MDBC
MAGAZINE Malaysian Dutch Business Council
Issue: 1st edition 2011
KDN No. PP11067/12/2011 (026729)
Bio-based Economy
Penang: The way forward EU-Malaysia FTA update Photo credit: Sony Insider
Photo credit: Economics of ecosystems and biodiversity (TEEB)
CONTENTS
MEMBERS’ NEWS
MDBC EVENTS
QUARTERLY
FEATURES
13
MDBC SOCIAL 22
EMBASSY 21
15
MDBC SIP 25
BIO ECONOMY 31
17
EU / EUMCCI 27
MDBC CARD 33
17
New Members 41
TBWA 35
19
Calendar 43
GREEN BOARD 37
to take this opportunity to put your minds at rest on this: I do not like sherry and I do not possess even one three-piece suit (finally got that off my chest)!
I have been very impressed by the sheer number and quality of the events organized in Kuala Lumpur as well as Penang where the MDBC Chapter was launched in 2010. This is confirmed by the many compliments I get from many contacts in both the Malaysian public and private sector, who consider the MDBC to be one of the most active in the country. A German gentleman recently told me that he joined the MDBC for its high quality networking events. Equally impressive I find the willingness of many members to sponsor these events, because without their support it would of course not be possible.
PENANG CM agreementS anniversary EU AMBASSADOR cooperation establishment INTERCHAMBER office launch awards & more, NY RECEPTION all on pages 5 11 wpp EXHIBITION From the Deputy Head of Mission
Jan Soer, MDBC Board of Directors Deputy Head of Mission, Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands
Dear MDBC members, friends and contacts, In the summer of 2010 I was invited to fill the sizeable (figuratively speaking of course) shoes of my colleague Jacoba Bolderheij, who had left Malaysia on the completion of her assignment, by joining the MDBC Board of Directors. I did not have to think long and hard about this, because at the time it seemed like a cushy honorary job. With hindsight that was probably a bit of a mistake. Many events, meetings of the Board and meetings of working groups later I can now truly state that it involves a lot more effort than civil servants like me are expected or supposed to put in, at least according to the Dutch newspaper “De Telegraaf” in which diplomats are usually portrayed as sherry swilling persons in three-piece suits. I would like
Seriously, I consider it to be an honour to be involved with the MDBC in this way. Both the Embassy and the MDBC in the end have the same objectives, i.e. promoting the Netherlands in general and promoting the bilateral trade relations between Malaysia and the Netherlands in particular. The MDBC of course primarily serves the interests of its members, while the Embassy’s customers are usually Netherlands based companies involved in direct export or considering to establish some sort of presence in Malaysia. The companies in the latter category are then of course gently but firmly coerced into joining the MDBC as new members.
I would like to wish all members very successful business years ahead and a happy stay, be it temporary or more permanent one, in this beautiful country.
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MEMBERS’ NEWS Establishment of PETRONAS Marketing (Netherlands) BV Knowing that Western Europe would be a big market for high quality lubricants made from base oils, PETRONAS Base Oil chose the Netherlands as the ideal site for its European marketing subsidiary and formed PMN (PETRONAS Marketing (Netherlands) BV) in Rotterdam.
Base Oil’s markets worldwide. PMN is marketing to some 80 lubricant blenders throughout Europe. Innovative marketing by PMN has prompted the Melaka refinery to make adjustments to production so as to create special grades catered specifically to PMN customers.
Hans Groen, a native of the area, was hired to set up and manage the company. Now with nine full time employees, (including Malaysian native, Zamrany Ismail, Financial Manager PMN) the company is officed in a PETRONAS owned building in Capelle aan del ljssel, a suburb of Rotterdam.
PMN has now started up a parallel business of marketing European origin base oils and is being prepared to enter other chemical and petroleum product businesses for import and export from Malaysia.
PMN is now taking some 30% of the total PETRONAS Base Oil Melaka production and has created the strongest of PETRONAS
PETRONAS considers this Dutch company to be the spearhead of the PETRONAS Base Oil marketing operations and they have terrific prospects for expanding trade from Malaysia into Europe.
Members of the PETRONAS Marketing (Netherlands) BV team in Rotterdam
Shell LPG to fuel new Coca-Cola bottling plant Shell Gas Malaysia has announced the recent signing of an agreement with Coca-Cola Bottlers (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd to secure the use of Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG) as boiler fuel for Coca-Cola’s new bottling plant in Malaysia. Johari Jalil (General Manager, Shell Gas Malaysia & Singapore) and Amit Oberoi (Chief Executive Officer Malaysia & Singapore) represented Shell Gas Malaysia and Coca-Cola Bottlers (Malaysia) respectively at the signing ceremony, while Frederick Ooi, Shell Gas National Sales Manager, and Vamsi Mohan, General Manager Malaysia of Coca Cola, witnessed the signing. Commenting on the agreement, Johari said: “The agreement
marks the opening of a new market for the LPG business in Malaysia. Traditionally, diesel or natural gas is used for boiler fuel but I am pleased that Shell Gas secured the supply agreement by demonstrating the environmental advantages of LPG over diesel, the lower maintenance costs of LPG boilers and importantly, our long term supply stability and proven technical service. This agreement strengthens our position as a leader in bulk LPG business in Malaysia.” According to Amit Oberoi, the new Coca-Cola plant is built in line with the Company’s sustainability goals towards energy management and climate protection worldwide. Usage of LPG is line with these goals.
l to r: Vasmi Mohan, Amit Oberoi, Johari Jalil and Federick Ooi
Dutch Lady Malaysia sets a first with new milk offering Dutch Lady Milk Industries Berhad (Dutch Lady Malaysia) is leading once again in the Malaysian children’s Growing Up Milk (GUM) category by introducing a special formula of 5xDHA in all its GUM product range.
Dutch Lady Malaysia has decided to improve the DHA levels in its GUM formula, to provide parents with a reliable way that would ensure their children gets sufficient amount of DHA in their diet.
“The Brain Revealed”, where brain expert, Dr. Grey Matta and his trusty assistant, Fatiah Sidd provide a fun and informative session on how the brain is developed, as well as the importance of DHA.”
Dutch Lady Malaysia believes this latest formulation helps to ensure that their GUM products meets the needs of young children (ages 1 to 6 years old) and contributes to healthier Malaysians.
Bas van den Berg, Managing Director of Dutch Lady Malaysia said, “We are keen in reaching out to as many parents and children as possible to educate them about the importance of DHA for brain development. Hence, we created a special video entitled
The video, which has been made available on Dutch Lady Malaysia’s Facebook page, reaching more than 26,000 fans daily, has already received overwhelming positive feedback. Bas van den Berg with the latest Dutch Lady 5xDHA Growing Up Milk
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members’ NEWS An inspirational commercial promoting AkzoNobel’s pioneering Let’s Color campaign has won a prestigious Ads Worth Spreading award from the TED organization. Directed by Adam Berg and created by Euro RSCG in London, the eye-catching two-minute film – designed to be shared online – takes the viewer on a kaleidoscopic journey across the world as people gather together to transform grey spaces using notably the company’s Dulux, Dulux Valentine and Coral paint brands. The aim of the contest was to “find ads so good you choose to watch.” More than 1,000 submissions were received and a panel of 24 expert judges voted the AkzoNobel entry as one of ten winners. Explaining the selec-
AkzoNobel’s Let’s Color film wins prestigious TED Award tion, TED said that the company’s advert “moved us with its uplifting message that life is better in color and there is nothing that a fresh coat of paint can’t make better.” Commented one of the jury members: “This is the perfect project for a paint brand to invest in.”
to add color to people’s lives and inspire them to revitalize their surroundings. The painting events featured in the winning advert were staged over a four-month period in Brazil, India, France and the UK. Local communities were invited to transform colorless areas using the company’s paint brands, with
“The Let’s Color campaign not only reinforces our role as the global color authority, but also encourages consumers to use our brands and make their world brighter and better. It’s about engaging consumers in new and compelling ways and building awareness among professionals of the effects and benefits of using color.”
each event being filmed to provide footage for the ad. Since the video was made, additional projects have taken place in the Netherlands, South Africa and Turkey, with many others scheduled to take place during the year. The Dulux Wall from the Let’s Color Campaign
Launched in 2010, the global Let’s Color campaign is designed
EAGE opens Asia Pacific Regional Office Watch th the Octopus clips on YouTube: ResQtec Res sQtec Octo Octopus
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On 27 January, the European Association of Geoscientists and Engineers (EAGE) invited 130 guests and local EAGE members to celebrate the official opening of EAGE’s Asia Pacific Regional Office. EAGE president Davide Calcagni personally greeted distinguished guests. During his welcome speech, Calcagni said that EAGE believed it could complement existing geoscience related activities in the region with its worldwide experience in organizing meetings, education and training courses, and special pro-
grams to support the upcoming generation of young geoscientists who are students or early in their careers. Brief remarks were also made by Dato’ Wee Yiaw Hin (Executive Vice President, E&P Petronas), congratulating EAGE on their move to Kuala Lumpur. EAGE officials from HQ in The Netherlands, along with new regional manager Gerard Weiggerink and staff, mingled with guests who enjoyed the good food, drinks and spectacular view at the Malaysian Petroleum Club.
l to r: Wieggerink, Calcagni and Dato’ Wee launching the EAGE office
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members’ NEWS Maica greets Europe from the Netherlands! Maica Laminates Sdn Bhd has taken the initiative to be closer to its European customers, by setting up a representative office in the Netherlands. The laminates manufacturer emphasizes customer service and satisfaction, having an office in Europe to serve its customers in the region will certainly make customers even happier. Maica’s customers, who include interior designers, architects and property development companies, know that Maica builds value into their designs and properties. It is not just the quality, it is also the selection of colours, designs and special finish available in Maica’s laminates. Customers also know that Maica is the place “Where Imagination Comes to Life”. While Maica’s products adhere to the European Standards EN 438 for laminates, the products are also equipped with anti-bacteri-
al, anti-fungal and termite resistant properties. The products are also certified by GREENGUARD for low chemical emissions. They were awarded with two GREENGUARD marks: the GREENGUARD Indoor Air Quality Certified® mark and the GREENGUARD Children & SchoolsSM Certified mark. This means that the products are safe for use indoors in commercial spaces, homes, schools, health facilities and other places where adults and children work, play or reside, including daycare or other environments where children spend significant periods of time. Besides recognition for low chemical emissions, the products are also certified by Singapore Green Label for using sustainable fibres. This is the company’s commitment towards the environment, using eco-friendly materials and processes so that the future generation may inherit an Earth which is clean and safe.
Spirit IT & PETRONAS Agreement Spirit IT and PETRONAS signed a Joint Development and Commercialization Agreement at the Malaysian Petroleum Club, PETRONAS Tower 2 on 3 March. Spirit IT was selected by PETRONAS as a Technology Partner for the development, implementation and commercialization of Custody Transfer and Allocation Metering solutions. This cooperation between PETRONAS and Spirit IT is among the first of its kind in the oil and gas industry for custody transfer and allocation metering automation. SmartCen, an intelligent and centralized metering supervisory computer software platform is the first jointly developed and implemented product, to establish a standardized metering software platform throughout the PETRONAS organization. It provides an intelligent and high-
ly reliable solution which proactively optimizes Hydrocarbon Accounting Management. Besides the continued further development of the SmartCen software, the agreement between these two companies includes a new maintenance strategy and appertaining services, as well as the international commercialization of the software technology, for which Spirit IT and PETRONAS share Intellectual Property rights. Harry Kok, Spirit IT CEO said, “While our core software technology is already being used by a large number of end-users worldwide, this is the first time we are directly cooperating with an oil company and we are excited to partner with PETRONAS for the years to come. Although Spirit IT started its business 10 years ago, there is a long and active history of its staff with PETRONAS in Malaysia dating back from the mid 1990’s.”
Top: Sazali Hamzah of PETRONAS and Harry Kok signing the Contracts during the exchange Below l to r: Mohd Zakir Abdul Rahman (Data Intelek), Harry Kok, Sazali Hamzah (PTSSB) and Dr. Colin Wong (VP Technology & Engineering)
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members’ NEWS Philips Lumileds brightens up schools
La Scheers designs for MDBC Members Market Researcher QPA and data collector GDCC have recently joined forces. La Scheers Co was tasked with developing a unified logo identity for the merged QPA - GDCC brand. La Scheers also recently did some work for Lone Pine Hotel. Lone Pine’s reopening in November 2010 reinstates them as the leading boutique hotel on the Ferringhi strip.
PUPILS from two more primary schools in Penang can soon enjoy energy-efficient LEDs (light emitting diodes) lighting systems in their classrooms, thanks to Philips Lumileds. The global lighting company had already replaced old lightings in SRK Sungai Nibong and would be doing likewise for SRK Seri Relau and SJKC Min Sin in their effort to help the schools reduce energy costs. Its Penang general manager Glen Brownlie said the free upgrade of the lighting system to energyefficient solutions was the first to be implemented for schools in the country. He added that the three schools were chosen due to their close proximity to their factory in Bayan Lepas. He said besides being energy efficient, LED lightings had a much longer lifespan than traditional technologies. “LEDs are 80% more energy efficient than incandescent lights. Its long life-
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span means fewer replacement and maintenance requirements. “This will result in significant cost savings,” he said after launching Philips’ SimplyHealthy@Schools programme at SRK Sungai Nibong. The global community initiative was born out of a desire to make the company’s health and wellbeing expertise and solutions available to the communities it operates in, including the Malaysian community. After the launching ceremony, Philips employees shared their knowledge with students on energy efficiency and ways to improve their health and wellbeing. “The programme is not budget-driven. The cost is irrelevant in this matter. “By demonstrating how simple it is to save energy, we hope students will cultivate a habit of helping to protect and care for the environment,” Brownlie added.
La Scheers Co took a firsthand approach in the rehabilitation of the beach side resort surely to leave its guests pining for more. This one’s a charmer!
members’ NEWS Quintiq launches GDC and Regional HQ Quintiq, a Dutch-based global leader in delivering Advanced Planning and Scheduling, and Supply Chain Planning business software solutions, launched its Global Development Centre and Regional HQ for South East Asia in Kuala Lumpur at the end of 2010. The event was officiated by YB Dato’ Mukhriz Mahathir, Deputy Minister of International Trade and Industry. Also present at the event was Dr Victor Allis, Chief Executive Officer of Quintiq. From left, Sanjay Nair, Dato’ Mukhriz, Dr Victor Allis and Bas de Jonge, Quintiq GDC Director
In just over 4 years now, Quintiq has provided employment for over 100 highly educated professionals in Malaysia. Quintiq expects to grow to 300 people by 2013 with even greater emphasis on recruiting local talents. With the expansion roadmap set for its GDC and its Regional HQ for South East Asia, Quintiq sees a growing potential for more companies in Malaysia to reap the benefits of tapping on to its rich and diverse expertise in servicing multiple clients internationally.
Mayban Ageas celebrates 10th anniversary Mayban Ageas Holdings Berhad (MAHB) celebrated its 10th anniversary here in Malaysia on 8 February with an intimate dinner with the key initiators of the bancassurance joint venture. Formerly known as Mayban Fortis Holdings Berhad, MAHB is the holding company of Etiqa Insurance and Takaful and is a joint-venture between Ageas and Maybank. The company was set up 10 years ago to introduce bancassurance into Malaysia and is now firmly entrenched as one of the most successful bancassurance joint-ventures in the country. In town to host the dinner was Ageas Chaiman, Jozef De Mey. Held at the prestigious Carcosa Seri Negara, fusion food was the theme of the day, reflecting the successful partnership. The Ageas team who played host at the event were CEO Bart De Smet, current Board Members of Mayban Ageas Dennis Zeings and Gary Crist and Filip Coremans, the previous Chief Executive Officer of Mayban Ageas.
Quintiq’s investment to-date of RM50 million has certainly benefited the country, particularly in terms of knowledge and technology transfer, high-level employment opportunities and even through skills and human capital development. Increasingly, the Company sees Malaysia as a very important market for its growth strategy and will continue to invest in strengthening its competencies here in Malaysia. Quintiq earlier announced it will invest close to RM100 milion in Malaysia over the next three years to expand operations. “The investments would be allocated mostly for human capital development, infrastructure and also more hiring to sustain our expanding operations,” Allis said after the launch.
“Quintiq will be a key enabler to adopt information technology (IT) to be globally competitive,” said Sanjay Nair, managing director of Quintiq Sdn Bhd. “Besides this, we are fully aware of the potential here and this adds to the objective of our Global Development Centre here,” he added.
Together with the current Malaysian Ageas team Hans De Cuyper (Acting CEO) and Chief Marketing Officer Barend Van Dam, the event was attended by 40 invitees consisting of previous key personnel during the early days
of the joint venture, Board Members and Senior Management. The reunion of friends marked a significant key milestone in both Ageas and Maybank’s insurance & takaful business for a successful partnership of 10 years and counting. Also in attendance during the celebration dinner was Senator Tan Sri Amirsham A. Aziz the previous Maybank President / CEO who had played an imperative role in the joint venture in 2001. Both Jozef De Mey and Maybank Chairman Tan Sri Megat Zaharuddin Megat Mohd Nor expressed and commended the great alliance between the two financial leaders over the last 10 years, which has seen the business grow 10 fold, recording a Gross Premium Written of RM 4.6 billion for FYE 2009/2010. In commemorating this auspicious and historical event, and in the spirit of charity, Jozef De Mey presented a cheque of 10,000 Euros to Tan Sri Megat Zaharuddin for Maybank’s charitable foundation – Cahaya Kasih, explaining that the 10,000 Euros represents 1,000 Euros for each wonderful year of the 10 year partnership.
The Maybank and Ageas teams coming together for the 10th anniversary
Quintiq aims to meet the specific IT needs of businesses worldwide with its specific Advanced Planning and Scheduling (APS) solutions.
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MDBC Penang - SOCIAL MDBC Penang 2011 New Year’s Reception
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MDBC Penang - events “Penang, the way forward” by Chief Minister Penang also has ambitions to become a center of excellence for science and technology. To that end, the Penang Science Council was established and operates under 5 pillars helmed by industry leaders. Lim Guan Eng shared these pillars and their progress: On 18 January, the day that it was announced that the State of Penang ranked tops in attracting investments in Malaysia in 2010, MDBC coincidentially organised its special event with the Penang Chief Minister. According to figures announced by MIDA, the island state increased its foreign direct investment in 2010 to a total of RM 12.2 billion (from RM2.1 billion in 2009), topping all other states in Malaysia for the first time (this is the highest figure ever achieved by the state, totalling 26% of total investments in the country). Attended by nearly 100 guests at the stylish G Hotel on Gurney Drive, including MDBC members, other Malaysian and international businesspeople, Penang dignitaries including both Deputy Chief Ministers and the local media, YAB Lim Guan Eng presented “Penang, the way forward.” In his keynote address, the Chief Minister mentioned that as Penang contribues more than half of the electronics exports and more than 25% of the total value of exports of Malaysia, that it is critical for Penang to further enhance its capabilities. He also added, “the establishment of a Penang Science Council, Penang Tech Center and the Education hub of Excellence shows the commitment of the state government to build human talent and share or learn expertise. Training, retraining, retaining and attracting human talent is crucial to succeed in our aspirations of becoming a high income, innovative and knowledged based economy. “
1. Sustainable Education and Learning Pillar - headed by Motorola: This is to rekindle interest in sciene and technology amongst the young and students through talks by renowned successful entrepreneurs, especially the upcoming Robotics competition. 2. Mentoring the Young Scientific Entrepreneur - headed by Mini Circuits: This pillar hopes to provide a platform of guidance, opportunity and funding through seed money to commercialize their ideas and inventions. 3. Nuturing Industry - headed by Dato’ Wong Siew Hai: This aims to bring the industry to the next level of development. Its primary objective is to establish a Penang Tech center which showcases Penang’s success in inventions and innovations in its 35 years of industrialization together with R&D and incubator hubs which will spur new inventions, creativity and innovation. 4. Innovation and Research headed by Intel: This is to continue Penang’s competitive advantage of human talents who have a proven track record as
an outsourcing centre, sophisticated supply chain network and research and innovation facilities which includes funding to encourage creative ideas and new inventions. 5. Life Sciences & Medical Health - headed by B.Braun: This is to encourage the youth to be interested in the field of life sciences and for them to get to know more about “sunrise” industries in Penang. The Chief Minister hopes to transform Penang into an international city that will be able to compete globally. He believes that if Penang is to succeed in becoming an international city, it must become an intelligent city, defined by him as having: 1. Human intelligence 2. Collective intelligence 3. Digital intelligence 4. Institutional intelligence 5. Integrity intelligence The Chief Minister explained why Penang needs good and democratic governance, balanced development, integrity in
leadership and a culture of innovation. He said, “By adopting international best practices, CAT governance of competency, accountability and transparency has allowed Penang to achieve record budget surpluses that has won priase from the Auditor General Report for 2 consecutive years and win accolades from Transparency International.” “Penang is promoting a culture of innovation, creativity and excellence. We want to nuture innovators, not just entrepreneurs. Penang must brand itself as synonymous with quality, integrity, safety, reliability and sustainability” the Chief Minister concluded . Panelists for the lively discussion were Jan Soer (Netherlands Embassy), Alexander Stedtfeld (Malaysian German Chamber of Commerce), Dato’ Seri Eric Lim (Peremba), Tonnie Vonk (Actiforce Mechatronics) and Dato’ OK Lee (FMM Penang Branch). The MDBC Penang New Year reception at the stylish G Hotel on Gurney Drive concluded this informative and successful event.
Great attendance
Panelists l to r: YAB Lim Guan Eng, Jan Soer, Dato’ Seri eric Lim, Alexander Stedtfeld, Tonnie Vonk and Dato’ OK Lee
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MDBC Penang - events FTA - PCA briefing by the EU Ambassador Held at the E&O Hotel in Penang on 10 March, the Briefing by EU Ambassador H.E. Vincent Piket focused on the EU - Malaysia Business Agenda for 2011. Ambassador Piket explained the groundwork which was initiated during the end of last year. These initiatives will create a positive and conducive environment for more opportunities in trade and investment between the EU and Malaysia for 2011 and beyond.
Specifically, Piket said that on 5 October 2010, Prime Minister YAB Dato’ Seri Najib Razak and the EU leaders launched two major EU - Malaysia bilateral initiatives, namely the negotiations for the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA). According to Piket, “These two initaitves are aimed at boosting bilateral trade and investment and at creating a new strategic dimension for the EU - Malaysia political dialogue and economic cooperation. We are in for a very intense and exciting year, during which we will lay the ground for bringing the EU - Malaysia bilateral relations to a whole new dimension.”
Ambassador Piket fully expects that the future EU - Malaysia Free Trade Area will provide a longterm, stable legal framework for bilateral relations. The EU - Malaysia FTA will remove tariffs on the near totality of goods and open up trade in services, beyond the level of commitment undertaken by both the EU and Malaysia in the WTO. Having already conducted two negotiation rounds for the FTA (Brussels in December 2010 and Kuala Lumpur during the first week of March 2011), there is a tentative schedule for the 3rd and 4th round of negotiations for May and July. This means that both sides are taking the negotiations seriously and have gotten off to a good start. The EU believes that trade and investment cannot take place in isolation. It must be inscribed in a larger scheme of things, involving political dialogue and cooperation, in full respect of the values which are at the core of the EU, such as democracy, rule of law and human rights. This larger scheme is the PCA. The EU - Malaysia PCA will provide the strategic framework for cooperation and promote engagement in areas of mutual interest such as taxation and customs, intellectual property rights, combating terrorism and transnational crime, the fight against corruption and good governance.
From r to l: Ambassador Piket, Datuk Dr Rebecca, MDBC Penang representative John Benoist, Jeyasigan and Marco Winter
The PCA will also feature prominently a key priority of the EU, namely the green agenda. Topics such as action against climate change, promoting sustainable growth and sustainable forestry and green technology. According to Piket, “We are eager to push further our green agenda with Malaysia within the PCA. This will include the dialogue with the Ministry of Energy of Green Tech, with whom we have set up a very successful cooperation agenda, through the close cooperation of bilateral chambers including MDBC, the EU Member State Embassies and the EU Delegation.” Ambassador Piket sees a role for MDBC members and reminded them that “we have to push the EU - Malaysia business agenda - with all the tools we have to boost growth. Not just any growth, but green and sustainable growth. The bilateral chambers are a key point of contact for us in this, as our
successful green tech dialogue has shown.” The wealth of information, knowledge, intelligence and expertise can, if channelled properly towards the negotiators, provide instrumental in negotiating the best result for business operators. Ministry of International Trade & Industry Secretary General Datuk Dr Rebecca Fatima and Malaysian Industrial Development Authority Director Foreign Direct Investments Europe Jeyasigan provided the input from Malaysian side and highlighted the country’s interest to further boost investors confidence with this FTA. EU companies based in Malaysia will also enjoy the trade benefits within the ASEAN and ASEAN+ regions. In the Q&A session they also mentioned that more liberalisation in the services sector is in the cards. More FTA information on page 27.
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Leading the upstream oil & gas industry with new technologies and innovative spatial concepts, Frames has experienced unprecedented growth. Founded in 1983, Frames has remained an independent company. While we operate worldwide, we are headquartered in The Netherlands with regional offices in Germany, USA, Malaysia, Abu Dhabi, Brazil and India. Frames offers Design, Fabrication, Supply and Guarantee of complete process and control systems and packages to the upstream oil & gas industry including FPSO, SPAR, TLP, Semisub, Fixed Platform, Monopile etc. production facilities. In addition to the system supply, Frames provides the field support personnel to effectively integrate and/or start-up the system in client's plant on the jobsite. The Frames Group consists of four primary technology centers each providing engineered and custom build packages: Flow control & safeguarding • Wellhead Control Systems • Subsea Hydraulic Shutdown Systems • Hydraulic Power Units • Hydraulic Cargo & Ballasting Systems • Integrated Valve & Control Packages • Valve Automation & Control • Chemical Injection & Distribution Systems • Methanol Injection & Distribution Systems • Workover Control Units • Services & Commissioning Gas and liquid treatment systems • Gas Treatment Systems (Low Temperature Separation, Glycol, Amine, Alumina, Silica Gel, Molecular Sieves) • Glycol Regeneration Systems • Amine Regeneration Systems • Methanol Recovery Systems • Glycol Desalination Systems • Overhead Vapor Combustor Systems • HC Liquid Treatment Systems (Alumina, Molecular Sieves) • Heater Systems • Fuel Gas Conditioning Systems Separators & internals • (Skid-mounted) Multi phase Separators • Production, Test & Filter Separators • Scrubbers • Slug Catchers • Skimmer Tanks • Closed Drain Vessels • Coaslescers Sweetening and specialized gas process systems • Sour Gas Treatment • Desalination of Glycol & Amines • Specialized Gas Treatment Systems Heat exchangers • Shell- & tube Heat Exchangers • Air-cooled Coolers • Pressure Vessels
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mdbc events Annual Interchamber with MABC MDBC held it’s annual interchamber evening with the Malaysian Australian Business Council (MABC) on 24 February at the Australian High Commission. Before the networking, a briefing was held by Tan Sri Yong Poh Kon, Co-Chair of PEMUDAH on the workings of PEMUDAH and “Improvements in Malaysia’s Business Environment.” Set up in 2007 by the Malaysian Government, PEMUDAH is a special task force to promote a conducive and business-friendly
environment by overseeing regulatory reforms to facilitate business and supporting public-private collaboration. Co - chaired by Tan Sri Sidek Hassan (Chief Secretary to the Government) and Tan Sri Yong (Immediate Past President, FMM), PEMUDAH deliberates on the decisions of the many working groups reporting to it. PEMUDAH also examines and resolves the many issues which can be handled at the civil service level, allowing swift decision making and implementation
through the various ministries. The briefing and question and answer session with Tan Sri Yong were followed by the traditional networking between the members of the MDBC and MDBC while enjoying the food and drinks provided.
Above left: Marco Tieman (LBB Teams) during the Q&A Session Above right: Marco Winter (MDBC), Michael Halpin (Chairman, MABC) and Tan Sri Yong Poh Kon Below: Guests welcomed by Michael Halpin
More pictures on page 22.
MDBC 2011 New Year’s reception MDBC’s New Year’s reception at Carcosa Seri Negara was once again the most sociable night, made even more festive with the relaunch of the MDBC Card and the announcement that MDBC celebrates its 15th Anniversary in 2011. Chairman Dato’ Jaffar Indot and Ambassador Paul Bekkers were on hand to welcome new MDBC members.
Many more pictures on pages 22, 23 and 33.
RETURN TO ELEGANCE
Take a walk back into history and all its charm in the beautiful and magnificent Carcosa Seri Negara.
REDISCOVER GRACE
Carcosa Seri Negara needs no introduction. For those who enjoy the luxury that life can offer, Carcosa Seri Negara strikes a note of sophistication. With its elegant Victorian-style suites and lush landscaping, it is easy for one to simply fall in love with this magnificent boutique hotel the minute he or she steps foot on the grounds. Truly charming, it brings back a sense of nostalgia yet is equipped with all the necessary facilities and amenities to make your stay here simply pleasurable.
17 Carcosa Seri Negara, Taman Tasik Perdana, Persiaran Mahameru, 50480 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Tel: (603) 2295 0888 Fax: (603) 2282 6868 reservations@carcosa.com.my www.carcosa.com.my
Netherlands Embassy / mdbc event The World Press Photo Foundation, an independent, non profit organization based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, strives to stimulate the highest quality in photojournalism on an international scale. Through their educational activities and publications, they aim to create greater visibility of press photography in general. Over the years, World Press Photo has evolved into a platform for furthering of press freedom and a forum for discussion on issues affecting photojournalism. The World Press Photo Exhibition is the organization’s best known activity. It is the public showcase of photojournalism and displays the visual creativity of the profession. Every year, the World Press Photo Exhibition, featuring the winning photographs of the most wellknown and prestigious professional photojournalism contest, tours the world. The exhibition highlights the impact photojournalists have on news being reported around the world. It also brings to attention some of the struggles and at times, personal
danger that these journalists have had to face in order to get their stories to the world. After a hiatus of more than 8 years, the exhibition was once again brought to Malaysia by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, hosted by the the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre and generously sponsored by TNT. While the official launch took place on 11 January, the Embassy also organised a private viewing for the members of the Malaysian Dutch Business Council and the Netherlands Association on 13 January. Lillan Baruch, Executive Board Member and Treasurer of the WPP Foundation, gave a more in-depth look at the foundation and the contest. Guests were exposed to a variety of thoughtprovoking and emotionallyimpactful photos. Each was accompanied by a write up that explained the story behind the shot.
World Press Photo Exhibition in KL
At the official launch (l to r): Jurre Janssen (Project Manager, WPP), Datuk Peter Brokenshire (General Manager, Kuala Lumpur Convention Center), Ong, Netherlands Ambassador H.E. Paul Bekkers, Dato’ Sri Dr. Ng Yen Yen (Minister of Tourism), Lillan Baruch and Gerry Power (Managing Director, TNT Express Worldwide)
The Netherlands Embassy intends to bring the World Press Photo Exhibition back to Malaysia in 2012 for a multi-city tour.
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IN THE NEW ENERGY FUTURE WE’ll NEED TO THINK SMAll. As the global population grows and energy demand increases, we all need to use energy more efficiently. With the Shell Eco-marathon we support teams from schools around the world as they explore ideas to push fuel economy to the extreme. The winner of last year’s competition produced a vehicle capable of travelling 3,382km on the equivalent of one litre of fuel. To find out how Shell is helping prepare for the new energy future visit www.shell.com/realenergy
OIL
Netherlands Embassy News Bio-based economy: Technology cooperation and matchmaking mission
At Sime Darby Plantations’ Carey Island
From 28 February 28 to 2 March, the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, together with NL Agency, the Malaysian Prime Minister’s Office and the B-BASIC consortium, co-organized three days of promoting research, technological co-operation, business and sharing insights between Malaysian and Dutch partners in the area of Biobased Economy. On day one, Dutch and Malaysian speakers provided a government as well as business perspective on the opportunities and challenges regarding a bio-based economy. This was followed by business-to-business matchmaking.
At the Day 1 round-table session: Above (l to r): Prof van der Wielen, Bas Melssen (Special Innovation Unit, Office of the Prime Minister) and Ambassador Bekkers Below: pitches by SIRIM, MPOB, Avantium, CKade, Purac and Genetwister
Dutch companies represented in the delegation were Avantium Chemicals, BioTorTech, CKade, DSM, Maris Projects, Purac, Redox Water, Waganingen UR Food and Biobased Research, BE-Basic, Prof.dr.ir.Luuk A.M. van der Wielen from Delft University of Technology, Feyecon Asia, Genetwister Technologies and Food Valley. In his opening remarks, Netherlands Ambassador Paul Bekkers said the long-standing trade relations between the Netherlands and Malaysia may now expand
into new areas, particularly one that would see the exciting combination of cutting-edge, breakthrough Dutch technology in renewable energy and bio-fuels (namely palm oil), and processing biomass and bio-waste into high-value products with Malaysia’s vast experience and wealth of resources in the cash crop industry. Bekkers said for this mission, Malaysia was selected for several reasons. “Malaysia is one of the largest producers of palm oil in the world with the Netherlands as the biggest consumer in Europe. There is a growing movement towards creating a more sustainable environment including the use of palm oil wastes as a renewable energy source. In addition, there are many established palm oil companies here,” he added. Day two featured a company visit to Sime Darby’s oil palm plantation at Carey Island. On day three, a workshop was organised on Palm-based Innovations in the Chemical and Energy Sectors. Setting the Roadmap for Malaysia, this workshop was attended by a large number of Malaysian and international stakeholders.
Religion in the Public Space The EU delegation, the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Institute for the Advancement of Islamic Studies (IAIS) jointly organised a public seminar on ‘The role of religion in the public space, the case of Europe and Malaysia’.
Deputy Chief Executive Officer, IAIS Malaysia) and Prof. Dr. Maurits S. Berger (Professor of Islam in the Contemporary West, Sultan of Oman Chair for Oriental Studies, Institue for Religious Studies, faculty of Humanities, Leiden University).
Held on Tuesday, 1 March at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Center, this conference included speeches by Datuk Dr. Osman Bakar (Emeritus Professor and
These thought provoking and enlightening introductions by Prof Osman Bakar and Prof Maurits Berger were followed by a lively Q&A Session.
Top (l to r): Netherlands Ambassador H.E. Paul Bekkers, Datuk Dr. Osman Bakar, Eszter Nemeth (Delegation of the European Union to Malaysia) and Prof. Dr. Maurits Berger Below: Full capacity at the event
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MDBC Social MDBC 2011 New Year’s Reception
MDBC Annual Interchamber with MABC
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MDBC Social MDBC 2011 New Year’s Reception
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Drinkers of the world, unite. Everywhere you go, you find the familiar sight of people savouring their Heineken, clanking the green bottles in merriment. Found in over 170 nations, Heineken is the world’s No. 1 international premium beer. So come, the rest of the world awaits you.
Student internship program The Intern Interview As part of the International Communication curriculum I follow at the Hanze University in Groningen, the Netherlands, I fulfilled a semester at the Faculty of Business Administration at the University of Macau (UMAC). My time in Macau and numerous visits to Hong Kong & mainland China sparked my interest in the Chinese culture and language, which made me decide to enrol for a semester of Mandarin at the Sun Yat-sen University (SYSU) in Guangzhou, China. After returning to the Netherlands, I continued my study and signed up for the ‘China Project,’ which was a one semester project during which I researched the business potential for a Dutch machinery manufac-
turer in China. This project included a field research and was executed in cooperation with Nankai University, Tianjin, China. This project gave me an insight into the Chinese business world. Subsequent to this project, I headed for Malaysia to fulfil an enriching internship at the MDBC in Kuala Lumpur. After completing this, I was all set to embark on my graduation project and the MDBC introduced me to the EU - EFI FLEGT Asia Regional Program in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. FLEGT (Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade) Asia is part of the FLEGT Facility and is hosted by the Finland based European Forest Institute. FLEGT Asia promotes good forest governance in the region. The EU has recently adopted the EU Timber
Regulation, which prevents the trading in illegally harvested timber and timber products in the EU. Once this Regulation comes to effect in 2013, undocumented timber and timber products can no longer be placed on the EU market. It is very important that all stakeholders in the countries covered by FLEGT Asia, mainly China and S.E. Asia, are aware of these changing market requirements.
In total I have spend approximately 2.5 years in Asia and I have had a fascinating time here. So far, I have visited China, Macau, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Japan and Bahrain. Matthias Lameris, lost in the Malaysian jungle, but will eventually find his way back to the Netherlands
I am currently writing my thesis and working on the Awareness Raising Strategy for FLEGT Asia for the coming 2 years. FLEGT Asia offered me a unique chance to gain a better understanding of their endeavours at translating an international policy into action at a regional and country level. It is a truly inspiring graduation project.
MAFC’s interns ‘graduate’
February intake arrives
MAFC’s Sales & Marketing department. Lushious is MAFC’s home-grown vegetables brand.
More than 30 Dutch student interns arrived safely in Kuala Lumpur this February to commence their 5-months internships with a wide variety of MDBC member-companies. The students received a cultural briefing by MDBC SIP coordinator Raymon Brockbernd and were treated to a local meal by Executive Director Marco Winter.
Malaysian AgriFood Corporation (MAFC), an integrated food supply chain management company in Malaysia, recently held a graduation ceremony for its student interns Rick Baarda and Nathan Meijer, both from Hanze University of Applied Sciences. Baarda, a fourth-year student Small Business & Retail Management, presented his market research and recommendations on “Differentiating Lushious” for
Meijer, a third-year student Food & Business, presented his study on consumer awareness of food safety to the Quality Assurance department. Both students received tokens of appreciation from their respective supervisors before posing for a group picture.
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Eu NEWS Europe and Malaysia: Steering a Course to Growth With this in mind, De Gucht talked about the four potential benefits of the FTA. 1. The EU aims to open up markets for goods and services. It will make trade cheaper by eliminating most import duties. “We have calculated that there will be some 650 millions of duty savings on both sides,” he said.
On 14 March, the European Union Commissioner for Trade, H.E. Karel de Gucht met with representatives of European and Malaysian businesses. During his address, the Commissioner said, “Malaysia is already a very important trading partner for the EU - second largest within ASEAN - and we see room for this relationship to bloom. The EU is Malaysia’s third largest trading partner - after Singapore and China - and that trade looks set to grow. Malaysia can act as a key hub within South East Asia pulling in investment and trade.” He also mentioned that bilateral trade has bounced back from the economic crisis and is back to pre- crisis levels, amounting to a total of €32 billion in 2010. Malaysian exports to the EU were also up by 40% in 2010. This means more jobs in export industries such as office and telecom equipment, plastics and rubber products.
With Malaysia’s goal of becoming a services economy by 2020, the agreement will also open up further opportunities between Europe and Malaysia. The further reduction of equity restrictions for several services sectors is likely to open doors into Malaysia. Likewise, the partial opening up of the financial services sector is welcomed by many European banks. The Commissioner hopes to build on these developments in the negotiations. 2. The EU wants to increase investment flows between the EU and Malaysia. “With over €30 billion in FDI stock, the EU is one of the largest investors in Malaysia. These are mainly concentrated in the manufacturing sector. There is room to expand investment in this sector but also in services - particularly in view of Malaysia’s desire to become a regional hub for ICT, finance and logistics services.”
Minister of International Trade & Industry YB Dato’ Sri Mustapa Mohamed organised a dinner in honour of H.E. Karel de Gucht’s visit to Malaysia: from left: De Gucht, Dato’ Sri Mustapa, MIDA Chairman Tan Sri Dr Sulaiman Mahbob, EU Ambassador H.E. Vincent Piket
De Gucht also discussed the FTA’s affect on Malaysia’s focus on green technology and sustainability. He said that the FTA would be one tool to help incite the green high tech investment and knowledge from Europe. One of the areas being addressed are non - tariff barriers on green technology in the agreement. In the meantime, the EU and Malaysia are already engaged in a range of cooperation, dialogue and talks on sustainability or green issues. There are policy dialogues on climate action and Green Tech as well as ongoing negotiations on a FLEGT Voluntary Partnership Agreement for trade in timber products. The Partnership & Cooperation Agreement will also provide scope for more cooperation. 3. A trade deal could smooth the passage of trade between the EU and Malaysia. This means facilitating transit through customs and it means making sure that rules on technical and sanitary standards to not act as a trade barrier. “The EU market is indeed characterized by demanding quality and safety standards. This is something our consumers demand. Businesses wishing to access EU markets need to develop products and services which meet these requirements,” said De Gucht.
4. The FTA is about making the policy environment for trade between the EU and Malaysia more predictable, transparent and secure. “By taking joint commitments on areas that affect trade - such as intellectual property rights, government procurement or competition - we will help companies operate freely and fairly in the market.” Commssioner De Gucht stressed that the EU is ready to listen and work together with Malaysia to find the best solutions for this FTA. Apart from the FTA, the Commissioner also restated the importance of this moment for the Doha round. He sai that Malaysia has been one of the most constructive deeloping countries in the negotiations on industrial products (“NAMA”) supporting an ambitious result. The EU welcomes Malaysia’s active role in these negotiations which will help to make further progress. He concluded by saying, “I hope that this FTA can be a vital component to supporting Malaysia’s “2020 Vision”. Liberalisation and competitiveness is at the heart of Malaysia’s strategy and the EU is ready to be a partner in this process wherever we can.” Extracted from H.E. Karel De Gucht’s “Steering a Course to Growth” Breakfast Talk.
from left: MITI Deputy Minister YB Dato’ Mukhriz Mahathir, Rupert Schlegelmilch (Head of Unit, Trade Relations with South Asia, Korea and ASEAN, European Commission, Directorate-General for Trade), MITI Secretary General Datuk Dr Rebecca Fatimah, MDBC Executive Director Marco Winter
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EUMCCI NEWS
EUMCCI EVENTS 1st Quarter 2011 Clockwise from top left: VIP Luncheon Talk with EU Ambassador H.E. Vincent Piket, co-organised by MDBC; Breakfast dialogue withYBhg Tan Sri Zarinah Anwar (Chairman, Securities Commission); “Too many bosses too few leaders” HR Workshop presented by Rajeev Peshawaria (CEO, ICLIF Leadership and Governance Centre); Networking Hi - Tea for EUMCCI Members and Directors at Villa Danielli; Toh Swee Hoe (Special Functions Officer of the Malaysian Communications & Multimedia Commission(MCMC)) and moderator Steven Tai of Ericsson during the Hi Tea Dialogue with the MCMC.
NL in MY Biobased Economy: Interview with Prof Luuk Prof Dr Ir Luuk van der Wielen was one of the participants and speakers during the recent Technology Matchmaking Biobased Economy mission from the Netherlands (see page 19). Popularly known as Prof Luuk, this was not his first visit to Malaysia as he has been a very frequent visitor for the past couple of years. Especially in 2010, he was a regular visitor, participant, speaker, exhibitor and workshop-moderator at a variety of activities in Malaysia, including IGEM and BioMalaysia.
Van der Wielen is Director of BBasic and BE-Basic (see page 37 for more info), Department of Biotechnology, Delft University of Technology, and a Visiting Professor, Faculty of Chemistry and Natural Resources Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, where he has already been working for the last two years to develop sustainable solutions for the chemicals and fuels industry. This fits well with BE-Basic (Biobased, Ecologically Balanced Sustainable Industrial Chemistry), which is an international publicprivate partnership between the
Dutch government, world class universities, research institutes and advanced industries of various scales in the field of sustainable chemistry and ecology. Its mission is to develop industrial biobased solutions for a sustainable society. The Netherlands is the biggest consumer of palm oil in Europe, thus the rationale to consider cooperation and partnership opportunities in Malaysia. Van der Wielen said that studies on creating more value for palm biomass, for example, to produce chemicals, has been limited in Malaysia. “Malaysian research and academia have started to explore opportunities but none have reached commercial reality at this moment, apart from biogas and bio-composting for fuels in planations. Studies on the options that could create more value to biomass like producing chemicals have been limited, if at all, in Malaysia”, he added. “We have found technical possibility and research partners from the Netherlands, and are now looking into opportunities for foreign industries to work with Malaysian companies and academia to develop new technologies to make biofuels and energy,” he said. He added that making everyday products from palm by-products like a pen is no longer a technical issue. “There’s no technical barrier anymore, its a matter of making Ma-
laysia attractive for companies to invest in this sector here, a matter of making connections to the plantation sector here,” said van der Wielen. Palm oil biomass has the potential to increase its contribution to the economy to as much as 5% if its use is widened to produce liquid biofuels and biochemicals according to van der Wielen. While the technology to turn palm waste to energy is already available, its contribution - if all the wastes from the palm sector were used for this purpose - to the GDP is very modest at 0.1%, he said. “If you take the same amount of biomass available throughout Malaysia and turn that into liquid biofuels through hydrolysis and making ethanol from it, it can be blended with gasoline for cars. This would make the percentage go up to 1%”, he explained. Double the contribution to the Malaysian GDP It is important to note however that if the same biomass was turned into biochemicals and other by-products such as plastics, the contribution to the GDP would go up by 5%. “That’s about the figure the palm industry currently contributes to the economy, at about 5 - 6 %. So the waste of the palm industry can be as valuable to the economy as crude palm oil is at this moment,” van der Wielen added. “If you stay only with the energy option, then of course, emissions go down but the economy doesn’t have the full benefit from it. It won’t create as many jobs.”
Another advantage of using palm waste to make biochemicals and plastics is that its lifecycle is further extended and the carbon stored in the materials stay captured for much longer instead of being released into the atmosphere. More studies however are required to determine the right mix of biomass, biofuels and bio-chemicals for Malaysia. Therefore the interest of BEBasic to establish stronger links with Malaysian stakeholders. Van der Wielen has initiated several workshops in Malaysia to speak about the potential of such a MYBasic initiative on palm-based resources and products, which were attended by various larger local palm oil companies and educational institutions.
Pictures above and top: Participants at a workshop at UTM International Campus in Kuala Lumpur in October
“See it this way, if you can have more value per hectare produced, not just from palm oil but also from turning the rest of biomass into value, there’s more value to be captured from the field; the economy in total benefits and incomes and wages can go up. All that improvement would certainly create a different perception on the palm sector and put a more positive perspective on sustainability,” he concluded. Parts are extracted from the interview with Prof Luuk by Jenny Ng, The Edge Financial Daily on 28 Feb 2011.
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MDBC CARD
left: Gerd Stoje (Stoje Dual) and Marijn Vermeulen (MDBC) with Gerd’s prize from Angsana Spa. right: Dr. Richard Cropp (Cosmo Biofuels) and Jocelyn Choo (Communications Manager, MDBC) with his prize from the Renaissance Kuala Lumpur Hotel.
left: Patrice Faivre (Intermovers & Storage) with Marijn Vermeulen and his prize from Hecny Transportation. right: Jennifer Rodrigo (Ming Blue & White) and Sharon Kaur (Wisden Edupark) with Sharon’s prize from Tradewind Treasures.
left: Caroline Filtzinger (Carcosa Seri Negara) and Daniel Gomez (City Golf Group) with his prize from Carcosa Seri Negara. right: Onn Yen Yen (Henry Goh & Co) with prize winner CF Lee (Transearch Wendy Lau)
Marco Winter, Dato’ Jaffar and Ambassador Bekkers with the MDBC Anniversary cakes left: Guests ready to answer the MDBC Card Trivia questions right: Koen van Gurp (TalentSquare) and Sabine Knoers (Netherlands Embassy) with the goodies bags
The M
DBC
Card
This year’s annual MDBC New Year’s reception was a special one. The fun and relaxed evening was held in the beautiful and stately Carcosa Seri Negara on 26 January. MDBC members - old and new - rang in the 2011 year and celebrated the beginning of MDBC’s 15th Anniversary. They were also celebrating the 1.5 year anniversary of the Members - for - Members Card program. After an introduction by Executive Director Marco Winter, guests were welcomed by Chairman Dato’ Jaffar Indot who highlighted various achievements in 2010 and plans for 2011. New members were introduced and two special 15th anniversary cakes - made to resemble the MDBC Card - were rolled out with lighted candles onto the stage. Netherlands Ambassador H.E. Paul Bekkers assisted in cutting the cake which was later shared with all the guests. This celebration also featured a relaunch of the MDBC Card. As a part of this re-introduction of the Card, members were treated to a special MDBC Card Trivia Night. Members who had their cards and answered the fun and tricky questions about program participants correctly won special prizes that were sponsored by Angsana Spa, Carcosa Seri Negara, Hecny Transportation, Henry Goh & Co, Ming Blue & White and Renaissance Kuala Lumpur Hotel. Door gifts by Air France / KLM, City Golf and TNT Worldwide Express were also given out to all guests that evening. As a special addition to the celebrations, several program participants offered a special month (February) long only additional special discount / services for MDBC Members. This was in addition to the existing offers by these companies. Have you used your Card yet?!
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The disruption of the decade. AdWeek and Advertising Age named us Global Agency of 2008. An unprecedented, disruptive double. Now, they’ve done it again, naming TBWA as Global Agency of the Decade. Voted tops by AdWeek for outstanding work for Apple in its “Best Of The 2000s” awards. And again in Ad Age’s “Book of Tens” awards, we topped the list of global agencies in its Agency of the Decade. Here’s to the next decade.
TBWA Advertisers are accustomed to spending money to create assets for traditional channels, and yet balk at doing the same in the digital and social media channels. We argue that even though Facebook, YouTube and blogs are free, there’s no excuse for populating them with cheap communication. While it’s true that the CEO of an organization can easily write his own blog at no cost (other than his own time), or the marketing manager can start a Facebook page without raiding the war chest, it’s our experience that such endeavors peter out very quickly, and ultimately do very little good, even in the short term. Perhaps the problem lies in the perception that because Facebook, Youtube, blogs and the like are free services, any communication that lives within them should, by default, carry no cost. There’s also the issue of ROI; advertisers may argue that they
Spending Money in Digital & Social Media Channels don’t see any real measurable effect on their bottom line. Our argument is that TV, cable or otherwise, is also ostensibly free. Sure, you pay a monthly subscription for your decoder, but the same can be said for your Internet subs and the associated hardware like routers and modems. So when an advertiser spends $500 000 and 2 months on producing a TV commercial, but confidently assures us that a viral video should cost no more than $2000 and two days to produce, we can only shudder. The ROI debate. Advertisers justify the amounts they spend on TV commercials by means of “scientific” demographic information. Both the channel owners and media buying houses have become especially adept at producing reams and reams of statistical evidence in support of their expenditure.
Terms like affinity, reach, eyeballs, residual audiences, age and income-segregation resound throughout the hallowed spaces of boardrooms everywhere. And why shouldn’t they? The science of planning is a sophisticated and mature one, developed by some of the best and brightest brains in the business. There’s an enormous body of information, collected over many years, to draw from. Consider this Digital is the new broadcast craft. In the digital channel(s), production values have gotten better and better (inevitable really – bandwidth has increased immensely and even graphics cards are now as powerful as supercomputers were in the 50s). We are able to inject vastly higher quality into our online contributions than ever before. And consumers and users simply expect
more than what passed for interactivity a few years ago. And finally Social Media is the number 1 online activity – beating out even porn and email – according to Nielsen Wire. Two thirds of the global population engages in Social Media every day. Social Media accounts for 10% of all time spent on the Internet. Social Media and other online sources have become the MOST influential factors in helping consumers make purchasing decisions. Last, and most important of all, to quote Businessweek – “Your competitors are there. Your customers have been there a long time. If your business isn’t putting itself out there, it should be. Contributed by
GREEN BOARD ‘Sustainability’ and ‘Green’ have become buzz words of the business world in recent years, particularly as people become increasingly aware of the importance of environmental preservation to meet the needs of future generations. For AkzoNobel, sustainability is at the heart of all we do. For AkzoNobel’s Decorative Paints business here in Malaysia, we took the lead as far back as 20 years ago when “green” was not even fashionable. We replaced the lead content in all our paints with higher cost materials and knew that was the right thing to do As the world’s largest paints and coatings company with 57,000 employees in 80 countries, AkzoNobel acknowledges the importance of sustainability and has integrated it into many aspects of our operations, helping create business opportunities that will ensure long-term profitable growth. For AkzoNobel, sustainability goes beyond green; it means the basic level of the “right to operate”, across economic, social and environmental bounds. Leading as a company that embraces the concept of sustainability, we take it to the next level, to incorporate sustainability in our value chain, from raw material supply to delivery, with programmes like supplier audit. This is not only about checking on quality, safety practices and environmental impact, if any, of their operations. It is about their continued collaboration with us, not just as material or service vendors but as sustainable partners and to candidates who do not meet the criterion, we provide “best practices” that they can assimilate into their business processes. This approach has more effect and impact than a simple “pass” or “fail” after audit. Our continuous efforts have enabled us to consistently maintain a top position on the Dow Jones
AkzoNobel - Delivering Tomorrow’s Answers Today Sustainability Index over the past few years whilst locally, recognised by many quarters, notably the Chemical Industries Council of Malaysia (CICM) through numerous CICM Responsible Care awards. Others may talk green, we walk the talk. 50% of our Board of Management’s longterm incentives programme is linked to the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes. The global company’s target is to increase the share of turnover from ecofriendly solutions to at least 30% in 2015. On the local scene, we have scored a number of “firsts” in the industry, such as, introducing low odour low volatile organic compound (VOC) interior emulsion products in Malaysia with GreenLabel accreditation whereas Dulux is the market leader for premium and environmentally friendly paints. Besides the low odour range, Dulux Weathershield Keep Cool™ which can save up to 15% in energy used to cool a home, thus mitigating the effects of global warming, was also introduced to the market. We also place emphasis on the environmental and social aspects of sustainability through various programs. Last year, we launched Dulux Paint Bank, a first of its kind education and empowerment campaign, to raise awareness on the proper methods for paint disposal, encouraging the public to ‘deposit’ leftover or unused paint to be recycled for ‘returns’ of a safer and cleaner environment. In return, AkzoNobel matched consumers’ deposit litre for litre, donating the fresh paint for community service. The paint raised from the campaign were used for the restoration work of four charitable homes in need throughout Peninsular Malaysia.
Top: 2nd from right: CW Goh (Managing Director, ICI Paints Malaysia) and 3rd from right: Jeremy Rowe (Managing Director, AkzoNobel Decorative Paints, South East Asia & Pacific)
and their experiences, to educate school children and teachers on road safety. The lesson is brought home to them with paint and creativity, that when all join in to transform corners that schools allocate into colorful murals and reminders of how to be safe on our roads. This is a part of Dulux’s mission to add colour to people’s lives. AkzoNobel also recognises the significance of restoring the legacy and culture of a country, and hence is playing a vital role in preserving Malaysia’s iconic heritage sites by ensuring its distinctive character and tradition remains intact for future generations to come.
Jeremy Rowe (MD, AkzoNobel Decorative Paints, SEA & Pacific), Hans Wijers (CEO, AkzoNobel) and Datuk Seet (Exco Culture & Tourism).
Through its “Warisan Bersama Dulux” project, AkzoNobel will provide technical and design support, as well as suitable paints and coatings to recolour and preserve the uniqueness and originality of colours on 26 heritage buildings in Malacca for 10 years until restoration works are completed. The most recent building that we have repainted is of Dutch heritage in Melaka known as Stadhuys. This project allows us to deliver our ambition of Adding colour to people’s lives by inspiring the communities in which we operate, to enjoy the uplifting effect of colours. Sustainability to us means a conscious choice to make decisions today that actively account for the long-term impact of our actions. This means to continually find new ways to reduce and replenish the resources we consume, and increasingly, to put back into the natural systems more than what we take out. This is a manifestation of our belief in providing ‘Tomorrow’s Answers Today’. Contributed by
In 2008, our employees and their families volunteered their time, 37
m a r k a n t d e lta This internationally orientated furniture range is a worldwide success. It is also widely sold outside Malaysia, particularly in Australia, Europe and America. The combination of round and square leg forms ensure a striking and dynamic design. Markant DELTA is flexible, functional and extremely easy to install and maintain. DELTA is based on the technology Markant System Architecture. This high end system features completely interchangeable modular components. This offers unsurpassed possibilities for quickly and simply adapting the work-station to the continuously changing demands and desires within an organization.
M a r ka n t A sia Sd n Bh d L o t 5 2 3 , B a tu 1 3 1 / 2 J a l a n K lan g B a n tin g - 42600 Je n ja ro m Se lan go r
MDBC Board of Directors Update on the MDBC Board of Directors In March, an appreciation luncheon took place for several Directors who retired or resigned from the Board during 2010 and early 2011. During the AGM last May, Dato’ Lim Say Chong, Hans Bodewes and Jacoba Bolderheij had retired (see Magazine 2010-2). During the second half of 2010, Isold Heemstra and Gerry Power resigned, while Harm Bots relocated to the UK. Earlier this year, Azizi Meor Ngah retired from the Malaysian AgriFood Corporation and subsequently also from the MDBC Board.
Sandra van Hellemond, Group Managing Director of quality people asia; Jan-Willem Smulders, Chief Executive Officer of AQ Services; Barbara Voskamp, Attorney at Law of Voskamplawyers. MDBC Chairman, Honorary Boardmember Ambassador Bekkers, current and former Directors posign for a group picture at Delucca Restaurant after the appreciation luncheon. Chairman Dato’ Jaffar Indot presenting tokens of appreciation to (from left) Azizi, Isold and Gerry.
New in the Board are: Datuk Merlyn Kasimir, former CEO of MATRADE; Datuk R. Karunagaran, former Director General of MIDA; Dr. Geok Yong, Vice President Projects Downstream East, Shell Global Solutions; Jan Soer, Deputy Head of Mission, Netherlands Embassy;
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Te l e p h o n e : + 6 0 3 3191 7246 - Fax: +60 3 3191 7245 E - m a i l : a s i a @ma r k a nt of f i c e .co m - We b s ite : h ttp : //w w w.m a rk a n to f f ice.co m
new members 1898|1909
new members - Penang
B ui
Eastern & Oriental Hotel
Lone Pine Hotel
ce rien ex p e ld you r future on our
Fontijne Grotnes
BE-Basic
BE - Basic Consortium
10 Lebuh Farquhar 10200 Penang
97 Batu Ferringhi 11200 Penang
Industrieweg 21 Postbus 149 3130 AC Vlaardingen The Netherlands
p/a TU Delft JulianaLaan 67 2628 BC Delft The Netherlands
Tel: 604 - 222 2000 Fax: 604 - 261 6333 Email: hotel-info@e-o-hotel.com Website: www.e-o-hotel.com
Tel: 604 - 886 8686 Fax: 604 - 886 8600 E mail: info@lonepinehotel.com Website: www.lonepinehotel.com
Tel: +31 (0) 104 348 233 Fax: Email: f.weggen@fontijnefrognes.com Website: www.fontijnegrotnes.com
Tel: +31 (0) 152 789 143 Fax: E mail: supportoffice@be-basic.org Website: www.be-basic.org
Corporate Representatives: Marco Battistotti, General Manager Frank Huch, Executive Assistant Manager
Corporate Representatives: Marco Battistotti, General Manager Mazeta Hassan, Communications & PR Manager
Corporate Representative: Fred Jan Weggen, Managing Director
Corporate Representatives: Prof. Dr. Ir. Luuk van der Wielen, Director Prof. Patricia Osseweijer, Flagship Manager
Business Activity:
Business Activity:
Business Activity:
Business Activity:
Welcome to the Eastern & Oriental Hotel (E&O Hotel). A tranquil haven in the bustling heart of Penang, this Grande Dame of historical, colonial charm offers its guests the finest traditions of luxury and service.
Well-loved since its establishment in 1948 for its idyllic setting amid casuarinas along Penang’s famed Batu Ferringhi beach, the Lone Pine Hotel reopened its doors last November renewed and rejuvenated after a one-anda-half-years’ refurbishment and expansion process.
Fontijne Grotnes is a manufacturing company with its headquarters in the Netherlands. The company has a sales and manufacturing office in Chicago and sales offices in China, Russia, India and Japan (total staff of 140 employees).
The BE - Basic Consortium, coordinated by the Delft University of Technology (TU Delft), is an international public-private partnership between the Dutch government, world class universities, research institutes and advanced industries of various scales in the field of sustainable chemistry and ecology. Our mission is to develop industrial biobased solutions for a sustainable society.
The E&O experience begins as soon as the smiling doorman greets you at the door. Personalised and attentive service is one of the hallmarks of the E&O. This is complemented by our impeccable 24-hour butler service. Each magnificent suite is extravagantly spacious and thoughtfully furnished with modern day amenities and access to the wireless world. The E&O’s modern facilities within its ambience enable guests to pursue their business interests as well as to network, to socialise or simply to relax. Situated right on the seafront, yet mere minutes from the business district, central shopping area, popular night spots and heritage sites, the E&O is unrivalled in its location.
With its reopening, Lone Pine reclaims its spot as Batu Ferringhi’s premier luxury boutique hotel refreshed in design and facilities but still infused with the same colonial spirit and idyllic charm that has made it one of Penang’s legendary hotels. Targeted at meeting the demands of today, the number of rooms has been increased to 90 with a brand new block housing additional deluxe rooms enabling Lone Pine to cater to couples as well as large families. Deluxe and Premier rooms are now equipped with 32 inch flat screen TV’s and DVD players. Free WiFi is available throughout the hotel.
Fontijne Grotnes creates customized processes and build production lines that can be used to manufacture complex processes of high quality for diverse industries. These processes and services are mainly utilized in: * Equipment for the wheel industry * Equipment for the pipe industry * Laboratory Platen Presses for the polymer processing, rubber and composites industry * Nuclear Supercompactors for compacting nuclear waste * Sizing and forming equipment for metal forming applications in the domestic appliance, aerospace and forging industry.
The purpose of the BE - Basic program is to develop knowledge and technology to stimulate bio based ecologically balanced sustainable industrial chemistry. BE-Basic supports the development of clean, robust and competitive biobased chemicals, materials and energy industries, including responsible monitoring and control of healthy soil and water environments, on the basis of advanced genomics technologies and bioprocess engineering.
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board of directors MDBC Board of Directors Dato’ Jaffar Indot (Jepamajosa Sdn Bhd), Chairman Mr. Bas van den Berg (Dutch Lady Milk Industries), Vice Chairman Mr. Remco Koster (Woodwing Asia Pacific Sdn Bhd (MSC)), Treasurer Mr. Marco Winter, MDBC Executive Director Mr. Jack Ang (Markant (M) Sdn Bhd) Dr. Geok H. Yong (Shell Global Solutions) Mr. Jan Soer (Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands) Datuk Merlyn Kasimir (former CEO of Matrade) Datuk R. Karunakaran (former DG of MIDA) Ms. Sandra van Hellemond (quality people asia) Mr. Jan-Willem Smulders (AQ Services International) Ms. Barbara Voskamp (Voskamplawyers)
Honorary Board Member
calender of events Tuesday 5 April 25th Members-for-Members at Parkroyal KL: “CEOs for Members” + Cocktail reception
3.30 pm
Thursday 21 April Interchamber with Swiss and Spanish Chambers Sepang Circuit
6.00 pm
Tuesday 26 April Intellectual Property workshop by Henry Goh & Co Holiday Inn Kuala Lumpur Glenmarie
9.00 am
18 & 19 May ASIAN Challenge by Agency NL Amsterdam and Zaandam, the Netherlands
H.E. Mr. Paul Bekkers, Netherlands Ambassador
MDBC Patrons Y.B. Dato’ Sri Mustapa Mohamed, Minister of International Trade & Industry Y.B.Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz, Member of Parliament
Monday 23 May Netherlands, your Logistics Gateway to Europe seminar at Equatorial Hotel Penang
2.00 pm
Malaysian Dutch Business Council MDBC @ The Gateway The AmpWalk, Lot 2.01, 2nd floor, 218 Jalan Ampang 50450 Kuala Lumpur Tel : 603 - 2163 4933 Fax : 603 - 2163 4934 Email : info@mdbc.com.my Website : www.mdbc.com.my
Thursday 26 May International SuperNetworking evening Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre
7.00 pm
Thursday 9 June MDBC Annual General Meeting over FY 2010 Renaissance Kuala Lumpur Hotel
6.30 pm
MDBC members will receive personal invitations for the above functions by email once all details are confirmed. All events to be reconfirmed.
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