CHAMBER ACTIVITIES

From 26 January to 25 March 2021 the German-Thai Chamber of Commerce (GTCC) organised/co-organised six physical events and five virtual events.

1. Physical events

GTCC members visited Bader Asia, the “hidden champion” in producing automotive leather for the global car industry, on 19 February 2021. Bader Asia is a member of the South German Bader Group, one of the largest producers of automotive leather interiors worldwide. It has been operating in Thailand since 1994.

It was a good opportunity to explore the company’s production lines and process, which employ state-of-the-art equipment in combination with highly-skilled employees to produce high-end leather products. The chamber is grateful to Chief Executive Officer of Bader Asia, Mr. Thomas Ferentzi, and his team for the great support and very warm welcome.

GTCC’s first networking event of 2021, GTCC connects was amazingly successful with the participation of about 180 guests who are GTCC Members, partners and friends. The event was held on 11 March 2021 at Sindhorn Kempinski Hotel Bangkok and started with welcoming remarks by GTCC Vice President Mr. Michael Welser.

The chamber appreciates the generous support from the Event Partner, Mazars in Thailand, the Venue Partner, Sindhorn Kempinski Hotel Bangkok, and the Beverage Partner, Supreme Beverages Asia.

GTCC organised the eight Thailand Economic Outlook Luncheon on 23 February 2021 at the Sofitel Bangkok Sukhumvit. The luncheon attracted about 100 guests from a variety of industrial sectors. They were asked to participate in a live survey that was a shorter version of the AHK World Business Outlook survey conducted in October 2020 among the members of the network of German Chambers of Commerce Abroad (AHKs).

Former GTCC President, Mr. Andreas Richter, delivered welcoming remarks and presented the results of the AHK World Business Outlook conducted in October 2020. AHK member companies viewed 2020 as the worst year since the early 1990s recession in terms of business situation, expectations, investments and employment. The survey results also show that the most significant effects of the pandemic on the companies are travel restrictions (75%), followed by lower demand for products and services (53%), cancellation of events/trade fairs (51%) and postponement/ cancellation of investments (49%).

Mr. Wirat Uanarumit, Vice-Chairman of the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI), who is also Chief Executive Officer and President of Thai Oil Public Company Limited delivered a keynote speech on “the current situation of Thailand’s economy and its prospects and challenges amidst fundamental changes in the global economy and uncertainties in the post-covid era”. Following 2020, which was a year of unprecedented disruptions resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic, shifts in the geo-political landscape such as the continuing China-United States trade war, the election of a new United States president, Brexit and the Covid-19 vaccine discovery, the global economic outlook in 2021 appears to be a rocky road to recovery. This year had a rough start with renewed waves and new variants of Covid-19, continuation of massive economic stimulus and low interest rates globally, and hopes of wide distribution of the Covid-19 vaccines to limit infections. Amid exceptional uncertainty, the global economy is projected to grow 5.5 % in 2021 and 4.2 % in 2022.

With regard to Thailand’s economic outlook, Mr. Wirat Uanarumit focused on major factors that are seriously affecting Thailand’s economy, such as the decrease in the number of inbound tourists – especially from China – that have had severe adverse effects on the tourism sector, exports and Thailand’s public debt. Thailand also had a number of structural issues, he added, with a projection of 2.5% to 3.5% growth in 2021 after the contraction of 6.1% last year.

The panel discussion on the challenges ahead for 2021 was moderated by Ms. Thira Nuntametha, Senior Representative, Commerzbank AG Representative Office Bangkok. The panelists included: Mr. Roland Folger, President and CEO, Mercedes-Benz (Thailand) Limited, for the automotive sector; Mr. Tomasz Mazur, CEO, Siemens Mobility Limited Thailand for mobility; Mr. Bjorn Schoon, Managing Director, Thailand, Cambodia and Myanmar, Kuehne + Nagel Limited, for logistics; and Mr. Papong Pramoj Na Ayudhya, Managing Director, BayWa r.e. (Thailand) Co., Ltd., for the topic of energy.

Moderator Ms. Thira started the panel discussion with the results of the live survey on companies’ business situations in 2021, which was conducted at the luncheon. The results showed that 53% of the surveyed participants were satisfied with the current business situation of their company, 50% believed that the economy would start to recover in 2022, while 40% thought economic recovery would take much longer. The panelists also formed a consensus that despite facing the key challenge of Covid-19 they were confident in the future of their respective industries in Thailand, which would come back strongly when the overall situation improves from 2022 onwards. During the Covid-19 crisis, they are operating their businesses with caution, and have implemented safety measures and various business strategies, including increased adoption of digitalization.

GTCC held the first GTCC Young Professional Network Evening of 2021 on 18 March 2021 which was a success, with the participation of about 80 guests. The chamber would like to express its sincere gratitude to Mr. Marcus Magiar, President and Managing Director of Torqeedo Asia Pacific Ltd., for sharing insightful information and his experiences in E-mobility in Bangkok’s urban canal system. This includes Thailand’s first electric passenger ferry fleet powered by Torqeedo and the potential of electric ferries for a greener future of Thailand. The chamber also would like to thank GTCC Board Member Khun Waranya Pratumtin for the warm support as master of ceremonies. In addition, special thanks to Venue Partner, 64 Restaurant, for supporting the event with a very nice venue and good food and drinks.

Thirty-seven GTCC members gained valuable experience and insights into the world of quality tyre production during a chamber site visit to Continental Tyres (Thailand) Co., Ltd., on 19 March 2021. They explored the company’s world-class tyre manufacturing facilities and processes.

Continental, which is one of the world’s technology leaders in tyre production, offers a broad product range for passenger cars, commercial vehicles and two-wheelers.

GTCC team would like to express our deep gratitude goes to Mr. Vignesh Devasenapathy, Plant Manager of Continental Tyres (Thailand) and his team for the warm welcome and the great opportunity they gave to the visiting group.

The GTCC held its Ordinary General Meeting 2021 on 25 March at the Hyatt Regency Bangkok Sukhumvit, with the participation of 105 representatives of GTCC member companies. The GTCC was honoured to welcome German Ambassador to Thailand, H.E. Georg Schmidt as well as keynote speaker Mr. Elges who is Country Director for Thailand and Malaysia at the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, who gave a presentation on “For a future worth living”.

The election of the new GTCC President, Vice-President and Board Members was conducted successfully. The chamber congratulates Mr. Markus Lorenzini, President and Chief Executive Officer of Siemens Energy Limited, on his election as the GTCC President and Ms. Waranya Pratumtin, Sales and Marketing Manager of Thai Switchboard and Metal Work Co., Ltd., on her election as the GTCC Vice President.

The nine newly elected Board Members for 2021/2022 are

• Mr. Markus Lorenzini, President and Chief Executive Officer of Siemens Energy Limited;

• Ms. Waranya Pratumtin, Sales and Marketing Manager of Thai Switchboard and Metal Work Co., Ltd.;

• Mr. Andreas C. Richter, Managing Partner of Blumenthal Richter & Sumet Ltd.;

• Mr. Peter Rankl, President ASEAN, Continental Automotive Bangkok Co., Ltd.;

• Mr. Volker Hellstern, Managing Director of Häfele (Thailand) Limited;

• Mr. Alexander Donau, Regional Head Asia Pacific and Director of the Board for Leschaco (Thailand) Ltd.;

• Mr. Michael Welser, Managing Director of Powertech 2004 Co., Ltd.;

• Mr. Marcus Grundke, Managing Director of Rieckermann (Thailand) Co., Ltd.;

• Mr. Oliver Schnatz, Cluster General Manager, Sofitel Bangkok Sukhumvit.

The GTCC wishes to express its sincere gratitude to out-going Directors Ms. Heidi KleineMöller, General Manager of Millennium Hilton Bangkok; Mr. Marcus Magiar, President and Managing Director of Torqeedo Asia Pacific Ltd.; Mr. Papong Pramoj Na Ayudhya, Managing Director of BayWa r.e. (Thailand) Co., Ltd.; and Dr. Armin Wiesler, General Manager / Head of Human Pharma of Boehringer Ingelheim (Thai) for their strong commitment and consistent contribution to the success of the Chamber.

2. Virtual events

GTCC’s first webinar of 2021 took place on 26 January 2021 which discussed “Green energy at no cost and savings for commercial and industrial customers: The corporate PPA market in Thailand”. The chamber would like to thank Mr. Franck Constant, CEO, and Mr. Markus Ganterer, CFO of Constant Energy, for sharing their informative and useful insights.

On 9 February 2021, GTCC organised a webinar that presented current and future contexts for business leaders under the topic of “sharpening your leadership skills in challenging times – a snapshot and food for thought, discussed by Executive Coach of C&E Coaching Mr. Gregor Schmalz.

With thought-provoking content and engaging Q&A, the webinar was very well-received by the participants. Thanks go to “the speaker for sharing his expertise and experience, and GTCC members for participating.

GTCC Executive Director, Dr. Roland Wein, together with other Executive Directors of the German Chambers in ASEAN, discussed the direction of ASEAN and its meaning to companies operating in the region, at a webinar on “ASEAN Today and Tomorrow” on 28 February 2020. They further presented the current state of their respective countries and the outlook for 2021 in the country briefing session which was moderated by Dr. Wein. The webinar was jointly organised by GTCC and the Singaporean-German Chamber of Industry and Commerce (SGC).

On 9 March 2021, GTCC took part in the kick-off event of the virtual Fact-finding Mission Thailand on “sustainable energy generation and infrastructure in cities” organised by eclareon GmbH. A total of 23 participants from Thailand were joining the project within the framework of the German Energy Solutions Initiative supported by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi). The virtual mission ran until 11 March 2021.

GTCC organised a Thai-German virtual conference on “Biogas (including Biogas upgrading)” on 16 March 2021, in co-operation with eclareon GmbH, to discuss state-of-the-art technology solutions for biogas and biogas upgrading. The conference began with welcoming remarks by GTCC Executive Director Dr. Roland Wein, and Economic and Commercial Counsellor of the German Embassy Bangkok’s Dr. Alexander Raubold. The keynote presentation on the Future of biogas development in Thailand” was delivered by Assistant Secretary-General of the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC), Dr. Prasit Siritiprussamee. Guest speakers were Dr. Athapol Pecharaply, Assistant Vice Presidentof CPF (Thailand) PLC., Dr. Jan Adolph, Biogas Expert at DABEC – Bioenergy Consulting and Mr. Sebastian Ulm, Consultant at eclareon GmbH.

Exclusive presentations on products and technology solutions were given by representatives from eight German companies in the field of biogas: Agraferm GmbH; agriKomp GmbH; APROVIS Energy Systems GmbH; Biogas Hochreiter GmbH; Carbotech Gas Systems GmbH; HeGo Biotec GmbH; Paulmichl GmbH; and Snow Leopard Projects GmbH.

The conference was followed by a series of online business matchmakings between the participating German companies and qualified business partners in Thailand.