ScandAsia Singapore May 2013

MAY 2013

Singapore

The Ambassador of Norwegian Seafood Frank A. Naesheim ScandAsia.dk

ScandAsia.fi

ScandAsia.no

MayScandAsia.se 2013 • ScandAsia.Singapore 1

I learned to golf this year at Stamford! I can practice on the putting green and work on my swing in the swing cages. I can even use Stamford’s Swing Analysis Center to improve my stroke.

Stamford is a world class school with a brand new campus featuring state-of-the-art athletic resources including Jefferson Sports Arena, Stamford Field, a commercial grade Fitness Center, a climbing wall and the Golf Excellence Center. Stamford offers daily Mandarin and Spanish and the rigorous IB Program enhanced by American standards.

Open House on Friday, May 10th Register at www.sais.edu.sg

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Stamford American International School CPE Registration Number: 200823594D Period of Registration: August 10, 2010 to August 9, 2014

Coming Events

Art Garden 2013 Date: 17 May – 1 September 2013 Location: Singapore Art Museum

Wine Voyage at Audi Fashion Festival 2013

Norwegian National Day Celebration

Date: 15 – 17 May 2013, 6pm – 10pm Date: 18 – 19 May 2013, 12pm – 11pm Location: Tent @ Marina Promenade (Next to Singapore Flyer) Ticket price: $38 per person/day for a standard ticket

Date: 17 May 2013 Location: Fort Canning Park

The team behind Singapore’s biggest outdoor wine fair, Singapore Wine Fiesta, has partnered with Audi Fashion Festival to bring a wine and culinary event, Wine Voyage, into the fashion world. Jointly organised by The Straits Wine Company and Mercury Marketing & Communications, Wine Voyage takes guests through a discovery of wine and gourmet food of the fashion capitals of the world - Paris, Madrid, Milan, Berlin, Sydney and Singapore.

Ticket entitles holder to one free tasting from each fashion capital. Additional wines and dishes prepared by gourmet chefs will be available for sale. Please note that no alcohol will be served to persons under 18 years old.

For more information, visit www.sistic.com.sg

The Norwegian National Day will be celebrated on 17 May at the Fort Canning Park, featuring festivities, entertainment, and activities for people of all ages.

Invitations for the event will be sent to all Norwegians registered at the Norwegian Embassy.

R.S.V.P. & payments may be carried out at The Norwegian Church Abroad, The Seamen’s Church, or the Norwegian Embassy.

Check out www.norway.org.sg for updates

In its fourth year, the Art Garden exhibition will feature exciting new commissions, mesmerising artworks, short films as well as animations by local and international artists. Visitors can explore the exhilarating world of contemporary art through these installations, and take part in the delightful activities specially designed by SAM and the artists. The exhibition is popular among the young and the young at heart.

Art Garden 2013 is supported by students from Republic Polytechnic and National University of Singapore, Department of Architecture.

The exhibition is held in conjunction with Children’s Season 2013, and jointly organised by the National Heritage Board and the Museum Roundtable.

For more information, visit www.singaporeartmuseum.sg

Aquarama 2013 - International Fish and Accessories Exhibition Date: 30 May – 2 June 2013 Location: Hall B and C, Sands Expo and Convention Center, Marina Bay Sands The 13th International Fish and Accessories Exhibition is Asia’s biggest international ornamental fish, invertebrates, plants and accessories exhibition organised for the ornamental aquatic industry and its related sectors.

It’s a must-visit event if you trade ornamental fish.

The exhibition will be co-located with Pet Asia 2013 and both shows will span an area of 8,310 square metres and house some 200 vendors from all over the world.

For more information, visit www.aquarama.com.sg

Great Singapore Sale Date: 31 May – 28 July 2013 Location: Islandwide The Great Singapore Sale celebrates its 20th Anniversary with great deals of up to 70 percent off usual prices for eight weeks all over Singapore! The special deals apply to just about everything including apparel, jewellery, watches, electronics, toys, spas and many more.

Highlights also include attractive prizes and rewards, privileges for MasterCard holders and tourists, late night shopping at some malls, and other special promotions and events such as Singapore International Jewellry Expo 2013 (at Marina Bay Sands Expo & Convention Centre on 4-7 July.)

For more information, visit www.greatsingaporesale.com.sg

May 2013 • ScandAsia.Singapore 3

Opinion

Invest in your child

K Your FREE ScandAsia Magazine in Singapore ScandAsia is the only magazine that covers all the Danish, Finnish, Norwegian and Swedish residents in Singapore.

We also publish a ScandAsia magazine in China, Thailand, and the rest of South East Asia.

Please sign up for your own FREE copy: www.scandasia.com Publisher : 211 Soi Prasert Manukitch 29 Prasert Manukitch Road Chorakae Bua, Lad Prao Bangkok 10230, Thailand Tel. +66 2 943 7166-8, Fax: +66 2 943 7169 E-mail: news@scandasia.com Editor-in-Chief : Gregers A.W. Møller gregers@scandmedia.com Assistant Editor: Wachiraporn Janrut wachiraporn@scandmedia.com

ids whose parents set up a saving plan to help pay for their education have a higher tendency to graduate from university than kids without this incentive.

You can argue that poor parents cannot afford such a saving plan and that the rich kids would go to university anyway simply because that’s what is expected of them in the wealthy environment, they come from.

That may well be. But I would still argue, that you should consider setting up an educational saving together with your child or children.. Not with a focus on the amount but on the word “together”.

Most parents don’t talk about the financial situation of the family with their children. They may feel ashamed of the amount of income; they may not want to reveal the size of their personal credit card loans. They feel the children should be free from worries how precarious their financial situation actually is. Or they have other reasons, like being afraid that talking with the kids about money would suddenly turn into a fight with their spouse.

But talking about their money and how to grow that is a different story. So start there.

The easiest way is to simply open a savings account with a joint signature so that both you and your child have to sign to withdraw the funds. Then set up a piggy bank box in a shared area of your home. When you give you child pocket money, agree on part of it to go into the piggy bank. By the end of each month, you go to the bank together and empty the piggy bank and watch the numbers grow on the bank account.

Do not pay your child for doing household chores. Some things should be done around the house because they need to be done and that’s what being part of a family means. Find other things to pay your kids for, or give them an allowance for the sake of giving them an allowance, not in return for cleaning their room or helping with the dishes.

Do not let the driving force be the dream of an iPad or smart clothes. The saving is for education and can be spent on educational expenses only. Accept that the child sees it as your responsibility to pay for school fees, but would be OK if you take a loan in the mutual fund if you pay it back in monthly installments with handsome interest.

Very educational.

As the child gets older and the funds grow up too, you can talk about investing them in a managed fund or buy safe shares, like shares in well established banks. It doesn’t get much safer.

When should you start? Well, I once heard this great advice: Hold up a $1 bill and a $100 bill. If your kid knows which one he wants, it’s time.

And keep in mind, when it comes to investing in your child, while the amount of money is of course important - the time you spend with them managing that money might be the smartest part of your investment.

Advertising : Frank Leong frank@scandmedia.com Finn Balslev finn@scandmedia.com Piyanan Kalikanon piyanan@scandmedia.com Nattapat Maesang nattapat@scandmedia.com Graphic Designer : Supphathada Numamnuay supphathada@scandmedia.com Distribution : Wanvisa Rattanaburi wanvisa@scandmedia.com Printing : Advance Printing Services Co., Ltd.

Daily news and features here: www.scandasia.com

Gregers Moller is the Editor-in-Chief of ScandAsia and the founder of the Scand-Media Group. He has lived in Thailand since 1988.

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Providing a 21st Century Education for the Global Child With programmes grounded in our values of collaboration, respect, integrity, commitment and responsibility, we aim to engage students with a unique community committed to the ideals of inclusion and global citizenship.

Essential life skills are developed as students from over 65 nations participate in enlightening service opportunities and expeditions, inspiring them to be vibrant participants in a diverse and global society.

With a strong focus on academic excellence, technology, sports and the arts, we endeavour to develop a passion for learning and to prepare students for the 21st century.

Come and explore our campuses to find out how we bring learning to life. The CIS educational experience will be dynamic, memorable and life defining.

We offer the International Baccalaureate (IB) Primary Years Programme, Middle Years Programme and Diploma Programme to students 3 to 18 years of age.

Lakeside Campus (ECE to Grade 12) 7 Jurong West Street 41 T: 6467 1732 E: admissions@cis.edu.sg Tanjong Katong Campus (ECE to Grade 8) 371 Tanjong Katong Road T: 6345 1573 E: admissionstk@cis.edu.sg

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Past Events

Danish Queen’s Birthday celebrated in Singapore

By Ika Forssell

A

n elegant and festive mood was reigning at the residence of Danish ambassador to Singapore, Berit Basse, in the evening of April 15. About 230 people, the majority Danish, had gathered to celebrate the birthday of their beloved Queen Margrethe - an event fully sponsored

by Danish companies. Exquisite canapés were being served along with chilled wine and champagne, and the chatter was merry and loud among the smartly dressed guests.

From the opposite side of the pool came cool jazz tunes played by a live band, which completed the festive atmosphere.

The ambassador gave a warm and heartfelt welcome speech, in which she thanked everyone for being there and for supporting the Danish embassy in many ways. She presented an official reply from Her Majesty the Queen to the birthday greeting that the embassy had sent her earlier in the day: “Hjertelig tak for den venlige hilsen” (thank you very much for your kind greeting). This was much appreciated by the crowd, and Ms. Basse took the opportunity to introduce the guest of honor for the evening, Denmark’s minister for foreign affairs, Villy Søvndal. The minister for foreign affairs spoke to the guests about his programme in Singapore and his meeting with his Singaporean colleague K. Shanmugam. He praised Singapore for its remarkable development within a relatively short period and mentioned that the topics on the agenda were climate, water and shipping.

After the speeches, not one but two songs were sung by everyone to honor the Queen’s birthday: the two national anthems; the royal anthem which is believed to be the oldest national anthem in the world, “Kong Kristian stod ved højen mast” and the civil anthem, “Der er et yndigt land”.

Voices from the public this evening included a group of young Danes on an exchange student program at a couple of different universities in Singapore. They were all extremely happy with the excellent services they had received from the Danish embassy throughout their stay, and they felt much honored to be invited to the celebration this evening. Another Danish lady spoke about how special it feels to celebrate national occasions together with fellow countrymen like this. She described the celebrations of the Queen’s birthday in Denmark as a much less pretentious affair, mainly experienced in front of the TV watching the royal festivities. One lady mentioned that many Danes make it a once in a lifetime mission to actually go to Amalienborg Castle in Copenhagen to wave the flag on the Queen’s birthday.

All in all, everybody enjoyed a wonderful and truly Danish evening, with a sumptuous buffet dinner and a generous flow of champagne, together with friends at a beautiful tropical setting.

6 ScandAsia.Singapore • May 2013

Past Events

SWEA 25th Anniversary Party

By Ika Forssell

S

wedish Women’s Educational Association (SWEA) celebrated its presence as a warm and welcoming organisation for Swedish women in Singapore for 25 years on 20 April 2013. The party was held in grand style at The Gig, St James Power Station, gathering over 150 guests who enjoyed a casual, yet elegant evening, with a few surprises throughout.

The Gig was decorated in silver and the Swedish colors, and the guests were served a specially designed blue and yellow drink upon arrival.

After a generous international buffet dinner, SWEA’s chairwoman Maggan Kullberg gave a short welcome speech, followed by a video presentation screening greetings from several previous members of SWEA Singapore.

Even Agneta Nilsson, who founded SWEA in 1979 in California, sent a greeting from the other side of the globe to one of the youngest and most fun loving chapters of the global organization. After all the greetings and a birthday song for the jubilee, the house band “Wave” took the stage and impressed the SWEA ladies with hits from the 80’s and 90’s.

The surprises didn’t end there. Jenny Berglund came on stage, dressed in the Swedish costume with her hair tied in braids, and delivered a hilarious stand-up comedy gig, all in Singlish. She talked about everything funny about Swedes in Singapore, from weird names of IKEA items to her favorite Swedish word “fack-lah” (torch). Following Jenny’s performance, a lucky draw took place, and then, the owner and manager of The Gig, Jonas Corse from Sweden, came on stage as a DJ, ripping down the house with all old Swedish hits one could think of. The dance floor was packed, and all of a sudden, blue, yellow and silver balloons were released from the ceiling over the crowd. Comments from many guests after the party were that they had not danced so much at a party for a long time.

Everybody had a great time.

May 2013 • ScandAsia.Singapore 7

News Brief

FinnishSingaporean gaming company bags large investors Asia Offshore Technology Conference in Singapore

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onstop Games, a SingaporeanFinnish gaming company just picked up $2.9 million from two Scandinavian venture firms, Creandum and Lifeline Ventures, to build out core games for iOS and Android.

“We are extremely excited to be supported by world class investors in our mission to build the next generation of free-to-play games for touch devices,” says Juha Paananen, CEO and Co-Founder of Nonstop Games.

Nonstop Games was founded in 2011 by a team of industry veterans who have launched over 50 titles across mobile, Facebook, PC, and console platforms. The company has offices in Finland, Singapore and San Francisco.

“Our aim is to make games people can live, not just play. We want to create immersive experiences that are tailormade for tablet and mobile. Heroes of Honor will be the first title to show this,” adds Henric Suuronen, President and CoFounder.

Henric Suuronen was a head of studio at one of Europe’s biggest social gaming companies Wooga, and a director at Digital Chocolate Finland before that. The company’s CEO, Juha Paananen, does not have a long gaming career, but he previously ran Asia-Pacific business development for Nokia out of Singapore so he has lots of experience working in the mobile industry.

With the funds, the company will launch its first game, a synchronous strategy title called “Heroes of Honor”, later this spring. It’s a fantasy world with three different factions fighting for power.

Paananen said he chose Singapore in part because of its strategic location in Asia, which has been a pioneering region for free-to-play games.

“The other reason is talent. Singapore is still an emerging startup hub. The gaming community is not so established here but you can hire really, really smart people,” he adds.

8 ScandAsia.Singapore • May 2013

T

he Royal Norwegian Embassy, Innovation Norway, Norwegian Business Association of Singapore and DNV held a conference concerning offshore trends, issues and opportunities in the Asia Pacific on 16 April 2013 at Raffles Town Club, Singapore.

The conference drew more than 200 participants from fields of engineering, operational, commercial as well as various other parts of the industry.

Hosted by MC Mr. Egil Rensvik, Science and Technology Counsellor in Innovation Norway, the conference kicked off by introductory addresses and remarks by Norwegian Ambassador to Singapore, Mr. Tormod C. Endresen and Executive Director of EDB, Mr. Lim Kok Kiang.

The event continued with a vast array of speakers from different countries, highlighting a multitude of the industry aspects. Director General Ole Anders Lindseth from the Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy talked of the role of governmental policies; BW Offshore’s Mr. Thyl Kint presented explanations and solutions on the troublesome past decade of the FPSO industry; research scientist Mr. Per Kristian Norddal of Marintek, and Managing Director Mr. Johannes Eikland of Aker Solutions spoke in turn of future practices in handling ageing assets, and instruments of drilling.

Lastly, Development Manager of DNV Technology Center, Mr. Havard Brandt outlined key features of prescriptive versus a performance-oriented approach to offshore safety regimes. His presentation was appropriately followed by a panel discussion with representatives from the regulatory authorities of Norway and Southeast-Asia – discussing limits and possibilities in improving practices of safety handling in the region.

Unveiling survey on major challenges Mr. John Westwood, Group Chairman of Douglas-Westwood presented the specially commissioned survey “The Challenges of Offshore E&P in Asia Pacific” and its findings.

Based on interviews with 44 leading players in Asia Pacific’s offshore E&P business, the report highlights challenges facing the sector in terms of economics, regulations, operations and technology, and how these might impact activities.

For more details and presentation materials from the event, visit www.innovasjonnorge.no/aotc/presentations

Swedish music streaming launches in Singapore

S

wedish music-streaming service “Spotify” is now available in Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia. Previously, Spotify was available in the US, Europe, Australia and New Zealand.

Established in 2008, Spotify lets users choose from millions of songs over the Internet for free or by subscription.

The basic free service gives users unlimited access to all songs but users have to listen to advertisements. Also, the songs can only be played on the computer.

The Spotify rollout might be bad news for local startup TellMyFriends, which wants to help Singaporeans make a profit from legally sharing MP3s with buddies over social media.

The paid service of Spotify – which will cost $9.90 per month in Singapore – provides unlimited music streaming without advertisements. Paying customers also get to download their favourite albums and playlists to their computers, smartphones or tablets so that the music keeps on flowing even when users are not connected to the Internet.

Danish Foreign Minister meets Singapore’s Foreign Minister

O

n 15 April 2013, Danish Foreign Minister Sovndal met with Singapore’s Foreign Minister K. Shanmugam as part of an official visit to Singapore. The purpose of the visit was to strengthen the bilateral relationship and cooperation in areas of common interest for Denmark and Singapore particularly in maritime and climate.

The two foreign ministers discussed issues of common interest on the international agenda, including the recently concluded negotiations on a free trade agreement between the EU and Singapore. They also discussed bilateral cooperation in political, economic, environmental as well as discussing developments in ASEAN, Asia and Europe.

The Danish Foreign Minister also met with representatives of Danish companies and other Danes living in Singapore.

Singapore’s Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Law K Shanmugam (Left) with Danish Minister for Foreign Affairs Mr. Villy Søvndal

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Swedish geneticist wins prize in Singapore

S

wedish geneticist Svante Paabo won the 2013 Gruber Genetics Prize at the Marina Bay Sands convention centre, Singapore on 16 April for his work in evolutionary genetics.

The prize, awarded by the US Yale University’s Gruber Foundation, includes US$500,000 (S$618,600) and a gold medal.

Dr. Paabo is considered the founder of molecular paleontology, the application of genetics to the study of pre-historic life. His work has also helped define the genetic relationship between people and great ape populations.

The prize ceremony was part of the 2013 Joint Conference of the Human Genome Meeting and the 21st International Congress of Genetics, which were jointly held in Singapore for the first time. The conferences ended on 18 April.

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May 2013 • ScandAsia.Singapore 9

The Ambassador of Norwegian Seafood Frank A. Naesheim In 1987 Frank Arne Naesheim made his way from Norway to Singapore to start a restaurant with a friend.

Today, 26 six years later, he owns a multi-million food company, is known as the Salmon King, and has become the biggest Ambassador of Norwegian Seafood in Southeast Asia.

By Anders Holm Nielsen

10 ScandAsia.Singapore • May 2013

I

n an industrial part of Singapore, down by the docks, appropriately located at Fishery Port Road is the Embassy of Norwegian seafood in Southeast Asia - Snorre Food. The company’s sole owner and CEO is a chef from Norway with no formal education in management.

Twenty six years ago, Frank was asked by a friend from a culinary school to come to Singapore and open a restaurant. The menu consisted of Norwegian seafood, but seeing as there was no one to buy it from they started importing it on their own. The restaurant quickly became a popular hangout for other chefs and the reputation created a demand for Norwegian seafood in Singapore.

Starting slow with supplying to a few restaurants and hotels, Snorre Food was born.

Today the restaurant is culinary history, but Snorre Food is bigger than ever. Frank bought out the partners in 1994 and focused solely on Snorre Food which proved a wise decision.

“We feel that our product is right for Singapore and this part of the world. The market potential is high and will be for many years to come. A lot of factors make me think that it is possible for the business to grow by 10-15 percent per year for many years,” Frank explains confidently.

A chef and CEO At Fishery Port Road 23, all under one roof is warehouse, distribution central, processing factory, retail shop, customer service and administrations. As CEO, Frank explains, he is involved in all aspects of the company, but visiting his office, it is obvious that one part of the process has a special place for him.

Opposite his typical CEO office with towering stacks of papers and folders is the conference room and kitchen. Here, new products are prepared and tested; recipes are created and potential customers sample seafood prepared by the CEO himself.

“I’m a chef and I put that to use. I’m good with food so I like to be involved with the purchasing of the seafood, the production of the seafood and new products. That is how the company was built and how it has grown,” says Frank when explaining the success of Snorre Food.

Frank has hired four other employees with chef experience seeing as they share the same way of thinking. They come from Singapore, Switzerland

and Denmark and assist in ensuring quality.

By implementing his chef’s education and his love of food, Frank has become the Ambassador of Norwegian seafood in Singapore. Also known as “the Salmon King”, he uses his practical experience and knowledge to promote the qualities of cold water.

Last year, Norway’s seafood exports totaled 53 billion Norwegian kronor, making the seafood industry the country’s third largest export industry.

When asked why Norwegian seafood is some of the best in the world, the chef in Frank takes over and he serves the answer without hesitation: “Because of the cold water, the fish needs a longer time to grow and needs more fat. That fat is the healthy kind - the omega three - so the health aspect is important and it all has to do with the temperature of the water.”

Promoting Norwegian Seafood One of the ways of promoting Snorre Food – and Norwegian seafood in general – is through the Annual Seafood Gala Dinner. Held in both Singapore and Malaysia, these events are regarded as being the biggest seafood events of the year.

Recently the 17th Annual Norwegian Seafood Dinner in Singapore was held. The event was a huge success with a total of 1,000 guests and tickets for 96 tables were sold out in a day. There were six live cooking stations plus a delectable seafood buffet featuring dishes prepared by top chefs from Singapore and Norway.

“The locals have a preference for seafood but they still go for fish that comes from this part of the world and don’t know much about seafood from cold water. We spend a lot of time telling about the difference between cold water and warm water fish, sustainability, food safety and why there should be a preference for Norwegian Seafood.

The seafood dinners are examples of how I put my experience as a chef into practice,” Frank says.

Most recently Frank set up a partnership between Norwegian celebrity chef Eyvind Hellstrøm and the restaurant Sky on 57 at Marina Bay Sands. Hellstrøm was responsible for the special Norwegian lunch and dinner presenting Norwegian salmon, king crab, cod and scallops.

“Cooperation between local and Norwegian

chefs is something we aim for at Snorre Food,” Frank said about the event.

Some claim that salmon from Norway is equivalent to Sweden’s IKEA, and if this holds any ground then Frank A Naesheim is a big part of that with his promotions.

A more confident Singapore Frank contributes a large part of the success of Snorre Food to the simple Singapore way.

“What makes Singapore different is that it is very simple. There is no corruption or bureaucracy.

It’s geared towards making business simple. In many cases it is easier doing business in Singapore than in Norway.”

Living in Singapore since 1987, Frank is one of the veteran expats and with his own business he has witnessed the development of Singapore first hand.

“Before when you came here as a westerner, you got a different kind of respect, but the Singaporeans have gotten more confident with themselves. You have to earn the respect more than before. You have to listen and treat them as equal partners,” he explains.

Calling Singapore home for so many years, he has many kind words for the city state and can understand why it has become one of the biggest hubs for Norwegians in Southeast Asia on both a professional and personal level.

“Singapore is efficient, safe, clean, and the environment takes the best from the rest of the world. It has good access to other countries and the government is clever to make long-term plans,” he explains.

Despite being full of appraisal for Singapore, Frank misses little things in Norway like four seasons, cold winter days, midnight sun in the summer and water from the tap. Still, he does not see himself ever moving back north. His world is in Singapore now; he lives on Sentosa Island, is father to Elisha aged 18 and Katerina aged 13, and has recently remarried Roshin Perera. But even though Frank plans on ending his days in Singapore, he still considers himself Norwegian.

“I have lived half my life here, but I am more Norwegian than Singaporean. A soccer match usually shows where your heart is and in a game between Norway and Singapore – I would root for Norway.”

Frank (third from left) at the Norwegian Seafood Dinner in Singapore in March 2013

I’m a chef and I put that to use. I’m good with food so I like to be involved with the purchasing of the seafood, the production of the seafood and new products. That is how the company was built and how it has grown.

May 2013 • ScandAsia.Singapore 11

Norwegian Tax On 13 March 2013, Norwegian lawyers held Taxation Seminar in Singapore on behalf of global law firm DLA Piper.

T

o tax, or not to tax, and how to report.

Those are the questions for many Norwegians when filling out and handing in the annual Norwegian tax return report ‘Selvangivelse 2012’.

Broker bonuses, homeland investments and reporting on annual income and wealth; how does the Singapore-Norway taxation agreement really work?

The deadline was 30 April 2013. Norwegian Expatriates had to fill out the annual tax return form indicating their income, bonuses, property investments and current wealth.

Global law firm DLA Piper’s Managing Director in Singapore John Goulios, Norwegian Lawyers Jon Ansten and Marcus Indrevaer held on13 March 2013, a taxation consultative seminar on rights and benefits for Norwegian expats in Singapore.

By Maria Rita Skog

Marcus Indrevær 12 ScandAsia.Singapore • May 2013

Ansten Jon

John Goulios

to host the tax seminar to the Norwegian community, but also tell them how they can benefit from these very favorable tax rules.

Associate Partner and Lawyer Marcus Indrevaer began in DLA Piper in August 2012. Indrevaer was previously employed as lead lawyer in Vogt & Wiig law firm in Bergen. He has also worked for the Norwegian law firm Wikborg, Rein & Co, hereunder 1.5 years in Singapore. Indrevaer focuses mainly on the shipping sector where he has previously assisted both Norwegian and international clients.

“My background is traditional work such as sale and purchase of vessels and new building contracts and at the same time ship financing. I have also experience with arrest of vessels and enforced sales of vessels in different jurisdictions around the world.

We also want to show that we have an English law team here that is able to assist the same clients. We are everywhere where the big shipping activities happen, and we also have offices in Brazil where there are a lot of things happening, especially on the Norwegian side.

As an example; If you have a shipbuilding con-

Seminar DLA Piper is one of world’s largest global law firms, with 4200 lawyers located in over 75 offices across Asia Pacific, Europe, The Middle East and the Americas. DLA Piper’s Singapore office is part of the international network delivering clients a seamless global capacity to meet their ongoing legal business needs – wherever they choose to do business.

The lawyers informed ScandAsia that the taxation seminar was held to guide both Norwegians and other Expatriates in Singapore and also worldwide.

Shipping Expertise Associate Partner and Lawyer Jon Ansten has extensive experience with shipping and offshore related transactions, financing, restructuring and general corporate/M&A. He has assisted several Norwegians and international banks with loan and security documents for ship finance.

“From my personal experience of living and working for four years in Singapore, I can see that it may be difficult to understand these rules, even for me as a lawyer.

I really wanted to see what all these rules are, and how to benefit from them, in a best possible way. A lot of people and clients started asking me questions and that is why we have this tax seminar for the Norwegian community here,” says Ansten.

With the support the lawyers have with DLA Singapore it was the perfect opportunity not only

tract under Norwegian law, where the ship is to be built on a shipyard in South Korea, with sub-deliveries from Singapore, with the ship going on to a contract with Petrobras in Brazil, DLA Piper can be there to assist them in all jurisdictions,” says Indrevaer.

DLA Piper and South East Asia The Managing Director John Goulios states that Singapore is DLA Piper’s regional hub for their South East Asian Practice. As Head of litigation and regulatory practice, he handles international arbitration and commercial disputes generally throughout the region and is particularly specialized in insurance and reinsurance.

“We find that many leading global companies doing business in the Asia-Pacific are now headquartered in Singapore. We offer seamless service, co-ordination and integration of local, regional and global capabilities across multiple jurisdictions to help our clients realise their strategic, commercial and operational goals,” says Goulios.

The firm’s vision is to be the world’s leading business law firm with a presence in at least all the G20 countries. In that way they can follow where the clients go and be there to assist them with their ongoing legal business needs both at a local and global level.

China, Hong Kong, Korea and Thailand The law firm states that doing business in China may be challenging yet rewarding. As an invest-

ment gateway to China, Hong Kong is a vibrant and international base for many multinational corporations including Chinese and local companies expanding overseas.

According to the Asian Legal Business Top 50 Survey in 2011, DLA Piper is one of the largest global legal practices in China, with lawyers having solid understanding of the local laws and regulations of the People’s Republic of China, the varying language skills and dialects, to assist clients operating there.

According to Ansten, the reason why many Norwegian companies use Singapore as a hub is the favourable tax treaty.

“Here they have very favorable tax rules for shipping and offshore industry, which means that for many, you end up paying maybe 0% local Singapore tax. And with the Tax treaty between Norway and Singapore the tax treaty states that if a Norwegian company owns 25% or more of a Singaporean company, as a subsidiary or as such, then you are actually allowed to give out the dividends to the Norwegian “parent” without any further taxation,” says Ansten.

Besides Singapore, DLA Piper has offices across the Asia Pacific region, and where it doesn’t, it has strong relationships with leading local firms.

As a trusted business adviser to Korean and nonKorean based corporate clients taking full advantage of DLA Piper’s global platform, the Seoul office has a team comprising native Korean partners, lawyers, counsel and professional staff. In Thailand, Country Manager and Partner Peter Shelford is a very experienced shipping lawyer after spending years in Singapore knowing and understanding the Norwegian shipping community. However, most of the work seen from the Norwegian side will be made through Singapore, says Indrevaer.

The challenging Norwegian Law One of the biggest challenges for the lawyers is that Norwegian law cannot always be applied internationally.

“We (Norway) have some really big international trades as shipping, oil and gas, fish and energy.

With our international trades, which are basically those four, then, you cannot always expect a client in e.g. China to use Norwegian law, “says Ansten.

Indrevaer elaborates with an example.

“Sale Form 1993 is, for example, a standard shipping document based on Norwegian law. The major players in Shipping will normally not have a problem with Norwegian law basically because it is quite similar to the English contractual law. But very often we can see that if you have a Norwegian client dealing with a Chinese client or other counterparty not familiar with Norwegian law, the Chinese will try to get the Chinese law, and the Norwegian will try to get Norwegian law but they end up doing English law to meet in the middle.

That way no one is going to get the benefits out of their own laws. English Law is often regarded to be natural and we can advise them,” says Indrevaer.

DLA Piper is open to client consultancy across the world and more information is available on www.dlapiper.com May 2013 • ScandAsia.Singapore 13

Medium

Burning Love

This traditional Danish meal was a very popular amongst poor Danish farmers for the simple reason that it is cheap, quick to make and very satisfying.

(Brændende Kærlighed)

By Anders Holm Nielsen

Ingredients: (Serves 4) • ½ kilo potatoes • 2 onions • 2 teaspoons chives or parsley • Salt • Pepper • 2 tablespoons Danish butter • ½ pound Danish Bacon

Evil

Preparation • Peal or scrub potatoes, and boil them for 20-25 minutes in unsalted water or until tender enough to mash.

• Cut bacon in small cubes.

• Fry bacon on frying pan, and place on platter with paper towel when done.

• Chop onions, and fry them in the bacon grease.

• Mash the potatoes and mix with butter and salt.

• Serve the mashed potatoes with a mix of onions and bacon on top.

• Sprinkle the dish with chives or parsley before serving.

Tip: To make this Danish dish even better, serve with pickled beets on the side.

Are you done?

W

hen you have completed the above puzzles, please send your solution by fax to +66 2 943 7169 or scan and email to puzzles@ scandasia.com. We will make a lucky draw among the correct answers. Five lucky winners will receive a ScandAsia polo shirt.

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Fruit salad with custard

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• 1 pineapple (cut in chunks) • 6 bananas, sliced • 6 apples, diced (Whatever fruits you fancy and have by hand will do just fine) • 3 tbsp. flour • 6 egg yolks • 1 1/2 cup. sugar • 3 tbsp. butter • 2.5 deciliters whipped cream (38 percent)

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Preparation

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Deadline for submitting your solution is 15 June 2013 14 ScandAsia.Singapore • May 2013

• Mix juice of pineapple and flour into a paste.

• Add egg yolks and beat in sugar.

• Melt butter and add to mixture.

• Cook, stirring CONSTANTLY, until thickened.

• Cool and add whipped cream.

• Mix fruit and some of the custard at serving time.

Art at the church

Held at the Swedish/ Norwegian church in Singapore on 9 – 16 April 2013, an open art exhibition showcased arts from Swedish and Norwegian amateur artists. ScandAsia’s journalist Ika Forssell reports on the event, where she also exhibited her paintings which gained much interest from the visitors.

F

or the second year in a row, the Swedish/ Norwegian church in Singapore organized an art exhibition for all Swedish and Norwegian amateur artists who wanted to exhibit their works. The paintings and installations were displayed during one week, and all the people who visited the church for any of its weekly events had the chance to see them. The opening day of the show was especially festive with bubbles in tall glasses and friends meeting and chatting with each other, while admiring the arts.

An art exhibition is always an exciting event, since it is a chance for the viewer to peek into the minds of artists through their works. Art is the ultimate way to express one’s thoughts and emotions and thus the room becomes an explosion of ideas and expressions. It may well take a while to take in so many impressions, especially since there were as many as sixteen different artists represented at the show. Each one of them had own way of expression, be it realism or abstract, oil or acrylics, painting or photography. Many of the paintings were for sale, and some were privately owned. 25 per cent of the sales went to the church, a very fair deal for hosting

such a nice exhibition, if you ask me.

As one of the exhibitors, I’d like to share how I was absolutely overwhelmed by the interest that my paintings generated at the exhibition this year. In fact, I had no expectations because I also took part last year and made no sales at all. Also, I felt a bit nervous because I have ventured into a totally new style of painting, which is figurative but non-realistic. It turned out that my paintings were much appreciated by the visitors as all four were sold at the end of the week. I even received orders and requests to see more of it. Therefore, I decided to open a Facebook page to show all my new paintings as I finish them.

On the last day of the art exhibition, the Swedish/Norwegian church hosted the biannual ladies’ lunch, which this time had a Japanese theme.

Delicious Japanese food prepared by the kitchen staff with help from volunteers was served, and a hilarious show was put up by three of the church’s male staff as “samurai expats”. And the exhibition room was buzzing with excitement as the ladies took a last peek at the exhibited works before they were taken down.

By Ika Forssell May 2013 • ScandAsia.Singapore 15