Danish-Thai Trade News May - August 2011

MAY - AUGUST 2011

Turning Sunshine Into Business

No cumbersome decision-making processes. Our advisers will take action when you want them to. jyskebank.ch/whyjbpb

JYSKE BANK (SCHWEIZ) AG • Private Banking Wasserwerkstrasse 12 • Postfach • 8021 Zürich Tel. +41 (0) 44 368 7373 • Fax +41 (0) 44 368 7379 info@jyskebank.ch • www.jyskebank.ch Jyske Bank (Schweiz) AG is a subsidiary of Jyske Bank A/S, Business Reg. No. 17616617. Services and products are not available to everybody, for instance not to residents of Denmark. Jyske Bank (Schweiz) AG is subject to supervision by the Swiss financial supervisory authority, FINMA, www.finma.ch

DANISH-THAI CHAMBER OF COMMERCE 34 C.P. Tower 3, 9th Floor Tower, Phayathai Road, Ratchathewi, Bangkok10400 Tel.: +66 2 354 5220 Fax: +66 2354 5221 E-mail: contact@dancham.or.th Executive Director: Katrine Præst PRESIDENT Mr. Peter Emil Romhild Sr. Executive Vice President Berli Jucker Public Co., Ltd. Tel : +66 2 367 1111 Fax : +66 2 367 1000 E-mail : president@dancham.or.th VICE PRESIDENT / TREASURER / ALUMNI / HR Mr. Søren Presmann Managing Director Presmann (Thailand) Co., Ltd. Tel : +66 2 962 1151 Mob : +66 89 668 7840 Fax : +66 2 962 1152 E-mail : treasurer@dancham.or.th VICE PRESIDENT / MEMBERSHIP / CSR / HR Mr. Charnchai Charuvastr Chairman Aviva Décor Limited Tel: +66 2 685 3661-3 Email: member@dancham.or.th CHAIRWOMAN EVENTS Mrs. Mai Ellegaard General Manager Euro-Center (Thailand) Co., Ltd. Tel : +66 2 696 3626-27 E-mail : chairevent@dancham.or.th EVENTS Mr. Thomas Nyborg Managing Director Pandora Production Co., Ltd. Tel : +66 2 728 7200 E-mail : event@dancham.or.th EVENTS / LEGAL ADVISOR Mr. Santhapat Periera Partner Tilleke & Gibbins International Ldt. Tel : +66 2 263 7700 Fax : +66 2 263 7710 E-mail : egal@dancham.or.th CHAIRMAN MEMBERSHIP Mr. Jacob Bojsen Managing Director Visit Beyond Co. Ltd. Tel : +66 2 630 6994-8 E-mail : chairmember@dancham.or.th FOREIGN AFFAIRS / MEMBERSHIP Mr. Stig Vagt-Andersen General Manager Ben Adisti Co. Ldt. Tel : +66 2 168 7206 E-mail : foreign@dancham.or.th CHAIRMAN MEDIA Mr. Jakob Ingemann Chief Financial Officer ECCO (Thailand) Co., Ltd. Tel : +66 35 716 601 E-mail : chairmedia@dancham.or.th

Peter E. Romhild President Danish-Thai Chamber of Commerce

Dear Readers As I write the foreword to this issue of Trade News, the Election Day has just passed.

Thailand is now into its next stage in Government, and we can only hope that reconciliation will be on the agenda to the benefit of the Thai people and the foreign investment climate.

Environment and green technology is in the media almost daily, and for Thailand environmental issues have become increasingly important to tackle. Denmark is on the forefront of alternative energy and in general considered one of the most progressive countries in the world, when it comes to green technology.

In this issue of Trade News we focus on new developments in Thailand ranging from solar panels, to insulation material to green energy solutions. There are many aspects of saving the environment, and every little improvement adds to a sustainable environmentally friendly society. Please enjoy reading the many interesting articles.

As earlier informed on our Website, Katrine Praest, our Executive Director, will move to Malaysia to take up a new position with a Danish company. Katrine has been with the Chamber for two years, and she has been a great support to the Board and leader of the small team we have at the Chamber. Also our Intern Chrsitian Skaarup Rasmussen is heading back to Denmark after completing his term. We wish both of them all the best in the future. Our new Executive Director, Savija Pannark Korslund will already take up position mid July, and we will also have a new Intern joining the Chamber early August.

We will introduce both in the next issue of Trade News.

I wish everyone a great summer and good hunting with the Trade News.

MEDIA Mr. Robert Kronberg Managing Director PIRO Consulting Group Tel : +66 81 406 2854 Fax : +66 2 254 5766 E-mail : web@dancham.co.th MEDIA Mr. Thomas Lindy Sorensen Managing Director Maersk Line (Thailand) Ltd. Tel : +66 2752 9090 Fax : +66 2 750 9614 Email : media@scanmach.co.th EMBASSY REPRESENTATIVE Mr. Bo Bjerregaard Rasmussen Commercial Counsellor Royal Danish Embassy Tel : +66 89 204 9098 E-mail: borasm@um.dk EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Ms. Katrine Præst Executive Director Danish-Thai Chamber of Commerce Tel : +66 2 354 5220 Fax : +66 2 354 5221 Email : director@dancham.or.th EDITING, MARKETING & PRODUCTION Scand-Media Corp. Ltd. 4/41 - 2 Moo, Ramintra Soi 14, Bangkok 10230 Tel.: (66) 02943 7166-8 Fax: (66) 02943 7169 Editor: Mr. Gregers Moller - gregers@scandmedia.com Marketing: Mr. Finn Balslev - finn@scandmedia.com Design: Supphathada Numamnuay supphathada@scandmedia.com

Peter E. Romhild President

OVERLAD STRATEGIEN TIL OS – SÅ PLEJER VI DINE INVESTERINGER

Bliv kunde i en bank, hvor alle er velkomne Investering i værdipapirer kræver en klar strategi og løbende overvågning. Har du ikke tid, lyst eller indsigt, kan Sydbank (Schweiz) AG tilbyde dig en professionel investeringsløsning.

Din investeringsrådgiver, der møder dig på din hjemmebane, forener ekspertise på højt niveau med en afslappet og imødekommende facon. Derfor vil du straks føle dig velkommen i Sydbank (Schweiz) AG.

9329-1210

Poststrasse 17 · CH-9000 St. Gallen Tel +41 (0) 71 227 81 00 Fax +41 (0) 71 227 81 01 pbi@sydbank.ch · www.sydbank.ch

Kontakt os og aftal et møde Hvis du vil høre mere om, hvad vi kan tilbyde dig i Sydbank (Schweiz) AG, så læs mere på sydbank.ch. eller kontakt Allan Hvii Senior Vice President +41 (0)71 227 81 60 allan.hvii@sydbank.ch

Denmark to Phase Out February 2011 the Danish Government unveiled its “Energy Strategy 2050”. The paper describes how Denmark can achieve its independence from coal, oil and gas by 2050 and significantly reduce its greenhouse gas emissions.

Photos by Anders Birch

Denmark is the first country to present such a specific and ambitious strategy for achieving independence from fossil fuels

6

Danish-Thai Chamber of Commerce

T

he energy strategy contains a raft of initiatives that will reduce the energy industry’s use of fossil fuels by 33 percent in 2020, compared with 2009. The reduction will put Denmark well on its way to complete independence of fossil fuels by 2050.

“Denmark is the first country to present such a specific and ambitious strategy for achieving independence from fossil fuels,” says Ms. Lykke Friis, Minister for Climate and Energy.

The strategy calls for a significant increase in renewable energy obtained from wind, biomass and biogas which over the next decade will increase the share of renewables to 33 per-

cent of energy consumption, if the initiatives in the strategy are implemented. Doing so would place Denmark among the top three countries in the world in terms of overall increase in renewable energy as a share of total energy consumption.

Part of the increase would also rely on increasing use of biogas for heat, and a number of new initiatives will be put forth in order to promote the production of biogas.

Reduced gross energy useage

By 2020 Denmark will approximately double the wind power production in Denmark. Wind power alone is expected to cover more than 40 percent of

Fossil Fuels overall electricity consumption by 2020, compared with about 20 percent today. By 2020 more than 60 percent of electricity consumption will by covered by renewable energy. Meanwhile, strengthened energy efficiency efforts will reduce gross energy use by 6 percent in 2020, compared with 2006 levels.

In reaching the goal, Denmark will retain its position as a world leader in the area.

The strategy offers an economically responsible path to the conversion of the Danish energy supply.

Minister for Climate and Energy Lykke Friis underscores that the costs of converting from fossil fuels to green energy should also been seen in the light of expected increases in the cost of fossil fuels.

“No one is saying that carrying out major investments in energy efficiency and expanding our use of renewable energy is going to be free. But the alternative: Continued dependence on fossil fuels will, as all signs indicate, only become more expensive in the years to come. Converting to renewable energy will shield Denmark from the effects of increasing energy prices.The next step will be to discuss this proposal in parliament”.

The Government is proposing a broad range of initiatives that will encourage a shift to biomass in the power plants of the major cities, increase consumption of renewable energy and promote more efficient energy use. The initiatives include:

Biomass and biogas

• Make it more financially attractive to establish biogas plants by granting biogas production subsidies, subsidies for biogas infrastructure, subsidies the use biogas in industrial processes, etc.

• Replace coal with biomass by allowing producers and consumers of district heat freedom of contract, this will make it more advantageous for both sides to convert to biomass.

• Make it possible for small power plants to convert from natural gas to biomass by allowing plants up to a capacity of 20 MW to freely choose their fuel source.

• Mandate a 10 percent biofuel additive by 2020.

Wind power

• Tender of a 600 MW offshore wind farm at Kriegers Flak.

• Carry out study of coastal areas that would identify locations suitable for a further 400 MW of small offshore wind turbines for use in development and demonstration of new wind turbines.

• Promote placement of new wind turbines on land. * Intelligent energy network • Establish new international electricity sharing capacity in connection with Kriegers Flak offshore wind farm.

• Require that all electric metres installed after 2015 be intelligent electric metres. Reduce from 2013 the limit for installing intelligent metres from 100,000 kWh annually to 50,000 kWh annually.

Energy efficiency

• Raise the energy savings target, that energy companies have to implement amongst their consumers by 50 percent starting in 2013 and by 75 percent in the period 2017-2020. Tighten building code requirements • Gradually phase out oil and gas furnaces. Starting in 2012, new buildings may not be built with oil or gas furnaces. Starting in 2017, oil furnaces may not be installed in existing buildings.

Research, development and demonstration

• Support development of minor renewable energy technologies, including solar and wave power. Set aside money to fund demonstration projects for large heat pumps intended for use by district heating plants, as well as funding for studies of geothermal energy.

• Create an overall strategy that will ensure national research, demonstration and development efforts support efforts to convert to renewable energy.

Further information on the Danish Energy Strategy 2050 can be found on the Danish Energy Agency’s website May - August 2011

7

Green Energy Promoted

by Tax Exemption and Su

T

Deduction in taxes and Subsidies are some of the benefits gained if investing in Green Energy, promises Dr. Twarath Sutrabutr, Deputy Director General in Thailand’s Department of Alternative Energy.

Thailand has two energy master plans known as the “Renewable Energy Development Plan (REDP) 2008-2022” and the “Energy Efficiency Plan (EEP) 2010-2030”. Similar to other countries’ Green Growth Strategy, the plan is to save energy and to expand the amount of renewable energy. Thailand is offering a number of incentives supporting the industries going green.

By Steen Poulin Nielsen

8

Danish-Thai Chamber of Commerce

warath Sutabutr is the Deputy DirectorGeneral in Thailand’s Departement of Alternative Energy Development and Efficientcy.

“Our policy is very clear. We have committed to two master plans called REDP and EEP, or Green Growth as known in other countries; one to save energy and the other to expand the amount of renewable energy. We have financial instruments to assist the investors in this matter. My job is to make programmes to promote renewal energy and energy efficiency programmes to be invested in Thailand,” Sutabutr says.

Together with The Board of Investment (BoI) and the Ministry of Energy (MoEN), they are working hard to promote investments in energy efficient technology offering eight years of corporate income tax exemption for: • Manufacturing of solar cells • Electricity or steam power generation through the use of alternative energy sources.

• Manufacturing of energysaving machinery or renewable energy equipment and machinery.

Energy Service Consulting • Companies, to provide consulting services regarding the use and/or installation of energy-saving machinery or alternative energy equipment.

Twarath Sutabutr holds a doctor degree from MIT, USA in civil and environmental engineering. He has been working for the Thai government for the past 12 years, mainly with energy issues and is also working together with other countries in ASEAN. Sutabutr believes that Thailand is the right choice for any company in the green energy sector.

“I will like to invite potential investors to look into our package, how we can make it

ubsidies cheaper for you to set up your business in Thailand, energy wise,” he says.

If a company wants to set up a solar farm, Sutabutr says it is possible to source low cost solar panels from China, which has a free trade agreement with ASEAN, as well as source other plant equipment such as inverters and batteries from Thailand or neighbouring countries.

“To integrate this into a project or equipment you can supply to your customers. I think that Thailand has the potential to be a hub for system integration. Right now the Ministry of Energy works together with Board of Investment to encourage companies to set up companies or subsidiaries in Thailand. Taking advantage of BOI advantages to import machinery and equipment to either save energy or to produce renewable energy duty-free, you can use Thailand as a hub and take advantage of BOI again when exporting duty free,” Sutabutr says.

The financial instruments The financial instruments are right now a tax rebate when a company invests in energy efficient equipment.

“If you change your light bulbs, you keep your invoice, and at the end of the year you give it to the Department of Revenue and they will deduct your tax with another 25%. You save money on energy by changing to energy saving products and you can deduct 125% before tax when you buy such products,” Twarath Sutabutr says.

Another financial instrument is the direct subsidiary. If a company buys certain equipment or technology, the government will give 20% of the value as a direct subsidiary.

Thailand has identified certain technology that needs a jump start. According to Sutabutr, if a hotel is investing on a heatpump, and the heat-pump is on the list of products for this programme, the hotel will get a

20% direct subsidiary up-front.

The third financial instrument is the soft-loan programme.

“If you are interested in investing in energy savings or renewable energy, the government has allocated a sum of money to the commercial banks at a very low rate. The banks will give the loan to the developer at a very low rate which is now less than four percent so that the company can find financing,” Sutabutr says.

Thailand as a hub The Deputy Director-General is a firm believer that Thailand is the right place to set up a green technology business. He thinks that the trend of ‘going green’ and emitting ‘low-carbon’ will increase and take a mainstream within five years.

“Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia and the rest of the countries can do as Thailand. If Thailand will increase renewable energy with 5600 MW, using

a simple analysis Vietnam, Philippines and Indonesia can do the same or even more. The geographic location of Thailand means easy access to the rest of the countries in the region. You can source products from the other countries in the ASEAN free trade agreement and Thailand will be a strategic choice as your hub to ASEAN,” Sutabutr says.

As Thailand is in the general election period new programmes will not be launched before after the election, but Sutabutr is convinced that the new government will make an even stronger commitment to the Green Growth strategy.

“I have my personal feeling that the future government will step up a little bit more on both energy sufficiency and renewable energy as I am sure that Thailand will like to stay in the front of our region in this matter,” Twarath Sutabutr says.

If you change your light bulbs, you keep your invoice, and at the end of the year you give it to the Department of Revenue and they will deduct your tax with another 25%. You save money on energy by changing to energy saving products and you can deduct 125% before tax when you buy such products.

May - August 2011

9

Turning Sunshine Into Business

By Steen Poulin Nielsen

S

olar power is on everyones lip in Asia and other parts of the sunny world. Even Google announced this month that the company will invest 280 million US dollars in home solar projects.

“This is our largest clean energy project investment to date and brings our total invested in the clean energy sector to more than $680 million,” said Rick Needham, Google’s director of green business operations.

Last month, May 2011, the Asia Solar Energy Forum (ASEF), a knowledge-management platform shared by Asian governments, solar energy manufacturers and developers. Held their third meeting in Bangkok.

According to the online media Earth Alert, Anil Terway, senior advisor from the Asian Development Bank (ADB), which is sponsor and organiser of ASEF, solar power is in focus. ”Solar has the potential to be one of mankind’s best energy solutions. It’s a secure energy source that the world will always have. We intend to create a

10

Danish-Thai Chamber of Commerce

virtuous cycle of solar energy investments in the region, so that ADB’s developing member countries will have a chance to benefit from this clean and inexhaustible energy resource.,” Anil Terway said.

He told that developing solar energy is a long-term strategy of ADB who have launched the Asia Solar Energy Initiative (ASEI) on May 2010 for identifying, developing and implementing 3,000MW of solar electricity generation and associated grid projects over the next three years.

ADB is aware that the technology from concerning developing solar energy is far from mature. ”Of course, there are still some technological barriers for which we have taken some measures to reduce potential risks. For example, ADB has devised the Asia Accelerated Solar Energy Development Fund (AASEDF) which will raise about 500 million US dollars over the next three years from donor countries to buy down the initial high technology adoption costs of solar power generation

projects,” Anil Terway said.

The senior advisor is very optimitic in his prediction for solar power in Asia, he believes in a doubling of annual solar energy use in the future years as the costs of solar power plant equipment become lower.

Yanhee Solar Power Plant About 60 km north of Bangkok, in Sena, Ayutthaya, the Yanhee Solar Power Plant is already turning sunshine into electricity.

The capacity of a solar power plant is expressed in the measuring units MWp, megawatts peak, which is is a measure of the nominal power of a photovoltaic solar energy device under laboratory illumination conditions.

Yanhee Solar Power Plant is a project planned by the Conergy company but the local design, construction ,operational management was carried out by the company Annex Power, a renewable energy group covering the Indochina region focusing on solar, wind, biomass and biogas projects. Yanhee Solar Power Plant is designed to generate electricity all year long

for a minimum of 25 years with limited maintenance. The plant is the largest privately-held solar plant in SE Asia.

The Managing Director from Annex Power Thailand, Mr. Daniel Gaefke tells that the power plant is owned by Solarta Co. Ltd. which is a joint venture between Ratchaburi Electricity PLC and Yanhee Solar Co., Ltd. and that the first MWp has been running for about 1 year and the second phase with 2 MWp for about 3 months now. ”The production was expected to be 4.5 megawatt hours/year. The plant is over performing by now,” Mr. Daniel Gaefke says. This production is equivalent to approximately 3000 households.

The production will save close to 2.000 tons of carbon emissions per year.

The exact figures from Yanhee Solar can not be disclosed to the public but when asked about what kind of return of investment an investor can expect from a solar power plant in Thailand, Mr. Gaefke estimates between 10 and 15 percent depending on the exacts

location of the plant and the technology used.

The electricity generated from Yanhee Solar Power Plant is fed to the electricity grid of the Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA) of Thailand.

The Operating & Maintenance Technician Mr. Chatchai Lekpun is supervising the electricity production at Yanhee Solar Power Plant.

Investors want more

The performance of Yanhee Solar Power Plant has shown the owner, Solarta Co. Ltd., that investing in solar power is good busines and they continue their investment. ”Solarta will build more than 30 MWp in additional power plants in the same region. We already started with the next phase of 12.4 MWp split at two sites,” Daniel Gaefke says.

The 12.4 MWp plant will be comprised of 56,000 solar modules and will cover 268,000 square meters.

The investors CEO, Dr. Supot Sumritvanitcha is a happy costumer of Annex Power.

“We have been extremely pleased with Conergy and Annex Power’s performance with our first large-scale solar project in terms of quality, delivery and value,” Dr. Supot Sumritvanitcha says.

May - August 2011

11

Rockwool in Thailand Rockwool is the leading brand in the market for stone wool insulation material.

Rockwool International is listed on the Copenhagen Stock exchange since 1995 and the Rockwool Group operates 25 factories worldwide with more than 8500 employees on the payroll. Around 200 of them in Thailand.

By Steen Poulin Nielsen

M

ore than a hundred years ago, scientists on the Hawaiian volcano Kilauea, found a strange wool-like material hanging in trees. Analysis showed it to be rock fibre seen to have exceptional qualities such as excellent fire protection qualities and superb insulating properties. In 1937, Gustav Kahler brought the volcanic principle to Denmark and set up Rockwool’s first factory near Copenhagen.

Far away from the sub-zero climate in Denmark, Kukkong Hanpadung-dhamma works as the Business Director for Rockwool Thailand.

The acquisition

”Rockwool is marketed under the brand name Roxul in Asia and has been available in Thailand for more than 15 years. The Australian CSR Group was

12

manufacturing stonewool insulation under CSR brand and established a solid, growing business. At the end of last year, the Rockwool Group acquired the insulation business from CSR,” the Business Director says.

According to the Rockwool Group, the 700 mio kroner acquisition provides a solid platform in the world´s fastest development construction market and is expected to contribute to the growth of the Group net sales by about 450 million kroner.

The Business Director says there are nearly two hundred people working at the factory in Rayong, Thailand. Around 120 of them are staff while the remaining 70 are on and off employed staff hired by subcontractors.

The acquisition included three mineral wool factories located in Thailand, Malaysia and China which also had a sandwich panel plant. in

Danish-Thai Chamber of Commerce

addition to the businesses in these three countries, the acquisition includes sales offices in Vietnam, Singapore and the Philippines.

“Stone wool is second to none when it comes to fire protection. No available material provides better thermal insulation and acoustic absorption,” says Kukkong Hanpadung-dhamma.

The increasingly growing focus on energy in Thailand, together with the rest of the world is able to help Rockwool expand its business further.

Insulation in Asia

The Business Director sees the residential market as an important part of the business. In SE Asia insulation has not been an important and integrated factor when new buildings are planned, but he has no doubt that it is going to change.

Roxul substantially reduces the demand for electricity used

up by air-conditioning systems and improves comfort levels by reducing the heat flow in all buildings.

“There is an increasing focus on fire safety on the Asian markets,” says the Business Director. The market share of non flameable insulation materials are quite low in the Region, according to the Rockwool Group estimating the market share as follows: Plastic foam 72% Glass Wool 12% Stone Wool 8% Other

8% In Asia, there has been several very sad examples of casualties caused by unsafe insulation material such as the Shanghai fire incident in November 2010 which destroyed a 28-story high-rise apartment building in the city of Shanghai, China. It killed at least 58 people, injuring

Stone wool is second to none when it comes to fire protection.

Furthermore, no available material provides better thermal insulation and acoustic absorption.

more than 70 others. The fire may have been caused by the accidental ignition of polyurethane foam insulation used on the building’s outer walls. It took more than 80 fire engines and several hours to contain the fire.

Industial usage

“In Thailand the quality of Roxul is widely recognized as an industrial application at power plants and refineries where there are hot processes going on. In high-rise building development we have got some business, mainly because our products are used for fire protection though not as much for thermal insulation because it has got very little awareness in SE Asia,� says Kukkong Hanpadung-dhamma.

There are a lot of activities and campaigns initialized by the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand to save energy but according to Kukkong, EGAT

is mainly approaching the industrial part of the market and home appliance.

According to the Business Director, the reason for the high market share in the industrial market is that it is good business to use Roxul as an insulator.

Anywhere with an industrial hot process going on, there will be a management concerned about the amount of energy spent in the process. With a melting point close at 1000 degrees celcius, Roxul can be widely used.

Educating the market is important for Rockwool. The Business Director says that there are many suppliers claiming their products, which may be aluminium foil or even plastic bubble wrapping offered to the contractors, are suitable as insulators. Although these may be less expensive than Roxul, they are actually not appropriate insulators.

May - August 2011

13

Dedicated to Green En

I think that people should go active. Don´t wait for others to save energy.

If you have halogen lightning in your house, you can save 90% of the energy. Imagine how much energy could be saved if all households changed just one bulb every year

14

Danish-Thai Chamber of Commerce

nergy Solutions Elgan Voigtmann has been working in Thailand for the last eight years in his company, the Siam Green Power.

By Steen Poulin Nielsen

of the walls, natural water pool, wind turbines and solar heating,” he says.

According to Voigtmann, to build a zero-energy house in Thailand is really not a problem.

He explains that the energy from the sun is just waiting to be picked up and transformed into light, heat and other forms of energy.

LED lighting

S

iam Green Power offers energy saving and renewable energy solutions to light industries, and households.

The portfolio is LED lightning, solar heating, solar power grid, solar pump systems, waste water systems, solar cooling, natural water systems, and geothermal cooling and heating.

“I think that people should go active. Don´t wait for others to save energy. If you have halogen lightning in your house, you can save 90% of the energy. Imagine how much energy could be saved if all households changed just one bulb every year,” Elgan Voigtmann says.

Through the eight years in the business, Siam Green Power has supplied green energy solutions to many customers. When asked, Elgan Voigtmann relates the project for Six Senses on Koh Kuut.

“We were in charge of the energy project management for their Eco Suites. We planned and installed natural waste water systems, surface cooling

Electroluminescent was a phenomenon born from an experiment conducted by a British back in 1907. After many experiments, the first practical visible-spectrum of light was developed by an American in 1962 though at the time, the price of the technology was too high to make it spread out to the households.

Lately, major improvements and cost reduction development have been in effect and now, LED lighting can be one of the good answers when people all over the world are asking for energy saving solutions. Some of the arguments from the suppliers of LED lighting are that they are: Long-lasting - LED bulbs last up to 10 times as long as compact fluorescents can, and far longer than typical incandescents.

Durable - Since LEDs do not have a filament, they are not damaged under circumstances a regular incandescent bulb would be affected by and because they are solid, LED bulbs hold up well to jarring and bumping.

Cool - These bulbs do not cause heat build-up; LEDs produce 3.4 btu’s/hour, compared to 85 for incandescent bulbs. This also cuts down on air conditioning costs in a household.

Mercury-free - No mercury is used in the manufacturing of LEDs. More efficient - LED light bulbs use only 2-10 watts of electricity (1/3rd to 1/30th of Incandescent or CFL). Small LED flashlight bulbs can extend battery life 10 to 15 times longer than with incandescent bulbs.

Energy can also be saved maintenance and replacement costs as these bulbs can last for years.

Cost-effective - Although

LEDs are expensive, the cost is recouped over time and in battery savings. For the AC bulbs and large cluster arrays, the best value comes from commercial use where maintenance and replacement costs are expensive.

For example, many cities in the US are replacing their incandescent traffic lights with LED arrays because the electricity costs can be reduced by 80%, or more.

Remote Areas - Because of the low power requirement for LEDs, using solar panels becomes more practical and less expensive than running an electric line or using a generator for lighting in these areas.

According to Voigtmann, prices of LED lighting has dropped about 40% in the past three years, making the change from traditional lightning to LED a sound investment. Voigtmann believes that the Return of Investment (ROI), is between two and three years. After the investment is paid back, the LED lighting will continue to save money and energy for the owner.

He also mentioned that when going from halogen lighting to LED lighting in a room, the heat gain in the room will be reduced by about 30% as LED lightning has no heat radiance.

Earth Cooling

A geothermal heating and cooling system works on a simple premise: The earth below is at a constant temperature all year round. The earth’s temperature changes in response to weather changes, but there is less change at greater depths.

Heat can be taken from within a building and transferred into the ground, cooling the building.

This is carried out through loops of piping buried in the ground, either vertically or horizontally, and connected to a circulating pump. The pump circulates a mixture of water and biodegradable antifreeze through the buried pipe loops, and the liquid mixture transports the heat absorbed in the building into the ground depositing it there as it flows through the loop.

“The system is not suitable

for most of the smaller plot of land common for houses in Thailand but if you have a small factory and about 3000m2 of land, you can benefit from an Earth Cooling system. This can reduce the air temperature to about 15 degrees,” Voigtmann says. He adds that a system like this will be paid back in less than three years.

Street Lightings

Elgan Voigtmann estimates that there are at least 10 million street lights in Thailand. Today a 400W high pressure sodium bulb is the standard lighting. If replaced by LED lighting, the same light can be provided by a 150W bulb.

At this he suggested, “Just go calculate how much energy this would save.”

Light is Life

Voigtmann states that he tried to capture the mission of his company with the slogan ‘Light is Life’.

“200 years ago, we actually lived and even built houses in Europe without the technology available today. Today, nothing is possible without burning off fossil fuels and my personal opinion is that the oil industry is very powerful, and that it has got a major influence on the political decisions,” Voigtmann says.

The German business owner is constantly asked about the ROI from customers thinking about buying a green energy solution. According to Elgan Voigtmann, he is lucky enough to have surprisingly good answers to such questions as much of his green solutions will be paid back in less than three years. Even though, he is wondering why he always get such questions.

“Why is it, that people always ask about the ROI? Do you ask the same question when buying a car,” he questions.

Voigtmann suggests that people start taking action making the world a better place to stay. This also means to avoid using energy that could harm the planet when other solutions are ready and available.

May - August 2011

15

Hasle Refractories Growing in Asia

By Steen Poulin Nielsen

16

H

asle Refractories A/S develops, manufactures and supplies unique refractory materials for a number of different industries. Established in 1843 on the Danish island of Bornholm the company today sells refractory materials to customers in more than 50 countries worldwide.

Asia is an increasingly important market for the company.

Eight years ago the company established an office in Bangkok managed by Bent-Ole Lindahl, 8600 km away from the corporate headquarters.

Danish-Thai Chamber of Commerce

“I have been working with Hasle Refractories for more than 20 years. About 12 years ago I was asked to take care of our business in Asia. At that time this business was very small and I managed the sales, among my other tasks in the company in Denmark,” Lindahl says.

Refractory products from the Danish company are premium products in the market. In Asia the products are marketed against the cement manufacturers and the power plants.

“Our prices are about 15 to 20 percent higher than the competition. Our job is to show the customers that buying our products can actually be good business for them as our products are top quality products prolonging the lifetime of their production facilities,” Bent-Ole Lindahl says.

The most important products for Hasle Refractories at the Asian market are castables and ceramic center pipes.

“We are a niche player in a market among giants. When we identify a potential customer, we target very specific and often small areas where we can make a difference with our high-end products,” Lindahl says.

Hasle Refractories takes the pre-sale process very seriously and collects information needed to calculate how their solution can help the customer. According to Lindahl, the kiln at a cement plant has got two scheduled maintenance shutdowns per year and any other shutdowns will create loss for the cement factory.

If the Hasle-solution can expand the lifetime of any equipment, the higher costs of their products will be more than financed. Next step is to follow the customer closely providing advice and technical support so that when the customer understands that what was promised is kept, larg-

er orders will follow. According to Lindahl, the company focuses on providing solutions more than products.

“If we get an order from a new customer today, it will be a small order of maybe around 40.000 kroner. Our large orders can go up to around two million kroner and for that we will have to wait until we have proven our value as a supplier.

The time frame from the initial order to a large order is often between two to three years”, Lindahl says.

A giant market

Lindahl explains the size of the market in Asia by comparing to the Danish market. In Denmark there is one big cement plant in Aalborg Portland, which has the capacity of approximately 5000 tons per day. In Thailand there are 20 plants, each of which has got the double capacity of Aalborg Portland.

Thailand is only a small market compared with India and China.

When the world is going green, new opportunities shows up for Hasle Refractories. Power plants are starting to turn trash into electricity, but burning trash there has an increasing exposure of acids to the kilns or furnaces which in turn decrease the lifespan of the equipment.

HASLE Refractories has the right products to cope with this challenge.

“We can assist the power plants by helping their equipment to last longer. I believe that we are doing an effort to make the world into a better place ”, says Linddal.

One third of Hasle Refractories A/S turnover is generated at the Asian market.

Hasle Refractories A/S has for many years generated a positive result, even during crises.

Cost T Effective Tracking Solutions

homas Fatzler founded i-Tracking Thailand Co., Ltd. in 2009. Together with Thomas, there are four other employees selling and supporting wireless communication and tracking solutions. Mr. Fatzler’s background is within the financial sector, both in Europe and Asia, however in 2002 he made a career shift and became Managing Director of a plastic factory in Ghana and this was followed up by a similar position in Egypt in 2004.

Interactive Tracking

By Steen Poulin Nielsen

”i-Tracking is relevant for all sizes of companies. Our solution saves both time and money for the client. It is our experience that through our system, clients can make savings on running costs of between 15 to 20 percent,” Thomas Fatzler says.

Through a fleet management solution, the costumer will see an improvement in asset control of the company and at the same time, enables better driver security, according to Mr. Fatzler. It is possible to get easy mileage reporting, fuel reports, stop reports ect. The systems even allows the client’s dispatch center to set up routes with times. These functions may be monitored on-line or on demand for improved security and customer satisfaction, he says.

Apart from fleet management solutions, i-Tracking also markets solutions for container monitor-

ing, personal tracking, padlocks for remote monitoring and a fuel sensor with a precision of 0.5 – 1%. i-Tracking is continuously moving towards trying to find the best solutions for the market, meaning new systems should make it easier for the client and at the same time provide more information.

Case study

During the harvest season of sugar cane, many trucks are being overloaded and this creates problems on the roads, including serious and costly accidents, Mr. Fatzler says. i-tracking is looking into solutions where load sensors are being connected, enabling better control of the loaded factor on the truck.

This also makes it possible for buyers/traders or sugar factories to move from one small farm to the next buying up, with the result of saved fuel for both the buyer and farmer, who will not have to bring his harvest to the buyer/trader or factory as is the case today.

The load sensor solution can be used on all types of trucks, improving road safety and reducing fuel consumption.

Ready for the break-through Thomas Fatzler states that his company is working closely on several larger accounts at the moment, most of them transportation companies each with a large fleet of vehicles.

May - August 2011

17

Planning Conserves Energ Nicholas James Everly is the Managing Director for Home Developing Company, Kosum Pattana Group. Their head office is located in Laksi, Bangkok where they handle projects including townhouses, single family homes and commercial buildings.

By Kristene Silva Marie

18

T

he 30-year-old was born and raised in the U.S. where he graduated as a marketing major but soon after got his experience in the construction business at a prominent construction company in the United States.

He came to Thailand two and a half years ago with intentions to help out with this family owned business.

With energy conservation a growing concern, Nicholas mentioned measures taken by the company to do their part in conserving energy and helping the buyers benefit more from the houses they have purchased.

“We try to play a part in developing houses that not only conserve energy but also benefit the buyers in economic terms,” he said.

“People understand the necessity of saving or conserving energy but ultimately, what they look for at the end of the day is the economics suitability,” he added.

He also stated that currently the energy conservation they are focusing on is reducing the usage of air conditioning in a home by preventing heat from lingering around in the buildings.

“When the air ventilation in a building is good, the need for air-conditioning decreases thus conserving energy and preserving the environment,” Nicholas said.

Danish-Thai Chamber of Commerce

Energy Conservation Methods

There are a few items incorporated in Kosumpattana’s buildings which help prevent heat from being an issue in the household, such as light bulbs, glass for doors and windows, bricks, and even the layout and positioning of the entire building.

“Using some of these methods in the houses that are built, the buyer will be able to reduce the consumption of air conditioning at home and still feel comfortable,” Nicholas said.

Nicholas stressed that as house developers, a lot of thought has to go into how a building is built to ensure the maximum comfort and convenience for the buyers. He said that this also helps to gain a wholesome end result.

He explained that from the initial stage of planning the design and layout of the houses, a lot of thought process has been put in to optimise the wind’s function as central ventilation factor in the house.

“When we plan out the structure and layout of a housing project, we take the positioning of the building into very serious consideration,” he said.

This means that the homes are built in a way that allows wind to easily pass through the house when the windows are open thus helping the ventilation in that home.

As the foundation of the building, instead of clay or cement bricks, light-weight cement bricks which are injected with air pockets are used.

According to Nicholas, these bricks act as a buffer to heat and make it more difficult for heat from outside the house to be transferred into the house via the walls. The air pockets in the bricks also help in dampening sound and enabling energy efficiency.

“The two main factors we work toward when constructing a house is preventing the sunrays from shining into the home and taking full advantage of the wind flow circulation,” Nicholas stressed.

Other items integrated into each home or building developed by Kosum Pattana are the 14W compact fluorescent

bulbs. These bulbs, although common, consume less energy than standard incandescent bulbs which can use anywhere between 50-70W per bulb.

“We don’t only use low Watt bulbs in the homes but we even use these on the streets and parks of the residential areas thus reducing operating cost for our projects,” Nicholas said.

Another component used when building is the green tinted glass for the doors and the windows in the house. If installed and designed efficient and effectively their green tinted glass, used for windows and doors, reduces up to around 40% heat transfer compared with regular non-tinted glass.

The financial savings of using these glasses cannot be determined for sure as it depends on several factors including how many glass doors or windows there are, the placement of these doors and windows, and if they have direct sunlight hitting them.

Nicholas stated that from a developer’s point of view it is very important that at the end the homes will be satisfactory which is also cost-friendly to the buyers. He said that although the compact fluorescent bulbs are not as energy saving as LED light bulbs are, they are currently what “their buyers are willing to pay for relative to additional increased cost.

“Although I would agree that it is effective as LED bulbs only consumes up to 3W, it doesn’t work well with the buyers at this moment mainly because of the increased cost associated with LED bulbs,’ he said.

He said that installing LED light bulbs around the house and developed area would be a rash decision at this moment because many of the buyers in the target market of Kosum Pattana’s are unaware of the full cost saving benefits of LED given the initial increased cost.

“Right now what matters most to them is the economics,” he said.

A Fully Energy-Efficient Home

“A home would be, but not limited too, one with double exterior walls, solar panels attached to its roof, LED light bulbs

gy in Home Development fixed in the entire house and super efficient air conditioners to control the temperature level of the house,” Nicholas explained and continued, “A single family home like that would cost around 25 to 30% more than what it usually costs.”

He added that while the benefits in these types of homes are certainly undeniable, the cost it incurs is too high as of this period of time.

“When we buy building materials for the homes at the price they are currently offering, we would also have to charge the buyers a price parallel to that which we have spent, and that is going to be too much,” he said.

He repeated that buyers need to get used to the idea of conserving the energy and the fact that their initial increased cost investment within three years.

“In Thailand, buyers are not ready for such a big investment, especially one they do not know

the advantage or benefits of.

As they get educated in this area, I believe the demand will slowly increase,” he said.

“But I believe it wouldn’t take too long before the fact sinks in and many people will be looking out to an energy efficient building rather than a cost saving one. In fact predictions point out to that as happening within a year,” he added.

research, Nicholas has an idea of which part of the house consumes the most energy. He said that during weekdays (Monday to Friday), the most energy is used up in the bedrooms and on weekends (Saturday and Sunday), the kitchen and living room takes up the most.

Based on this research outcome, he said they will probably

consider installing LED lightings in the bedrooms, since that is where most electrical energy is consumed most days of the week.

He concluded by saying “Price needs to go down and quality needs to go up,” referring to the standard of greenbuilding and energy efficient materials and it’s benefits to the buyers.

Future Plans

As the market grows and more green building and energy efficient building materials come into demand, Nicholas plans to implement more appliances to make the homes more energy efficient.

As part of his plan, he is looking into installing solar produced water heaters in the bathrooms and energy efficient air conditioners for their next project.

After conducting some

May - August 2011

19

Member of the Month:

Sra Bua by Kiin Kiin Sra Bua, recent corporate member of the Danish-Thai Chamber, is located in one of the finest hotels in Bangkok, Kempinski Hotel. It is Danish and owned by Henrik Yde-Andersen and Lertchai Treetawatchaiwong, also famous for Kiin Kiin in Copenhagen which is the only Michelin star Thai restaurant in the world.

By Christian Skaarup Rasmussen

20

Danish-Thai Chamber of Commerce

W

e were lucky to catch Henrik at one of his visits to Bangkok, where we had a good chat about starting his business in Thailand as well as experiencing the creations that Sra Bua is so famous for.

With a fine tuned concept from Kiin Kiin, where the streets kitchens in Bangkok meets the standards for a Michelin restaurant, the scene was pretty much set for Sra Bua in Bangkok.

With the overwhelming success, Kiin Kiin has been more or less fully booked every night since the opening in 2006.

“To have a success like that is very rare for a newly opened restaurant, and it still feels a bit unrealistic, even five years after the opening”, Henrik explains.

“Especially because what we serve, is not really seen before.”

Henrik explains that the most important thing for him is that people feel comfortable while being in one of his restaurants, meaning that the experience will be suited to the guest. “I was once dining in a gourmet restaurant, where I witnessed a young couple feeling almost embarrassed by having booked a table there, since they knew nothing about what the waiter was telling them about the wine and the food. The waiter did not take notice of how experienced his guests were. From that moment I decided that we would never have a situation like that in my restaurants,” says Henrik.

While chatting with Henrik, the first serving came in. It was nipplings in three different creations, and with a mouthwatering presentation. The mix of flavors were incredible, and many more interesting and creative creations

where following. “The harvest” a green curry mousse presented as if a baby carrot was growing in it, followed by frozen red curry lobster salad, duck roll, seared white fish, ginger and lime ice cream were some of the 20 different small dishes in the extended menu. The creativity put into the dishes makes you think a “Salvador Dali - street kitchen” cooperation has taken place.

Impressive, different and surprising were the three most used words this evening.

A Thai-Danish partnership

Henrik met his business partner Lertchai Treetawatrong, who at the time was working as a programmer for Microsoft, after Henrik returned to Denmark from four years Thailand. “I was cooking for the Dansk-Thai Forening in Denmark, which is were we met each other and came up with the idea for Kiin Kiin.” Henrik and Khun Lertchai both saw an opportunity in raising the level for fine Thai cuisine in Denmark.

Up until then, it was more known as take away food, with Thai restaurants serving only the most popular dishes that people may know from traveling in Thailand.

As Henrik explained, the biggest problem for many Thai restaurants in Denmark is that most of the ingredients used in Thai food are not allowed to enter Denmark, due to strict regulations. For this reason, Henrik and Khun Lertchai have their own Thai gardener placed in Denmark, growing everything they need for their menu.

Sharing competences

What seems to be the most valuable benefit from having the two restaurants is how they can share their competences in

• International Air & Sea Freight Forwarder

• NVOCC Services / Consolidator

• In-house Customs Clearance (In & Out Bound)

• Charter

• Customs Broker (Licensed)

• Cargo Insurance & Project Cargo Handling

• Door to Door and One Stop Service

Bangkok Head Office 3195/12 7th floor Vibulthani Tower 1 Rama IV Road Klongton Klongtoey , Bangkok 10110 Thailand Tel: +66 2 684 8100 Fax: +66 2 684 8198-9 Email: info@th.dsv.com Website: www.dsv.com/th Managing Director

both service and of course food making. Exporting Thai service to Denmark, and Danish kitchen efficiency to Thailand has made the two restaurants stand out from other Thai restaurants in the two countries.

“Actually we flew the chef from over here into Denmark to work at Kiin Kiin for two weeks.

We wanted to show her how we squeezed eight chefs into one kitchen cooking for 300 people per night, compared to the 14 chefs working at Sra Bua.” Henrik says with a smile. “She was amazed, and today things work very well here at Sra Bua.”

Working with Kempinski

“We have been very lucky, to work under a huge brand as the Kempinski Hotel,” Henrik explains us. It seems as if there have been common interests from the beginning, and he also reveals that without them, the current setup in Sra Bua would not have been possible. Up until now many prominent people have visited Sra Bua, counting both people from and outside Thailand. Henriks face lightens up when he tells us

that Princess Sirindhorn has been at Sra Bua. “What more can you ask for as a restaurant owner in Thailand,” he says with a smile.

DanCham would like to thank Henrik Yde-Andersen for inviting us to Sra Bua, and we are proud to have Sra Bua by Kiin Kiin as a DTCC - member.

If he is available at the time he will join us at the Christmas Lunch in November, and maybe even behind the stove.

We left the restaurant four hours later, having tried the most creative interpretations of Thai food in the world, complimented by a finely tuned wine menu, counting wines from all over, including Thailand.

Sra Bua is located in Siam Kempinski Hotel behind Siam Paragon.

If you have any further questions, feel free to contact Henrik per email on: Kiin@kiin.dk.

Visit the website and see the menu at: www.kempinskibangkok.com/ restaurants-bars/restaurants/ sra-bua-by-kiin-kiin/

- Mr. Stephen Lee Henry

: steve.henry@th.dsv.com

General Manager Seafreight - Mrs. Lawan Sarajoti

: lawan.sarajoti@th.dsv.com

General Manager Airfreight

- Mr. Kittisak Chokpipatporn

: kittisak.chokpipatporn@th.dsv.com

Seafreight Export Manager

- Ms. Supaluk Srasarika

: supaluk.srasarika@th.dsv.com

Airfreight Export Manager

- Mr. Thanachart Srithiwan

: thanachart.srithiwan@th.dsv.com

Seafreight Import Manager

- Ms. Pornphan Khamentketgarn

: pornphan.khamentketgarn@th.dsv.com

Airfreight Import Manager

- Mr. Pongsakorn Patcharapaisarn : pongsakorn.patcharapaisarn@th.dsv.com

Sales Manager

- Mr. Chakree Chaiwattanakul

: chakree.chaiwattanakul@th.dsv.com

Airport Office Room 117-118, Building 303 Free Zone, Suvarnabhumi Airport 999 Moo 7, Racha Thewa, Bangplee, Samutprakarn 10540, Thailand Tel: +66 2 134 7520 -26 Fax: +66 2 134 7553-4

Laem Chabang Office 198/21 Moo 9 Tungsukhla, Sriracha, Chonburi 20230 Thailand Tel: +66 3 840 1684-7 Fax: +66 3 840 1681 Laem Chabang Branch Manager

- Mr. Kan Chittaputta (kan.chittaputta@th.dsv.com)

… One of the leading suppliers of worldwide transport and logistics solutions …

24/7 Assistance

May - August 2011

21

Easter Lunch 2011

By Christian Skaarup Rasmussen

I

t is a fact that Danes miss their dark bread/rugbroed when being abroad. On Friday April 1st, Stable Lodge and Ecco provided much more than that in the cosy surroundings at The AETAS Residence.

An ever growing Easter Lunch, with amazing 105 people attending took place on Friday April 1st at The AETAS Residence. This year people were on the waiting list, so remember to book early next year. First come, first serve.

With a mouth watering Danish buffet from Stable Lodge, people started at 1pm and enjoyed themselves until 6pm. As a surprise we were able to get kransekage from Fyn Bakery which really got the attention from the hungry Danes. The free flow of beer and snaps doubled the decibels, and rumor has it that the majority of the attendees carried on showing the red and white colors in Bangkok on April Fools day. Any updates from what happened next, are most welcome at the Chamber.

As always we had a lucky draw, this year with amazing prices sponsored by: Visit Beyond – A gift voucher for 2 persons at Lakehouse, 5 days/4 nights worth 31.800Baht.

Genesis SkinKlinik – 4 vouchers each worth 5.000Baht.

Pandora – Jewelry Pharma Nord – Gift voucher worth 10.000 Baht.

Scanproducts Co. – A STELTON Thermos Ellegaard Trading – Three gift baskets from Urtekram Designers Field – 2 gift vouchers each worth 2.000Baht Congratulations to the lucky winners, and a big thanks to the lucky draw sponsors for making the lucky draw a must to take part in.

We would like to send our utmost thanks to Ecco for once again being the main sponsor at this great event. It is much appreciated by us and every member that sponsors provide us with the opportunity to build events in this scale.

A big thanks goes out to Stable Lodge for making a delicious Danish buffet, and The AETAS Residence for a beautiful setup and great service.

Last, but not least, we thank all the attendees for making the Easter Lunch a memorable day in 2011. We look forward to the Easter Lunch 2012 already. Until then, enjoy the pictures from this lovely day.

Danish ‘rugbrød’ and kransekage was on the menu at the Easter lunch.

22

Danish-Thai Chamber of Commerce

Nordic Chamber Networking A Photos by Pimjai Chaimongkol

great thank you to all 160 attendees for joining the biggest Nordic Chamber event to date, and a special thanks to Air Berlin for generously sponsoring the event!

Despite the sudden change in weather, Air Berlin and Centara Grand did a fantastic job arranging the perfect setting for the members of the Danish, Swedish, Norwegian and Finnish Chambers to mingle and network. There was free flow of Nordic specialties, created specially for the event, as well as wine, beer and soft drinks.

It was great to see so many new faces at this record breaking event. We are thrilled that the younger generation of Nordic Professionals has joined the forces at our Chamber events; we hope to see more of you in the future!

Finally a very lucky winner won two business class tickets to Europe by Air Berlin.

Once again, thank you to Air Berlin! We are extremely appreciative of your contribution to our chambers, and we could not have had such a successful event without you.

DanCham F Networking April 20 @ My Bar, Dusit Thani

By Christian Skaarup Rasmussen

or about 40 years, Dusit Thani has been a “social and business” landmark in Bangkok. On April 20th the “town in heaven” (Thai translation of Dusit Thani) hosted 80-90 DanCham members, friends of The Chamber and guests at My Bar. Delicious finger food and a free flow of beer and softdrinks for two hours, was very much appreciated by all the attendees. There were some new faces among the participants this evening, those being mainly the 15 students from Copenhagen who are on a study trip in Thailand. We hope they all enjoyed their first networking over here, and that they want to come back later on.

At future events, our goal is to give a brief presentation of any new participants and guests at our networking events. This is done in order to bring down the barriers one might have when only knowing a few of the other participants at the events. This should make it easier to network afterward and find the most relevant business and social relations.

Thanks to all the attendees for joining our event, and a big thanks to Dusit Thani and staff for excellent service and surroundings.

May - August 2011

23

Pandora Field Trip on May 26 2011

By Christian Skaarup Rasmussen

W

A well planned and busy day at the Pandora was the outcome for 32 participants at the field trip launched by Dancham.

Photos: Soffi Chanchira Larsen

24

Danish-Thai Chamber of Commerce

e were 32 lucky participants who joined the very interesting Field Trip to Pandora Production on Wednesday May 26.

Afterwards, everyone was quite amazed of what they saw. It was a fun and educational experience with a mix of hard facts, and hands on creativity for the participants.

We left from On Nut by bus, which took us to Gemopolis where Pandora Production is located. General Manager, Thomas Nyborg started out by welcoming everyone after which he gave a presentation on Pandora Jewelry.

It was very positive to hear, how Pandora try to bring in some Danish/Scandinavian values in the company. Every male employee has the right to paternity leave and every employee has the right to internal training after earning points, similar to a frequent flyer program. This internal training program is relatively new, and works very well as a motivation for the employees to be on time, keep a high productivity and have fewer sick days each year. The points they earn can be used to learn something completely new such as a course in Outlook or similar.

After the presentation it was time to show the participants the actual process, and let them play with some jewelry making themselves. A task which not everyone found to be as easy as it looked, when the trained staff showed them how it should be done, using only smooth finger movements. The guests were allowed to use some of the machines and to work with both warm wax, making models for charms and melting glass in the efforts to achieve an impressive final product.

The tour furthermore showed how Sterling silver, diamonds, glass and other stones are put together to beautiful final products considering where every product begin – a design draft made in Denmark.

Thanks to 3D printing, moulding, melting, heating, cutting, polishing and many more processes, Pandora Jewelry is today one of the biggest jewelry brands in the world.

Stuffed with European candy, and high on impressions from the jewelry making and the tour, we thanked the Pandora Production team for a wonderful and educational experience at Gemopolis.

Thanks to everyone who joined and again thanks to Pandora for putting together an interesting visit.

Networking on May 18

W

ith around 70 members and friends of the DanishThai Chamber, the May DanCham Networking event gave way to meet up with old acquaintances and expand ones network. After an introduction from Vice President of the Board, Soeren Presmann, the word was handed over to Sydbanks representative Allan Hvii, who explained what products Sydbank (Schweiz) AG can offer their clients.

They explain “All our decisions are based on customer needs and requirements. We aim to create value in all our relationships and remain true to our service philosophy “What can we do for you”.

Sydbank surpised the attendees with a luckydraw, and three lucky winners were able to bring home a bottle of Champagne. After the presentation from Sydbank, people really seemed to enjoy the free flow of food, beers and softdrinks, all sponsored by Sydbank.

Thanks to Dusit Thani for providing excellent service this evening and of course a big thank you to Sydbank for sponsoring the DanCham May Networking Event.

If any of our members have any enquiries about Sydbank, please do not hesitate to contact Allan Hvii for further assistance and questions: allan.hvii@sydbank.ch Guests are welcome Chamber Network, entrance fee for guests is the non-member price announced on each event.

We are always happy to receive your feedback and ideas for future events.

Awesome NYP-Event on March 25

By Christian Skaarup Rasmussen

W

hat happens when you put 120 beautiful young Nordics into a nice venue, provide them with 3 hours of free flow of quality wine, spirits and delicious Nordic food? You guessed it. They have the time of their lives.

In the fine surroundings at Le Fenix, the venue was setup to host 120 + hungry and thirsty Nordics, who were all ready to meet new faces and catch up with old friends.

This evening really showed how many talented Nordic young people we have here in Bangkok. These people are the future, and as a Chamber we hope to have many more years with these potential future members.

Business cards were exchanged, but not without a smile and a “skaal”.

The lucky draw was sponsored by Genesis

Skin Klinik and Karlsson Vodka, and even without a microphone we were able to find 4 lucky winners. Congratulations to these winners!

Thanks to Genesis Skin Klinik and Karlsson Vodka for sponsoring the event. Thanks to Le Fenix for facilitating the event and providing excellent service.

Ideas for the next event are already in the melting pot, but feel free to give any feedback. We always appreciate this, whether it is positive or negative.

We cannot reveal where the next NYPevent will take place, but we might have a few surprises for you all. So keep yourself updated on our website and/or Facebook page.

Until then, enjoy the pictures from this great evening on our Facebook Page: Nordic Young Professionals.

May - August 2011

25

New Members Corporate : SVI Public Company Limited 141 Moo 5, Tiwanon Road Bangkadi, Muang Pathumthani 12000 Tel: +66 2963 6401 Fax: +66 2963 6409 Email: verne@svi.co.th Web: www.svi.co.th Mr. Verne Mundell Assistant of New Product Introduction Mobile: +66 8 1373 4815

Ellegard Trading Co., Ltd. 16 Soi Pridi Bnomyong 27, Sukhumvit 71 Road, Klongton Nua Wattana, Bangkok 10110 Tel: +66 2392 7727 Fax: +66 2392 7727 Email: info@ellegardtrading.com Mr. Suppanai Ratanaprakarn Managing Director Mobile: +66 8 9749 5544 Email: yu@ellegardtrading.com

Air France KLM 849 Vorawat Building, 21st Floor, Silom Road, Silom Bangrak, Bangkok 10500 Tel: +66 2610 0808, +66 2610 0800 Email: mail.afklhelpdesk.th@airfrance.fr Alternative Email: mail.enews.bkk@airfrance.fr Web: www.airfrance.co.th and www.klm.co.th Mr. Luc Delaplace General Manager Mekong Region Direct: +66 2680 9667 Mr. Alwin Hollander Regional Commercial Direct: +66 2680 9690 Mr. Stephane Bretaudeau Regional HR & Finance Manager Direct: +66 2680 9610

NXTGENSYS Thailand Ltd. 88/132 Ivy Sathon 10 Soi Suksa Wittaya Silom, Bangrak Bangkok, 10500 Tel: +66 8 7086 0705 Email: contact@nxgns.com Web: www.nxgns.com Peter Andreas Moelgaard Managing Director Sukanya Nimmanheminda Chairman of the Board Email: sukanya@nxgns.com

Sukhothai Capital Co. Ltd. 333/13 United Tower, Unit 7-2, 7th Floor Sukhumvit 55, Klongton Nua, Wattana, Bangkok 10110 Tel: +6627125367 Email: jon@sukhothaicapital.com Web: www.modenacondos.com and www.sukhothaicapital.com Jon Plate Managing Director/Owner Mobile: +66884956455 Email: jon@sukhothaicapital.com Tropical Focus (Thailand) Co., Ltd. 10-97 The Trendy Building, 6th Floor Soi Sukhumvit 13, Klongtoey-Nua, Wattana Bangkok 10110 Tel: +662 2646 2548 Fax: +662 2168 7744 Klaus Stove Managing Director Mobile: +668 900 800 40 Email: stove@tropicalfocus.net

Becker Acroma (Thailand) Ltd. 700/254 Moo 1, Amata Nakorn Industrial Estate Bankao, Panthong, Chonburi 20160 Tel: +66 38 465 220 Fax: +66 38 465 290 Email: asia@becker-acroma.co.th Web: www.beckeracroma.com Mr. Flemming Heide Managing Director Asia-Pacific Direct: +66 38 465 220

Calendar Coming Events : DanCham Networking - Sponsored by MAERSK

Aug 17, 2011

Nordic Chamber Breakfast Seminar with Tom Sørensen - Grant Thorton

Aug 23, 2011

Nordic Young Professionals Event! @ Le Fenix Hotel by Accor

Aug 26, 2011

Field Trip to ecco

Sep 6, 2011

DanCham Networking - Sponsored by Saxo Capital Markets

Sep 21, 2011

26

Danish-Thai Chamber of Commerce

IF WE’RE NOT FLYING THERE IT’S PROBABLY NOT IN SCANDINAVIA NO ONE FLIES TO MORE CITIES IN SCANDINAVIA

To Scandinavia with SAS Most flights within Scandinavia Northern Europe’s largest airline World-class transfer in Copenhagen Europe’s most punctual airline*

www.flysas.com/th *Source: Flightstats.com 2009 and 2010