Executive Summary

Introduction

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

In the course of 2019, GTCC put together about 154 events and activities that encouraged further development and interaction of the German-Thai business community within Thailand and abroad. Thanks to the high level of dedication of the GTCC team, recognition of the Chamber in the business community was heightened enabling GTCC to constantly enjoy opportunities to collaborate closely with various partners and counterparts, who added variety to the nature of GTCC services and activities.

Membership, Events and Communications

By the end of 2019, GTCC had successfully maintained its milestone of 600+ members chamber. There were 615 members including 545 members in Thailand, 57 members in Germany, 7 members in other countries, and 6 honourary members, with 48 new members among them. GTCC had proved itself to be an effective platform for its members to connect with one another.

Among many events organised by the chamber, GTCC Oktoberfest maintained its impressive record with 1,600 participants. GTCC Business Women Networking also gained increasing engagements after the introduction of its facebook community page. Beside the above developments, “GTCC Diversity in the Workplace” was introduced. This was another attempt from the chamber to enhance its engagement with its members in the potential untapped segment.

GTCC continued utilising social media platforms such as facebook, LinkedIn, and twitter, to keep its members, business partners informed about events, activities and key changes in the business community. GTCC e-UPDATE newsletter was still the main channel for updated economic and member news. Quarterly UPDATE magazines remained a major publication providing essential information about the business and industry sectors in Thailand, despite its last paper edition for Q4/2019. Our Membership Directory is under transformation to be fully digitalised and will be available on GTCC Website, to enable our database more relevant and up-to-date. With a user account and password, members can get access to information on members’ profiles and contact details in order to facilitate business interaction among them.

Corporate Services

The Corporate Services Department supports the entry of clients to the Thai, German and Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) markets through its various services that are flexible and tailor-made to suite specific needs. Those services include market studies, market information, business research, business match-making, technical workshops, conferences and the organisation of exclusive business delegations.

In order to support the export activities of German SMEs, the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) as well as German Federal States offer various programs. The GTCC is actively involved in these programs: for example, German Energy Solutions Initiative (BMWi), Foreign Market Entry Programme (BMWi).

The Corporate Services Department plays a vital role in supporting German companies from various industries and the service sector in gaining first-hand experience of the Thai market, thus paving the way for potential future business activities in Thailand as well as in the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC).

Trade Fairs

GTCC is the official representative of leading German trade fair companies with excellent reputations world-wide, including Messe Berlin GmbH, Deutsche Messe AG, Messe München GmbH, NürnbergMesse GmbH and Spielwarenmesse eG. In order to ensure smooth and successful participation in German trade fairs, GTCC offers comprehensive services and provides a one-stop service for Thai companies. Moreover, GTCC acts as the link between Thailand and events in Asia that are organised by German trade fair companies. GTCC also organises comprehensive business delegation packages to trade fairs in Germany, including factory visits and B2B meetings. GTCC not only plays a vital role in German trade fair consultancy, it also enhances business opportunities in the European Union market.

German-Thai Dual Excellence Education

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