CHAMBER ACTIVITIES

From 25 September to 16 December 2020, the German-Thai Chamber of Commerce (GTCC) organised 16 physical events and two virtual events.

1. Physical events

GTCC meets Thailand’s Minister of Industry

GTCC President, Vice President, Board Members and Executive Director had a meeting with Thailand’s Minister of Industry H.E. Suriya Jungrungreangkit on 15 November 2020 at the Ministry of Industry. They discussed German-Thai trade and investment and GTCC activities such as the Clean Air Initiative.

GTCC Round Table: “Solutions for sustainable construction projects in Thailand”

The topic of energy efficiency, especially in buildings, is becoming increasingly important for Thailand. At a GTCC Round Table on “Solutions for sustainable construction projects in Thailand” organised at the GTCC office on 29 September 2020, GTCC members exchanged information and perspectives on solutions for sustainable construction projects in Thailand, and discussed future cooperation. Dr. Robert Himmler, Managing Director of EGS-plan (Bangkok) Co., Ltd. and Mr. Elmar Kleiner, founder and director of OIA (Office for Interior & Architecture Co., Ltd.) shared their insights and collaborative green projects.

GTCC Business Women Networking “Essential mindsets/skills in the future”

A GTCC business women networking event on “essential mindsets/ skills in the future” turned out to be an uplifting gathering with fruitful peer-to-peer exchanges by business women on 30 September 2020. GTCC is grateful to Event Partner APRIL Assistance (Thailand), Beverage Partner Serenity Wines, Venue Partner Kimpton Maa-Lai Bangkok, and In-kind Sponsor Bumrungrad International Hospital/ VitalLife Scientific Wellness Centre for their great support.

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 happening in 2020 at the Chamber members-only platform, “GTCC meets the German Ambassador”, on 6 October 2020. The event, which was held at the Carlton Bangkok Hotel Sukhumvit, was very well-received.

The chamber thanks Mr. Tom Felix Joehnk, writer at The Economist for his contribution to the discussion. Special thanks also to the Event Partners Mazars in Thailand, Luther, RIS Swiss SectionDeutschsprachige Schuler Bangkok as well as Beverage Partner Serenity Wines Asia for supporting the event.

GTCC Young Professionals Network Evening What we should know about renewable energy

GTCC Young Professionals’ first meetup of 2020 took place on 8 October 2020. It was an honour to have Dr. h.c. Harald Link, Chairman of B.Grimm Power PCL, as speaker on renewable energy. The chamber is most grateful to Dr. Link for sharing 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 is grateful to the Event Partners BayWa r.e., Constant Energy, Hansa Meyer Global, Mahanakorn PartnersGroup (MPG), Office for Interior & Architecture (OIA), RLC Recruitment and Thai Switchboard and Metal Work (TAMCO) for making the event happen as well as to GTCC’s Venue Partner Bangkok Marriott Hotel Surawongse for the wonderful venue.

GTCC members exclusive site visit to Häfele Distribution Centre

GTCC members had a excellent site visit experience at Hafele Distribution Centre on 15 October 2020. The chamber thanks Häfele (Thailand) Limited Managing Director Mr. Volker Hellstern, Director of Operations Mr. Frank Heyer and the team for the warm welcome and the greatly appreciated opportunity to explore the company’s warehouse extension.

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. It is not surprising that that Häfele (Thailand) has been awarded the Silver DGNB 2020 for this environmentally-friendly and sustainable project.

GTCC Stammtisch Bangkok at Sixty-Four

GTCC members, guests and friends enjoyed the unique vibes of the GTCC Stammtisch at the Sixty-Four restaurant on 15 October 2020, with delicious food and good drinks. The chamber thanks Häfele (Thailand) Ltd. Managing Director Mr. Volker Hellstern and his team, for arranging the pleasing venue and lucky draw support.

GTCC Executive Breakfast Talk “Structuring trading activities from Thailand into Myanmar”

Mr. Fabian Lorenz, Luther Attorney at Law, underlined the investment law framework in Myanmar, including taxation, employment of foreigners and FX-restrictions as well as investment concerns, at the GTCC Executive Breakfast Talk on “Structuring trading activities from Thailand into Myanmar” on 5 November 2020. The participants engaged in a discussion with the Luther team in the Q&A session.

GTCC members exclusive site visit to WE-EF LIGHTING

GTCC members experienced superb light shows and high-quality, in-house production lines at the GTCC Site Visit to WE-EF LIGHTING on 12 November 2020. It was an excellent opportunity to get to know a specialist lighting manufacturer that supplies high-performance and outdoor architectural lighting fixtures. Established in Thailand in 1982 as a subsidiary of WE-EF LEUCHTEN GmbH, the company is behind the prominence of various spectacular luminous showcases in Thailand, Asia Pacific and Europe. The chamber appreciated the warm welcome and the impressive site visit experience provided by Mr. John Mclaren Hart, Managing Director of WE-EF LIGHTING, and his team.

GTCC Stammtisch Bangkok “Tri-Nation Night”

GTCC organised its annual Stammtisch to strengthen the German-speaking business community in Thailand. The GTCC Stammtisch Bangkok “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. Thanks are given to Advantage Austria and the Swiss-Thai Chamber of Commerce for co-hosting the event. GTCC appreciates the generous support from the Event Partners Mazars in hailand and RIS Swiss Section Deutschsprachige Schule Bangkok; Food and Beverage partners KCG Corporation, Bavarian Craft and Serenity Wines Asia; and Venue Partner Kimpton Maa-Lai Bangkok.

GTCC Round Table on HR “Compensation and Benefits”

GTCC’s last human resources (HR) round table of 2020, organised on 24 November 2020, was a highly informative and fruitful discussion among GTCC members in management positions/HR relevant roles. The speakers and participants held dynamic exchanges on key HR topics, especially: compensation trends in Asia-Pacific; the new shape of work in Thailand; employer obligations on wages and welfare/ benefits according to the Thai labour law; and legal considerations under the Thai labour law on new ways of working. After the main session at The Box of the SO/BANGKOK Hotel, some of the participants continued with networking at the HISO Rooftop Bar. GTCC would like to thank Mr. Juckchai Boonyawat, CEO of Mercer Thailand, and Mr. Rapeesak Kesasuwan, Head of Commercial Law at Lorenz &Partners, for sharing insights, updates and perspectives on the key topics.

GTCC Inter-Chamber Young Professionals Network Evening

GTCC Inter-Chamber Young Professionals Network Evening on 27 November 2020 served as an excellent opportunity for young professionals from various foreign communities in Thailand to get together and build a stronger network. GTCC was pleased to have Ms. Waranya Pratumtin providing support again as our Master of Ceremonies and Mr. Matthias Hoffrichter, who delivered the opening remarks.

This event would not have been possible without the generous support from the participating chambers and Venue Partner. GTCC thanks the British Chamber of Commerce Thailand (BCCT), Franco-Thai Chamber, ADVANTAGE AUSTRIA, the Australian-Thai Chamber of Commerce (AustCham Thailand), CanCham Thailand, the Irish Thai Chamber of Commerce, the Romanian-Thai Chamber of Commerce, Singapore Thai Chamber of Commerce, Thai-Swedish Chamber of Commerce and the Carlton Hotel Bangkok Sukhumvit for their excellent cooperation.

GTCC Business Women Networking Conquering 2021’s challenges with 2020’s lessons learned

A very energetic GTCC Business Women networking event was held at Paradise Lost Bangkok, Siam@Siam Design Hotel Bangkok on 2 December 2020 during which there were many fruitful exchanges on what has been learned during this year and how we can thrive and achieve even more success in 2021.

The meeting also enjoyed the rooftop ambiance and the vibrant colours of Bangkok at night. The event was made even livelier with a special gift exchange session. Thanks go to all the business women who joined the gathering. The chamber is grateful to Beverage Partner Serenity Wines Asia, Venue Partner Paradise Lost Bangkok and In-kind Sponsor Bumrungrad International Hospital/VitalLife Scientific Wellness Centre for their great support.

GTCC Partners and Customers Appreciation Event

GTCC had great pleasure in welcoming all the special guests who participated in the GTCC Partners and Customers Appreciation Event on 9 December 2020. The event was organised to express GTCC’s appreciation to partners and customers for their great support in 2020. The event was took place at the Sindhorn Kempinski Hotel Bangkok.

2. Virtual webinar

The Chamber organised one webinar, “ASEAN Cross Border Projects – legal and tax challenges for companies doing business in South-East Asia” in co-operation with WTS Global and the German-Indonesian Chamber of Industry and Commerce (EKONID/AHK Indonesia), Malaysian-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MGCC/AHK Malaysia), German-Philippines Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Inc. (GPCCI/AHK Philippines), Singaporean-German Chamber of Industry and Commerce/AHK Singapore, and German Industry and Commerce in Vietnam (AHK Vietnam) on 10 November 2020. The topic of legal and tax challenges was comprehensively presented and discussed by the Managing Partner of GTCC member Lorenz & Partners (L&P) Mr. Till Morstadt, together with experts from law firms in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Viet Nam.

3. Virtual conference

German-Thai Digital Conference on “Smart City”

GTCC organised a German-Thai digital conference on “Smart City” on 3 November 2020 within the framework of the Foreign Market Entry Programme for SMEs that is supported by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi). The event 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.

GTCC Bavarian Beer Fest

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.

GTCC highly appreciates the great support given by Event Partners Conrad Bangkok and Paulaner (Flow Inter), Sponsors [Gold] BMW (Thailand); [Silver] Mazars Thailand and ROBINSON Club as well as [In-kind] Bumrungrad Hospital, and Robert Bosch Limited, which made this event possible and very successful.

GTCC Family Christmas Party

The GTCC Family Christmas Party 2020 was held on 16 December at the Anantara Siam Bangkok Hotel. GTCC members and their families as well as friends of the chamber enjoyed delicious food and drinks — including warm Glühwein — in a festive atmosphere. GTCC also offered fun activities for the children, while Santa Claus greeted the children and provided special gifts for them during the evening’s festivities. The event would not have been possible without the support of Food and Beverage Partners KCG Corporation and Paulaner (Flow Inter); Venue Partner Anantara Siam Bangkok; and in-kind partners Asian Tigers Group, Guidecraft, Majorette Thailand, RIS Swiss Section Deutschsprachige Schule Bangkok, Samitivej Hospital, and Serenity Wines Asia.