCCI had its Mid-Year Review Briefing on 30th May 2014 at the EUMCCI conference room. It was attended by the Head and Deputy Head of various committees. There were also some special VIP guests who attended the briefing. Among the special guests was Mr. Alessandro Paolicchi, Head of Section - Trade and Economic Relations, European Union Delegation to Malaysia. There was also a representative from the Ministry of Finance - International Division who attended the briefing.

The meeting began with a presentation

by Dr. Lee Jae Young, Group Head and Team Leader, ASEAN + 3 Macroeconomic

Research Office (AMRO). His presentation touched on several important issues such as performance and outlook of EU businesses

in Malaysia, challenges faced by EU businesses in Malaysia and the progress update on Malaysian - European Union Free Trade Agreement (MEUFTA) negotiations and the status of Generalised System of Preference (GSP) with the EU. There was a short discussion after the presentation which touched on several issues that affected the business community, such as on government procurement, Trans - Pacific Partnership (TPP) and on getting skilled labour.

After the presentation, the meeting continued with detailed explanation of the new governance structure and the presentation of the quarterly committee reports. EU EUMCCI REVIEW 33

CORPORATE PARTNER

BEVERLY WILSHIRE MEDICAL CENTRE WINS BRANDLAUREATE AWARD 2013

I

t was a proud moment for the Beverly Wilshire Medical Centre when it received the prestigious BrandLaureate SMEs BestBrands Award 2013 in Corporate Branding – Specialist Beauty Medical Centre.

“Winning this award is definitely a great start to the year. With high expectations and standards in place, we strive to deliver our brand promises at all times,” said BWMC’s Chairman, Dato’ Francis Ng.

choice for Malaysians and international clients: “We endeavour to deliver the best and most advanced treatments for our clients; feedback shows that we are building confidence in our brand name and positive rapport with both local and medical tourism patients,” said Dr. Nasir, Medical Director of BWMC.

The BrandLaureate SMEs BestBrands Award honours the brands that have played a pivotal role in the success of their brand names.

This award is evaluated based on a selected criteria consisting of areas such as brand strategy, integrated brand communications, brand performance, brand equity and brand culture. EU

With a unique position of having a foot in both the medical and beauty fields, BWMC has a first-of-its-kind advantage to offer creative solutions in raising brand awareness by innovatively utilizing a diversity of digital platforms.

Gaining acclaim in the Malaysian market, the centre is quickly becoming the first-

Beverly Wilshire Medical Centre doctors and senior management team

BNP PARIBAS MALAYSIA GOLF CHALLENGE 2014

T

he fourth BNP Paribas Malaysia Golf Challenge was held at the Saujana Golf and Country Club on Thursday, 26th June 2014. The event saw nearly 70 participants, consisting of both customers and staff, overcome the challenging 18 - hole Bunga Raya course which began with a shot gun tee off at 8.00am. This is the second time the BNP Paribas Malaysia Golf Challenge was held there.

The annual tournament allowed the staff to engage with existing clients as well as prospective corporates in a different environment. The half-day event wrapped up with a luncheon and prize giving ceremony for the winners. EU

34 EUMCCI REVIEW

SIEMENS WINS CONTRACT FOR TURNKEY CONSTRUCTION

S

Assembly of a Siemens H-Class gas turbine

iemens in a consortium with MMC Engineering Services Sdn Bhd (MMCES) of Malaysia won a contract from Malaysia’s state-owned petroleum corporation, PETRONAS, for the turnkey construction of the Pengerang Co-generation Plant (PCP) in Malaysia.

The contract requires Siemens to undertake the turnkey construction of the PCP, which comprises four cogeneration units along with a long-term maintenance and services contract. Each unit comes with an H class gas turbine, a waste-heat recovery steam generator, a steam turbine, associated mechanical and electrical systems and the instrumentation and control system. The PCP will be able to produce approximately 1,220 megawatts of power and up to 1,480 tonnes per hour of steam for the Pengerang Integrated Complex (PIC), PETRONAS’ mega development in Pengerang, Southern Johor, Malaysia. The PCP will be one of the largest and most efficient gas-fired power plants in Malaysia. EU

DISCOVERING EU VIA 28 DISHES

I

t’s a unique and mouthwatering way of discovering Europe – through its traditional dishes. That’s the idea behind the cookbook Europe Uncovered: A Journey in 28 Dishes, published by the Delegation of the European Union to Malaysia.

with in their homes and neighbourhoods.

They represent Europe’s diversity with geographical, historical and cultural influences coming together to develop a variety of cuisines and unique flavours,” he said.

The book is a collection of traditional recipes, festivals and trivia from the 28 EU Member States. It is produced in collaboration with the EU Member States’ embassies in Malaysia as well as locally - based European chefs.

Europe Uncovered was officially launched on the occasion of Europe Day on 9th May at the fine dining restaurant Samplings on the Fourteenth, BERJAYA University College of Hospitality. Speaking at the launch, the EU Delegation’s Chargé d’affaires a.i.

Mr. Alessandro Paolicchi highlighted the rich diversity symbolised in European cuisine.

The 65-page journey through Europe Uncovered is mouthwatering and eclectic with everything from globally popular dishes such as Austrian Wiener Schnitzel, French Macaroons and Swedish meatballs, to the more distinctive flavours of Bulgaria’s Yaitsa Po Panagyurski (poached eggs with spiced yoghurt), Lithuania’s Šaltibarščai (cold beet soup) and Romania’s Sarmale (stuffed soured cabbage).

“Many of the dishes featured in the book are those which Europeans have grown up

the School of Culinary Arts at BERJAYA University College of Hospitality, was on hand at the launch to demonstrate his dish: Seafood Gratin Oriental with Coconut Rice.

Europe Uncovered is available to the public for free. Those interested in obtaining a copy may email their details to euinmalaysia@ gmail.com. EU

Readers will also enjoy two special recipes, created by Kuala Lumpur - based chefs Jochen Kern and Nathalie Aberfeuille, which fuse classic European dishes with Malaysian flavours. Chef Jochen, who heads EUMCCI REVIEW 35

CORPORATE PARTNER

GM OF ROYALE CHULAN CONFERRED THE DATUKSHIP

T

he General Manager of Royale Chulan, Mr. Franz Swoboda, was bestowed the title of Darjah Indera Mahkota Pahang, which carries the title Datuk by His Royal Highness Tengku Mahkota Pahang Tuanku Abdullah Ibni Sultan Ahmad Shah. Datuk Franz has been with Royale Bintang Hotels & Resorts group for the past eight years.

Royale Chulan Kuala Lumpur is the crown jewel of the Royale Bintang group. With its distinctive traditional Malay design and its central location, the five star hotel is a popular MICE venue as well as one of the popular hotels for lavish weddings, banquets and other social events. Since early 2014 to date, the hotel has been the venue for many high profile events and conferences such as

the Society of Golden Keys International Conference, Petronas Dealer’s Award Night and Tourism Malaysia’s Aeromeet 2014. EU

Participants at Aeromeet 2014

MICHELIN UNVEILS NEW BENCHMARK IN TYRE RETAILING INDUSTRY

M

ichelin the global market leader in tyre technology aims to establish a new industry benchmark for tyre retailing in Malaysia with the launch of its fully-owned TYREPLUS outlet at Taman Megah, Petaling Jaya.

“Our new state-of-the-art retail outlet will be a role model in the network and demonstrates the concept of TYREPLUS. It offers dealers the opportunity to enhance their professional skills beyond tyre services and to upgrade to a multi-brand concept store to manage consumers’ expectations for quality vehicle maintenance services,” said Beltran Yturriaga, Managing Director, Michelin Malaysia Sdn Bhd. The new outlet will deliver a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) with continuous training and audit, a professional ERP retail

36 EUMCCI REVIEW

system and a Vehicle Check SOP to ensure standardization and consistency of quality is maintained across the network.

TYREPLUS will also collaborate with partners such as Bosch, Castrol and Motul who share the same vision for quality and professionalism.

Michelin started its TYREPLUS automotive maintenance workshop chain in 2002 and introduced the brand to Malaysia in 2009.

Besides Malaysia, the TYREPLUS concept has also been established with great success in China, Brazil, Thailand, Australia, Saudi Arabia and Mexico. EU

QATAR AIRWAYS FIRST COMMERCIAL FLIGHT ARRIVES AT HAMAD INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT (HIA)

I

t was a historic moment in Qatar Airways history as its first commercial flight QR1113 from Bahrain touched down at its new state-of-the heart hub, Hamad International Airport (HIA) on 24th May. “The moment we have all been building towards for many years arrived today as QR1113 touched down, marking the historic start of our full operations at the world-class Hamad International Airport,” said Qatar

Airways Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Akbar Al Baker. “This is yet another milestone in the rich history of Qatar Airways, and one that will allow us to fully realise our ambitions, and to offer our passengers the very best of services, both in the air and on the ground.”

outlets offering an unprecedented selection of designer labels, high street fashion, electronics, gourmet foods and much more, Qatar Duty Free at HIA also has more than 30 cafes and restaurants with a sumptuous selection of global and local cuisine.

HIA has many facilities such as free Wi-Fi to play areas for children, multiple quiet areas to relax, an amazing array of shopping and retail options. With more than 70 retail

For more information on Qatar Airways and HIA, visit its homepage www.qatarairways. com or its sites on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Instagram, and YouTube. EU

SPAIN COMBINES BUSINESS, GASTRONOMIC ACTIVITIES AND FOOTBALL

T

he Spanish Professional Football League (LFP) and ICEX Spain Trade & Investment, organised the LFP World Challenge, a new program that combines business and gastronomic activities with sports events through an international football tour with the participation of some of the best teams in LA LIGA.

The Malaysian leg of the 2014 tour consisted of a friendly match between Sevilla FC and Selangor FC at the Shah Alam Stadium on May 26th. Prior to the game a diverse group of people had the opportunity to enjoy the LFP Spain Experience - an exclusive lunch event highlighting the best of Spanish sports, gastronomy and technology. This event showcased a tapas menu designed specially by Spanish Chefs in Kuala Lumpur, paired with a selection of Spanish wines. EU EUMCCI REVIEW 37

NEW CORPORATE PARTNERS

AEB (Asia Pacific) Pte Ltd

AEB, with its vast experience and expertise in the fields of SCM and customs, offers IT support for all intralogistics processes and beyond, merging global trade and logistics in a single solution.

Person in Charge: Mr. Thomas Halliday, General Manager Asia Pacific Address: AEB (Asia Pacific) Pte Ltd 1 North Bridge Road # 14-01 High Street Centre Singapore 179094.

Tel: +65 6337 9300 Fax: +65 6337 9667 Email: thomas.halliday@aeb.com Website: www.aeb.com.sg

Berjaya Times Square Hotel, Kuala Lumpur

Berjaya Times Square Hotel, Kuala Lumpur is a prominent landmark strategically located in the heart of the city’s banking, commercial and vibrant shopping district. With a total of 650 rooms and suites complete with international-standard amenities, the hotel also houses an extensive selection of food and beverage outlets and recreational facilities built exclusively with a children’s playground, swimming pool, steam and sauna room, fitness center and two squash courts. Offering a distinctive Meetings Excellence program and boasting 15 function rooms including a grand ballroom, this hotel provides an excellent setting where business complements leisure.

Person in Charge: Mr. Mondi Mecja, General Manager Address: No. 1 Jalan Imbi 55100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Tel: +603 2117 8000 Fax: +603 2143 1130 Email:mondi.mecja@berjayahotel.com Website:www.berjayahotel.com/kualalumpur

C2C Consulting and Training (SGP) Pte. Ltd.

We are a global Learning & Organizational Development consultancy specialized in developing contextual OD solutions. We use a facilitated approach, develop and source relevant content and use a methodology that demonstrates value. We have offices in China, India, Singapore, Malaysia & the USA with global delivery capability and on the ground experience in 20+ countries.

Person in Charge: Mr. Vincent Bouw, Director & Principal Consultant Address: Level 15, 1 First Avenue, 2A Dataran Bandar Utama Damansara 47800 Petaling Jaya, Malaysia.

Tel : +603 7651 7917 Fax : +603 7651 7701 Email : vincent@concept2competence.com Website: www.concept2competence.com

C

M

Y

CM

MY

CY

CMY

K

Teleste Corporation Teleste develops and offers video and broadband technologies and related services. In 2013, Teleste’s net sales totalled EUR 192.8 million, and it is listed on the NASDAQ OMX Helsinki Ltd.

Person in Charge: Mr. Jukka Rinnevaara, Chief Executive Officer Address: P.O.Box 323, FI-20101 Turku, Finland.

Visiting address: Telestenkatu 1.

Tel: +358 2 2605 611 Fax: +358 2 2446 928 Email: sales@teleste.com Website: www.teleste.com

38 EUMCCI REVIEW

Lufthansa German Airlines

Lufthansa German Airlines offers direct non-stop flights from Kuala Lumpur to Frankfurt connecting onwards to 170 destinations in Europe and beyond.

In addition also flies from Kuala Lumpur to Jakarta Person in Charge: Mr. Paurus Nekoo, General Manager, Malaysia Address: 18th Floor, Kenanga International, Jalan Sultan Ismail, 50250 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Tel: +603 2053 1898 (Reservation & Ticketing) Fax: +603 2161 3079 Email: kulsales.gg@dlh.de Website: LH.com

Mahkota Technologies Sdn. Bhd. Mahkota Technologies Sdn. Bhd. (formerly GEC Malaysia) is one of Malaysia’s leading Engineering and Utilities company with presents it track records across Asia for over half of century of experience specializing in the provision of integrated turnkey solutions in infrastructure development and engineering solutions, products and services to the various industries.

Person in Charge:

Mr. Ramesh Kuppusamy Address:

Wisma Mahkota, Jalan 215-Templer, 46050 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia.

Tel: +603 7781 1388 Fax: +603 7783 9016 Email: ramesh@mahkotatech.com Website: www.mahkotatech.com

For more information, visit

CALENDAR OF EVENTS Here is the line up of recent and upcoming events organised or supported by EUMCCI. The dates and venues for the upcoming events have not been finalised. Please refer to the EUMCCI website – www.eumcci.com – for latest updates on the events.

Recent Events: Industry Dialogue on Automative Market Review and Outlook 2014 Date: 10th July 2014 Time: 2.30pm to 4.00pm Venue: Malaysian Automotive Association Conversation on Johor – Business Opportunities with IRDA and Senai Airport Date: 11th July 2014 Time: 9.00am to 12.00pm Venue: IRDA Satellite Office, KL Sentral Dialogue Session and Site Visit at Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) Date: 17th July 2014 Time: 9.30am to 1.30pm Venue: Port Klang Free Zone Sdn Bhd Dialogue with TalentCorp – Introduction to SIP, GEMS 2.0, Upskilling Date: 22nd July 2014 Time: 10.00am to 12.00pm Venue: EUMCCI

Upcoming Events: CEO Breakfast series with Schneider Electric Date: 13th August 2014 Time: 8.30am to 11.00am Venue: Grand Hyatt KL Interactive Dialogue on HR Issues with Malaysian Leaders – Datuk Yvonne Chia and Mr. Johan Merican Date: 18th August 2014 Time: TBC Venue: TBC

Breakfast Dialogue with the Immigration Department on Expatriate Services Division Date: 21st August 2014 Venue: EUMCCI Conference Room The EU-ASEAN Forum on Food Safety Date: 13th to 14th October 2014 Time: 9.00am to 5.00pm Venue: TBC IGEM 2014 Date: 16th to 19th October 2014 Time: 10.30am to 6.00pm Venue: Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre

Note: All events are correct at the time of printing. The events might be subject to change due to unforeseen circumstances. Please check EUMCCI website at www.eumcci.com for the latest updates on events or direct inquiries to events@eumcci.com or eumcci@eumcci.com or call +603 - 2162 6298

40 EUMCCI REVIEW

EDINBURGH SCOTLAND

Commencing 28th May 2014.

From the moment you step on board Qatar Airways you will be delighted with our spacious cabins and comfortable seats. Indulge yourself with over 1,000 in-flight entertainment options, and tantalizing menu choices. Our award winning cabin crew will care for you throughout your flight.

Now that we are a member of the oneworld alliance you can also travel seamlessly to over 800 destinations worldwide, access over 550 airport lounges and benefit from a generous and well-established frequent flyer program.

To book your ticket please visit qatarairways.com/my or contact your preferred travel agent.

World’s 5-star airline.