Highlights of 2020

Hightlights of 2020

GTCC recorded yet another eventful year in 2020 with about 139 events and activities. A selection of the highlights is listed below.

Featured events

• GTCC Business Luncheon: Thailand Economic Outlook 2020

The German-Thai Chamber of Commerce (GTCC) organised the seventh Thailand Economic Outlook

Luncheon on 27 February 2020 at the Rosewood Hotel Bangkok. The luncheon together with a panel discussion attracted about 120 guests from a variety of business sectors as well as from eight bilateral

Chambers of Commerce in Thailand.

Ms. Birgit Hansl, Country Manager for Thailand, East Asia and Pacific at the World Bank, delivered a keynote speech on “Thailand: A Business Hub Ready for the Future?”, focusing on a global economic outlook and accentuated Thailand’s high integration into the global economy and global value chains. The keynote speech was followed by a panel discussion on “Transformation to Industry 4.0” by Mr. Markus Lorenzini, President & CEO of Siemens Ltd., Thailand (Cambodia, Laos & Myanmar); Mr. Peter Rankl, President ASEAN of Continental Automotive; Mr. Christian Wiedmann, President of BMW (Thailand); Dr. Armin Wiesler, General Manager / Head of Human Pharma of Boehringer Ingelheim (Thai); and Mr. Johannes Von Rohr, Co-Founder & Director Corporate Development of Rabbit Finance.

• GTCC Virtual CEO Forum

Among several virtual events, GTCC organised a virtual forum for CEO peers on 11 June 2020 to share their best practices and interesting ideas for restructuring / reopening of business operations amidst Covid-19. The

GTCC Virtual CEO Forum was hosted by Mr. Guenter

Raichle, Managing Director of Rodenstock Thailand.

• GTCC European Wine Dinner

GTCC European Wine Dinner on 28 August 2020 took GTCC members, partners and guests on a journey to Europe through a crafted four-course dinner, paired with a fine selection of premium wines, in an elegant and spectacular atmosphere of the Pacific City

Club.

GTCC President Mr. Andreas Richter opened the event with welcoming remarks to the participants following the wine and cheese tasting reception. German wine was among the European wines served at the dinner, especially Germany’s globally popular white wines produced with many grape varieties, such as Riesling. Mr. Joe Sriwarin, Founder and President of the Thailand Sommelier Association, also joined the dinner during which he provided a brief introduction to the European wines served to the guests. Global Wines & More, KCG Corporation and Serenity Wines kindly supported their delicious food and beverages.

• GTCC Young Professionals Network Evening:

What we should know about renewable energy

GTCC Young Professionals’ first meetup of 2020 was held on 8 October 2020. Dr. h.c. Harald Link, Chairman of B.Grimm Power PCL, was the event’s speaker on the topic of renewable energy. He also shared with the audience B.Grimm’s success stories since 1878 and fast-growing B.Grimm Power’s green business development as well as the unique vision, philosophy and corporate culture that are the key factors behind the company’s continuing success.

• GTCC Tri-Nation Night

GTCC organised its annual Stammtisch to strengthen the Germanspeaking business community in Thailand. The GTCC Tri-Nation

Night, held on 12 November 2020, welcomed more than 170 guests including members of GTCC, Advantage Austria and the Swiss-Thai

Chamber of Commerce, partners and friends as well as guests of honour German Ambassador to Thailand H.E. Georg Schmidt, Swiss

Ambassador to Thailand H.E. Helene Budliger Artieda and First

Secretary and Deputy Chief of Mission of the Australian Embassy in

Bangkok, Ms. Judith Schildberger. GTCC President Mr. Andreas Richter opened the event and invited Ambassador Schmidt to deliver special remarks.

• Meeting with Thailand’s Minister of Industry

GTCC President Mr. Andreas Richter, Vice President

Mr. Michael Welser, Board Members Mr. Peter Rankl,

Mr. Krisna Thiengtham, Mr. Roland Folger, Mr. Stefan

Molnar and Executive Director Dr. Roland Wein had a meeting with Thailand‘s Minister of Industry

H.E. Suriya Jungrungreangkit on 16 November 2020 at the Ministry of Industry. They discussed

German-Thai trade and investment and GTCC activities such as the Clean Air Initiative.

• GTCC Partners and Customers Appreciation Event

GTCC Partners and Customers Appreciation Event on 9

December 2020 was organised to express GTCC’s appreciation to partners and customers for their great support in 2020. The event took place at the Sindhorn Kempinski Hotel Bangkok.

Membership activities

• GTCC members exclusive site visit to Häfele Distribution

Centre

GTCC members had an excellent site visit experience at Häfele

Distribution Centre on 15 October 2020. The visit included a tour of various production areas with extensive storage capacity and effective material handling with safety, productivity, flexibility and efficiency as well as the chance to learn extensive useful information. The extension has been built based on consideration of energy savings, such as the installation of 964 solar panels on the roof. Häfele (Thailand) was awarded the

Silver DGNB 2020 for this environmentally-friendly and sustainable project.

• GTCC meets the German Ambassador

German Ambassador to Thailand H. E. Georg Schmidt‘s shared his assessment and insights with GTCC members on many unprecedented developments and challenges in 2020 through a discussion with Mr. Tom Felix Joehnk, writer at The Economist, at

“GTCC meets the German Ambassador”. The event was held on 6 October 2020 at the Carlton Bangkok Hotel Sukhumvit and very well-received.

• GTCC Bavarian Beer Fest 2020

Inspired by the famous Oktoberfest, “GTCC Bavarian Beer Fest 2020” was organised on 30 and 31 October 2020 with special care to ensure guests could enjoy the celebration of Bavarian culture at ease by limiting the number guests to 350 per night.

GTCC President Mr. Andreas Richter delivered the welcoming remarks on Day 1, while Vice-President Mr. Michael Welser opened the fest on Day 2.

Corporate Services

• Business delegation of German companies and technology conference on “Industry 4.0” The business delegation of German companies on the topic of “Industry 4.0” to Thailand was held in Bangkok and the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) from 3 to 7 February 2020 as part of the Foreign Market Entry Programme supported by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi). In addition, GTCC organised the Thai-German Conference on “Industry 4.0” on 4 February 2020 at the Eastin Grand Hotel Sathorn in Bangkok. The conference attracted more than 120 participants from various business sectors as well as institutions, who wanted to learn more about the opportunities, challenges, and trends of Industry 4.0 in Thailand and Germany. The conference was followed by individual business-to-business meetings with the German companies represented at the event and an informal get-together.

• Virtual business delegation and technology conference on “Solar PV & Grid-integration”

The virtual business delegation on “Solar PV &

Grid-integration” was held during 22-26 June 2020 as part of the German Energy Solutions

Initiative supported by BMWi. GTCC also organised a Thai-German Virtual Conference on “Solar PV and Grid-Integration” on 23 June 2020 in cooperation with the eclareon GmbH.

• German National Tourist Board (GNTB) Webinar “Travel Destination Germany”

GTCC organised the German National Tourist Board (GNTB) Webinar on “Travel Destination

Germany” on 10 July 2020, in cooperation with German National Tourist Board (GTNB), to promote

Germany as travel destination to Thai travel agencies and tour operators.

• Virtual business delegation and technology conference on “Energy Efficiency in Buildings (including Solar Rooftop)”

The virtual business delegation on the topic of “Energy Efficiency in Buildings (including Solar Rooftop)” was held from 21 to 25 September 2020 as part of the German Energy Solutions Initiative supported by BMWi. Regarding the topic, GTCC organised a virtual conference in co-operation with eclareon

GmbH on 22 September 2020. Featuring a total of five German company presentations, several exclusive contributions from German and Thai experts as well as recording more than 60 participants, the virtual conference has driven the momentum of the co-operation between Thai and German companies in the field of energy efficiency even further. During the course of the week, GTCC also organised business-tobusiness meetings, both online and offline, for the five participating German companies to explore potential business opportunities in Thailand.

• German National Tourist Board (GNTB) Webinar

“Germany the Travel Destination in Europe”

The German National Tourist Board (GNTB) Webinar on

“Germany the Travel Destination in Europe” was organised on 16 October 2020 by the German National Tourist Board (GTNB), in co-operation with GTCC, to enhance the volume of tourist traffic from Thailand to Germany. The webinar featured presentations on attractive travel destinations in

Germany, cultural diversity, and German hospitality.

• Virtual business delegation of German companies and technology conference on

“Smart City”

The virtual business delegation of German companies on the topic of “Smart City” to Thailand had taken place from 2 to 6 November 2020 as part of the Foreign Market Entry Programme supported by BMWi. GTCC organised a German-Thai digital conference regarding the topic on 3 November 2020 which provided valuable insights from the

Digital Economy Promotion Agency (DEPA), the

Thailand Board of Investment (BOI), Germany

Trade & Invest (GTAI), the Office of Transport and Traffic Policy and Planning (OTP) and eight presentations from German companies with a focus on three pillars: Smart Mobility, Smart

Energy and IT Software Solutions.

Trade Fairs

• Spielwarenmesse 2020, Germany The Spielwarenmesse has once again asserted its position as the world’s leading international fair for toys, hobbies and leisure. From 29 January to 2 February, 2,843 companies from 70 countries showcased their products and innovations to 63,500 visitors from 136 countries around the world. Even surrounding news about Coronavirus start heaping, the business vibe on the trade fair ground were positive vivid and vibrant. The 20 exhibitors from Thailand expressed high satisfaction of participating in this fair, above all, the quality of the visitors. Thai Toy and Children Product Association which has been great support to the Spielwarenmesse for many years assured with their members that Spielwarenmesse is one of the most important toy fair to reach foreign customers.

Beside the well responded to lead themes: “Toys for Future,” “Digital goes Physical,” and “Be You!”, environmental aspect was also put in to focus on Spielwarenmesse 2020. “The Spielwarenmesse perfectly reflects our philosophy of sustainability which will play an even stronger role in the industry in the future,” added Ms. De Rauw, International Sales Director of PlanToys Thailand.

• BIOFACH/VIVANESS 2020, Germany

BIOFACH, the world’s leading trade fair for organic food, and VIVANESS, the international trade fair for natural and organic personal care, achieved record highs for exhibitor numbers, exhibition space and international attendance at this year’s events. A total of 3,792 exhibitors from 110 countries showcased their products for trade visitors in a display area of 57,609 m² (net area, excluding special shows). With the trade fairs occupying two halls more than last year, more than 47,000 professional buyers from 136 countries were won over by the new developments, trends and innovations from all around the world. Making up the top five countries by visitor attendance this year were Germany, Austria, Italy, France and the Netherlands. And with just shy of 10,000 participants, the accompanying Congress confirmed its position as the largest international platform for knowledge transfer and networking.

In total, 30 Thai companies participated in BIOFACH and VIVANESS 2020. Like in previous years, two Thailand pavilions in BIOFACH 2020 were supported by Department of International Trade Promotion (DITP) and Department of Foreign Trade (DFT) in collaboration with Thai Organic Trade Association (TOTA). The pavilions located in prime location of the extended hall, displayed high quality organic products.

Supporting visitors from Thailand to BIOFACH, GTCC orgnanised a business and study trip from 9-16 February to visit the world renowned organic fair. A holistic delegation program also included site visits to biodynamic farm and community – Dottenfelderhof, Organic microbrewery - Brauerei zum Klosterhof Heidelberg, medicinal plant garden of a organic cosmetic company - Weleda AG.

• International Green Week Berlin 2020, Germany

In 2020 the International Green Week Berlin confirmed its standing as the world’s leading trade show for agriculture, food and horticulture. The 85th Green Week took place from 17 to 26 January with a new record of 1,810 exhibitors from 72 countries and occupied a hall area of 129,000 square metres.

The attendance at the fair and congresses in the halls on the Berlin Exhibition Grounds exceeded 400,000, including some 90,000 trade visitors from 75 countries.

Discussions focused on the challenges faced by agriculture and the food industry as a result of climate change, and on proposed solutions aimed at finding production methods that are sustainable and ecological and that conserve resources. The quality and safety of foodstuffs, animal welfare and safeguarding world food supplies were the subjects of many discussions at the fair. A high volume of orders and good contacts with the retail food trade were reported by the exhibiting countries. This also included bilateral business deals and contacts between individual countries.

Covering 280 square meters of exhibition space, the Thai Pavilion was held under the main theme of “Happy and Green Market - Sustainable and Innovative Kitchen of the World”. The Royal Thai Embassy in Berlin accommodated almost 20 exhibitors from both government agencies and private sectors to present high quality agricultural products and Thai food produced by modern technology and innovation environmental friendly From Thai entrepreneurs in the age of 4.0 and products from royal projects that create jobs and generate sustainable income for those in rural areas nationwide.

• INHORGENTA MUNICH 2020, Germany

INHORGENTA MUNICH 2020 was the international meeting place for the jewelry, timepiece and gemstone industry for four days from February 14 to 17.

INHORGENTA MUNICH aligned itself with the industry’s current focus topics. The changing consumer behavior and the discussion surrounding sustainability have brought about a major shift in the industry.

The trade fair again proved to be an ideal business platform, as confirmed by numerous exhibitors, 1,055 exhibitors from 44 countries. Around 26,000 trade visitors from more than 80 countries attended the event at the Munich exhibition center and experienced a diverse range of brands, top-flight talks and a dazzling supporting program.

The participation from Thailand included the exhibits of the precious gemstones and diamond jewelries as well as 111 trade visitors from jewelry and gem industry.

German-Thai Dual Excellence Education (GTDEE)

• MoU Teacher and Student Exchange Programme at E.Tech

On 8 January 2020, GTDEE members, CIM Integrated Expert and GTDEE

Project Director Mr. Markus Hoffmann, Senior Manager Dr. Kamonsak

Suradom and the delegation from Vocational College of Technology and

Media, Mönchengladbach, Germany, which consisted of College Director

Ms. Birgit Battenstein, Head of Metal Working Department Mr. Meinhard

Flintz, Head of Metal Technology Department Mr. Matthias Frecking, teacher of English and Sports Ms. Kirsten Meyer, and teacher of Design

Technology and Sports Mr. Joachim Pütz, visited the students at Eastern

Technological College (E.Tech) as well as talked on knowledge sharing and German-Thai exchange with the teachers and students.

• AdA International – Train the Trainer 2020 (Basic Version),

Mechatronics Development Project

GTDEE organises the “AdA International – Train the Trainer (Basic Version)” (German: Ausbildung der Ausbilder – AdA) under Mechatronics development project. The 16 practical teachers from Eastern Technological College (E.Tech) and Don

Bosco Technological College Bangkok participated in the training.

It is being held from 3-12 March 2020 at Eastern Technological

College (E.Tech).

On 3 March 2020, CIM Integrated Expert and GTDEE Project Director Mr. Markus Hoffmann and GTDEE Project Senior Manager Dr. Kamonsak Suradom welcomed all the participants attended the training as well as Mr. Markus Hoffmann and Dr. Kamonsak Suradom are the main instructors of the training. Furthermore, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Watcharin Pho-ngaeon, Deputy Dean of Thai-German Dual Education and E-learning Development Institute, KMUTNB, is invited to be the one of the main instructors for the training.

• Webinar on securing high quality skilled labourers though dual vocational projects

On 1 July 2020, GTCC hosted webinar on “securing high quality skilled labourers though dual vocational projects” for GTCC members, public and private enterprises. GTCC Executive Director

Dr. Roland Wein gave welcome remark to the participants and CIM Integrated Expert and GTDEE

Project Director Mr. Markus Hoffmann was the moderator of this webinar.

The key speakers were Mr. Wichit Tangwongcheunsuk, Training Manager of BMW (Thailand) Co., Ltd.; Francis Wichai Srisura, Dual Vocational Education and Training (DVET) Senior Advisor of Don Bosco Technological College Bangkok; and Dr. Noppadol Piyatrapoomi, Director General of Thailand Professional Qualification Institute (Public Organisation).

The webinar was aimed at introducing the cooperation and partnership between the German-Thai Chamber of Commerce (GTCC), German-Thai Dual Excellent Education (GTDEE) programme and private and public institutions, companies and colleges in overcoming the challenges and providing qualified technicians to the industry in Thailand. The highlights of this discussion included: The development of qualified automotive mechatronics technicians in GTDEE programme; Apprenticeship programme collaboration between GTDEE, colleges and companies in automotive mechatronics and mechatronics professions; and Co-certification between GTCC and Thailand Professional Qualification Institution (TPQI) in the mechatronics profession.

• GTCC certificate handover ceremony to the Mercedes-Benz apprentices Batch 2018

On 25 November 2020, Markus Hoffmann, Dr. Kamonsak Suradom and Mr. Katiphot Kanoknorrasade participated in the Mercedes-Benz Graduation Day 2020 for representing the DIHK certificates to

Mercedes-Benz Apprentices Batch 2018 at Mercedes-Benz Competency Centre (MBCC).

Mr. Putthi Tulayathun, Vice President of After-Sales Service of Mercedes-Benz (Thailand), delivered a congratulatory speech to the 50 Automotive Mechatronics apprentices who have achieved a Level A certificate “German dual vocational education and training abroad” and a Level B certificate “Local Dual Vocational Education and Training in line with the German model” from the AHK-IHK-DIHK network from Germany under the German-Thai Dual Excellence Education Program (GTDEE) and Mercedes-Benz (Thailand) following speech by Mr. Jan Scheer, Head of Mission and Head of Economic Affairs at the German Embassy in Bangkok and Mr. Marius Mehner, Deputy Director of German-Thai Chamber of Commerce.

The graduates attended the Automotive Mechatronics Technician Dual Training Program offered by Mercedes-Benz (Thailand) under a partnership of the German-Thai Chamber of Commerce, Mercedes-Benz dealerships, Eastern Technological College (E.Tech), Don Bosco Technological College Bangkok, Don Bosco Technological College Banpong and Samutprakan Technical College.