Executive summary

Introduction

The German-Thai Chamber of Commerce (GTCC) in Bangkok is a member of the German Chambers of Commerce Worldwide Network (AHK), with 140 locations in 92 countries. Since its establishment in Bangkok in 1962, the GTCC has maintained itself as a reliable intermediary between German and Thai businesses, thus contributing to the dynamism of the economic development in both countries.

In the course of 2021, GTCC put together about 166 events in total (83 events of the Membership, Events and Communications Department, 6 events of the Corporate Services Department, 1 event of the Trade Fair Department and 76 events of the GTDEE Department) and activities that encouraged further development and interaction of the German-Thai business community within Thailand and abroad. Despite the challenges of ever-changing covid-19 safety measures, GTCC team learnt to adapt to the situation. The reputation of being able to offer variety of opportunities and collaborations to members, partners and counterparts had been maintained through new/ adapted GTCC services and activities.

Membership, Events and Communications

By the end of 2021, GTCC managed to sustain 526 members in the face of the covid-19 pandemic in Thailand and worldwide which largely affected business activities. There were 462 members in Thailand (including 6 honourary members), plus 64 members in Germany and other countries. The Board of the GTCC has decided to initiate the establishment of GTCC Industry Committees on Human Resources, Tourism and Hospitality and Logistics to enhance the active participation of our members in GTCC activities, offer platforms for the exchange of knowledge and experiences among our members and discuss suggestions and proposals GTCC can put forward in the cooperation with our Thai partners in business, government and society. The GTCC HR committee organised two webinars and a virtual exchange. There was also a virtual preparatory meeting of the GTCC Tourism and Hospitality Committee.

GTCC members actively participated in GTCC’s virtual and physical events. Although GTCC Ball, GTCC Wine Dinner as well as GTCC Oktoberfest could not be organised due to the Covid-19 outbreak, GTCC held GTCC connects: Welcome New Year and GTCC Year End Cocktail Reception successfully with a limited number of participants to comply with the Thai government’s Covid-19 safety measures. GTCC also organised two member exclusive site visits to Bader Asia Co., Ltd. and Continental Tyres (Thailand) Co., Ltd. Monthly “GTCC Clean Air Initiative (CAI) Series - Green Solutions from Germany” webinars and monthly virtual get-together GTCC Open Forums had served as the alternative platforms for members to stay connect when it was not possible to organise the physical events.

GTCC continued utilising social media platforms such as facebook, LinkedIn, and twitter, to keep its members, business partners informed about events, activities and key changes in the business community. #IntroducingGTCCMembers media campaign was continued throughout the year to promote new members to the public. GTCC also fully supported its members by promoting their activities through its website’s members news section and a weekly e-newsletter “GTCC members promotions”. A biweekly GTCC e-UPDATE newsletter is the main channel for updated economic and selected member news. Quarterly UPDATE e-magazine remains a major publication providing essential information about the business and industry sectors in Thailand. Our online membership directory offered more relevant and up-to-date database with dedicated user account and password to access members’ profiles and contact details.

Corporate services

The Corporate Services Department supports the market entry process of clients to Thailand, Germany and ASEAN through its services offered: flexible and tailor-made to suite the individual needs of companies. Those services include market studies, market information, business research, business matchmaking, technical workshops, conferences, and the organization of exclusive business delegations. In 2021, the digital adoption of various business formats and services continued creating value for our customers and also helped streamlining internal processes during the coronavirus pandemic.In order to support the export activities of German SMEs, the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK) as well as German Federal States offer various programs. The GTCC is actively involved in these programs: for example, German Energy Solutions Initiative (BMWK) and the Foreign Market Entry Programme (BMWK). The Corporate Services Department plays a vital role supporting German companies from various industry backgrounds and from the service sector in gaining first-hand knowledge of the Thai market, thus paving the way for potential future business activities in Thailand as well as in the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC).

Trade Fairs

GTCC is the official representative of leading German trade fair companies with excellent reputations worldwide, including Messe Berlin GmbH, Deutsche Messe AG, Messe München GmbH, NürnbergMesse GmbH and Spielwarenmesse eG. In order to ensure smooth and successful participation in German trade fairs, GTCC offers comprehensive services and provides a one-stop service for Thai companies. Moreover, GTCC acts as the link between Thailand and events in Asia that are organised by German trade fair companies. GTCC also organises comprehensive business delegation packages to trade fairs in Germany, including factory visits and B2B meetings. The trade fair landscape in 2021 has seen great disruption, with shows being canceled or postponed, some gone completely digital or featuring hybrid trade fair concepts. The new trade fair concepts pose new challenges for trade show organizers, but also present unique opportunities, with digital reach in general becoming a key success factor also after the Covid-19 crisis.

German-Thai Dual Excellence Education

GTDEE-Thai Dual Excellence Education (GTDEE) is the coordination and consultation office for higher vocational education based on German quality standard in the “Apprenticeship Programme” and is operated by GTCC. Participating in the GTDEE apprenticeship programme, apprentices spend less than 30 per cent of the time at partner vocational colleges and at least 70 per cent in partner companies. Besides the consultation on dual vocational education, GTDEE offers a service called Quality Assurance (QA) for Vocational Educational and Training for Thai vocational institutions. The QA aims to standardise college quality in light of the development and performances of teachers and students. In addition, the GTDEE provides the service for trainers from various companies called “AdA International - Train the Trainer” (copyrights from DIHK, Germany) to allow the trainers to learn the important steps in preparing training for their respective companies and to acquire how to create an in-company training plan, define and implement the training goals.

The GTDEE “Implementation of mechatronics vocational training” project laid the foundation for basic training. The main objective of this measure is the development and implementation of the first steps of mechatronics vocational training oriented to German standards. For this purpose, the textbook “Specialist Mechatronics” had been translated from German into Thai and finally launched in 2021. The textbook is based on the learning fields of the German framework curriculum and contains the basic and specialist knowledge in the fields of metal technology, electrical engineering, electronics and information processing. The book provides all the necessary information for the area OF Industry 4.0 across learning fields and teaching subjects.