ScandAsia January 2018

JAN 2018 BUSINESS

NordCham Philippines

INTERNATIONAL Danish Prime Minister visited Singapore

COMMUNITY

Suomi Finland 100 Years Independence celebrations

PEOPLE

Nils Nordh, World Amateur Golfers

Nikolai

Coster-Waldau impressed

by Thailand

2 ScandAsia • January 2018

January 2018 • ScandAsia 3

January 2018

ScandAsia Community

PM Lars Løkke Rasmussen

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14

Danish Prime Minister visited Singapore

28 Nikolal Coster-Waldau 46 Danish Christmas in Singapore 47 Nordics in Shanghai: More Surprises Per Square Metre 48 ScandAsia World Cup Football 2018 50 Style & Chic by Agneta de Bekassy

Suomi Finland 100 Years Independence celebrations

ScandAsia Business

28

11 Bankify of Finland

Lands seed investment, aiming at Asia

18 NordCham Philippines Nordics seriously back

Prince Carl Philip in Hong Kong

24 46

Swedish design and education delegation

22 Chamber President Bo Lundqvist

President NordCham Philippines and retail consultant

Human resources:

47

42 IMD World Talent Ranking 43 My current assignment Dato’ Nils Nordh

42

44

World Amateur Golfers’ Chairman and CEO

50

January 2018 • ScandAsia 5

Editorial

Dear Reader,

S

candAsia is a new publication. It has been around since 1993, but this issue that you are reading right now, is a new publication.

We are the only media in Asia focused on Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland. Our readers are Finns, Norwegians, Swedes and Danes and huge mix of Asian people living in China, Hong Kong, Thailand, Laos, Myanmar, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Phillppines, Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia.

Every Monday we serve these people with a free eNewsletter with the news of the week from www.ScandAsia.com selected by the editor.

Every month we send you this eMagazine, that you are reading now, to you email inbox. An exclusive group of discerning readers have taken out a subscription and receive the magazine in its original paper edition. Why not you? But most - around 8.000 readers - receive and read the magazine electronically.

In certain months - February, April, September and November - we print a larger circulation including the special theme of the month and place a stack at your embassy or at your Church or business association or at a Nordic restaurant if we know of it. The printed issues help us get connected to new readers who may have just moved out to Asia and never heard of ScandAsia before. Yes, there are some who never have! Our hope is that they will like us and subscribe to the magazine - in print or as an eMagazine.

Sometimes we boast that we cover more Nordic people in Asia than any other media, and it is actually true. However, we still humbly appeal to you as a reader to please share this publication with friends and colleagues in your network. We need all the help we can get to stay on top and penetrate deeply this target group.

We also ask you humbly to keep us in mind when you are off-line. Give us a tip when you have news from your company, your community or simply want to point our attention to something, you believe we should be covering. Don’t be

ScandAsia is a printed magazine and online media covering the people and businesses of Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland living and working in China, Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar.

Who should subscribe:

ScandAsia subscribers are typically Nordic expats and companies from the Nordic countries living in and active in Asia.

Another group of subscribers are Nordic people living in the Nordic countries who subscribe to ScandAsia for personal or business reasons. We also have many Asian subscribers, who for a wide range of rea-

6 ScandAsia • January 2018

shy. If you are into deep sea fishing, feel free to suggest we write an article about the ten best places in Asia to do deep sea fishing. Chances are, we may just take you up on that and produce that story!

When ScandAsia was founded in 1993, we produced only one edition for all nationalities of Scandinavians and other readers living anywhere in Asia. Since then, we produced for a while four editions for each one of the Nordic nationalities living anywhere in Asia. Lately, we have for a number of years produced four different editions serving all four Nordic nationalities but living only in Thailand, in Singapore, in China or elsewhere in South East Asia.

This January 2018 edition of ScandAsia is the first where we are back full circle. ScandAsia now again serves with one magazine all Scandinavians and all other readers interested in our Nordic brands and life style living in all of Asia - from Bali to Beijing, from Myanmar to Manila and everywhere in between. In that sense, this ScandAsia is the first copy of a new publication. Enjoy!

sons are following the activities of the Nordic expats and companies via a subscription to ScandAsia.

The ScandAsia magazine is produced every month and distributed to all print version subscribers via postal services and to all eMagazine subscribers via email. Subscribing to the eMagazine is FREE - simply sign up on the ScandAsia.com website.

Become a ScandAsia user/ get free digital ScandAsia magazine or paid subscription via

www.scandasia.com!

Kind regards

Gregers Moller Editor in Chief

Publisher : 211 Soi Prasert Manukitch 29 Prasert Manukitch Road Bangkok 10230, Thailand Tel. +66 2 943 7166-8 Fax: +66 2 943 7169 E-mail: news@scandasia.com Editor-in-Chief : Gregers A.W. Møller gregers@scandmedia.com Managing Editor: Joakim Persson Joakim@scandmedia.com

Advertising : Finn Balslev finn@scandmedia.com Frank Leong frank@scandasia.com Graphic Designer : Peerapol Meesuwan Peerapol@scandmedia.com Production Manager: Sopida Yatprom Printing : Siamprint Co., Ltd.

Opinion

Blockchain - Crypto: faster adoption than mobiles, or 1931 all over again!

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by Dusan Stojanovic, Angel investor, True Global Ventures here are many trends within financial technology of interest during 2018. But what we saw during the last quar ter 2017, and regardless of where in the world it was, that the absolutely largest trend was Blockchain. This will continue during the whole year – with the three following components.

Crypto currencies

The man on the street is now reading about Bitcoin, Ethereum and Ripple, the large crypto currencies. Maybe they do not understand, but certainly have heard about. And that will be a large trend in 2018 as well, especially since out of the world’s whole population there are perhaps only 20 – 50 million owning any of these currencies. And I think that will be promoted mainly by the countries where most trading in crypto currencies take place. And the one country to mention in particular is Japan - the centre for foreign exchange historically in the world’s dominating currencies (Pound, Yen, US Dollar, Euro etc.) And what is driving this the most is that about 60 per cent of the world trade in currencies taking place there is on retail basis, e.g. by individuals. With crypto currencies we can see the same tendency; today about 60 per cent of the global trade in crypto currencies is in Japan, and about 80 per cent of that trade is between private individuals.

This also means that individuals in Japan have a strong understanding for how crypto currencies work.

One example is that GMO Internet Group will launch a new payment option in February, to pay out salaries in Bitcoin. That trend maintained by Japan in the whole of 2016-2017 I think you

will see on a global level, where you see more and more people understanding the risks and own crypto currencies. The people who will do this are probably early adopters; mostly men interested in tech, between 20 – 35 years old starting with this and then it spreads quite fast to other age groups.

So, crypto currencies will spread to the public.

It should also be regulated; otherwise it will be a risk against the financial system as a whole if too many place too big share of their savings in this, and it goes down just a little and you could get mass sales and we’d be facing 1931 again...

The 53 largest cr ypto coins, and especially the top ten are driving this trade. But one trend is that it’s absolutely not only Bitcoin , in fact their share of the total market decreases every week. That is also a trend that I also think will be sustained during 2018.

Why would there only be US dollar in the whole planet just as there would only be Bitcoins! There are differences and weaknesses between the difference ones. One example where Bitcoin has a big disadvantage is that it consumes an enormous amount of energy for the mining, which is not sustainable for the planet!

ICOs

More directed at our risk capital sectors is the so called initial coin offering (ICO), e.g. that you also can get start-up funding via an own crypto currency that you issue and offer for investment. We have seen 1360 ICOs so far that, one could say, par tly compete with IPOs but happen at a much earlier stage than on the stock market. This will be very strong trend going forward that will

continue, even while becoming more regulated.

Then you have diverse types of currencies, one where the currency can be used for the actual eco-system of a particular company or as pure investment.

That is regulated, in different ways, by different financial inspections, as ‘Utility Tokens’ (or app coins, representing future access to a company’s product or service) and ‘Security Tokens’.

Blockchain Adoption by Corporates

As for the actual blockchain, the underlying technology, there has been a lot of buzz during 2017. But very few financial institutes, insurance companies and others have implemented it. But that will happen in 2018 as one is now ready to takes the risk to implement in 2018.

If you would like to share your thoughts and insights on this page contact Managing Editor at joakim@scandmedia.com January 2018 • ScandAsia 7

News Brief

The Norway-Asia Business Summit is usually a well visited event. The photo is from the 2016-summit.

Norway-Asia Business Summit 2018 in Singapore

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he Norwegian Business Association Singapore has announced the seventh edition of the NorwayAsia Business Summit to take place in Singapore 16-18 April 2018. The Norway-Asia Business Summit has, since its start in 1998, evolved into a meeting place for Norwegian industr y in the region, with strong support by the Norwegian government and the diplomatic missions across Asia.

The Summit in 2016 in Singapore was a great success, where 330 people attended including high-level speakers and guests. High-level speakers included,

amongst others, the Norwegian Prime Minister Ms Erna Solberg, Minister for Trade and Industry (Trade) in Singapore Mr Lim Hng Kiang, the Director General of NHO Ms Kristin Skogen Lund, the Chief Executive of SPRING Singapore Poon Hong Yuen and the CEO of the Norwegian Shipowners’ Association Mr Sturla Henriksen.

In 2018, the main topics for the Summit will be within shipping, offshore, energy and new technologies. It will focus on how the rapid digitalisation and transformation process will impact the industries and business environment the

Norwegian companies in Singapore are operating in.

Fur ther, the summit will focus on new opportunities for start-ups involving successful entrepreneurs and upand-coming companies in Asia.

Attention will also be given to the ASEAN region, especially on how the political and economic trends will impact the business climate for Norwegian businesses operating locally in Asian countries.

With the Summit, the organiser aim to present opportunities and to strengthen the competitiveness of Norwegian businesses in Asia, as well as for businesses in Norway. Further, to strengthen the position of Norwegian business in Asia, they will seek comprehensive media coverage of the Summit.

Participants will get better prepared to handle the challenges and benefits of the great opportunities within the Asian markets. The summit will be held at the iconic landmark hotel The Fullerton.

Source: NBAS

8 ScandAsia • January 2018

Sweden-Southeast Asia Business Summit 2018 announced

News Brief

Marcus Wallenberg was among the many key speakers at the first SwedenSoutheast Asia Business Summit in 2016.

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eam Sweden in Malaysia has announced the second SwedenSoutheast Asia Business Summit to take place in Kuala Lumpur on 6-7 February 2018. The inaugural, successful summit was held in Singapore in September 2016.

This year’s Sweden-SEA Business Summit aims to attract business leaders and decision makers from Sweden and the ASEAN-region by providing a platform for sharing information on business opportunities in this dynamic part of the world and to network with Swedish, Malaysian and other Asean-based companies.

More than 600 Swedish companies across business sectors ranging from service to manufacturing and retail are present in Southeast Asia, including the full range of Swedish companies from the large multinational companies to small and medium sized enterprises.

The Summit will feature key political and business representatives from Sweden, Malaysia and Southeast Asia. On the Swedish side, Mr Mikael Damberg, Minister for Enterprise and Innovation, and Mr Marcus Wallenberg, Chairman of the Board, SEB, SAAB Group & Foundation Asset Management will honour

the event as senior representatives. On the Malaysian side Y.B. Dato’ Sri Mustapa Mohamed, Minister of International Trade and Industry, Tan Sri Dato’ Azman Mokhtar, Managing Director Khazanah Nasional, and Tan Sri Dr Munir Majid, CoChairman ASEAN Business Advisor y Council and Chairman Bank Muamalat will attend as highly esteemed interlocutors.

During the Summit in Kuala Lumpur 6-7 February 2018, Ambassadors and Trade Commissioners from the Swedish Missions to Cambodia, Indonesia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore,Thailand,Vietnam and Malaysia will be at the disposal of participants for special briefings or, in case of interest, seminars on their respective countries of service.

Announced summit programme as follows: • Session One: Oppor tunities and challenges in a changing world from European and Southeast Asian perspectives • Session Two: Southeast Asia - Sustainable Growth Strategies in a Changing International Economic Environment • Session Three: Create a Sustainability Mindset

The summit will also showcase how Swedish companies have adopted a sustainable mind-set and how this has enabled them to innovate and develop new business models and solutions for future growth. The specific thematic sessions aim at highlighting key initiatives and discussing business oppor tunities deriving from these: • Sustainable city development – future city solutions • Digital manufacturing – Industry 4.0 • Smar t technologies in transpor t development • Connectivity & mobility The 2018 Business Summit will be hosted by Team Sweden in Malaysia, i.e. the Embassy of Sweden, Business Sweden and the Malaysian Swedish Business Association (MASBA). Core members of Team Sweden in this context are the 21 companies sponsoring the Business Summit, out of which six are Main Sponsors, namely ABB, Atlas Copco, Ericsson, SAAB, SCANIA and Volvo Cars, while the following companies are Sponsors, i.e. Anticimex, Arla Food, Bromma, Beckers, Billerud Korsnäs, Handelsbanken, Husqvarna, Höganäs Bjuf, Ikea, Monitor ERP Systems, Quant, Sandvik, SKF, Tetra Pak, AB Volvo.

January 2018 • ScandAsia 9

News Brief

Belt & Road initiative Nordic Beijing event held

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n 30 November, Finnish Business Council Beijing (FBCB) together with other Nordic chambers held an interesting event at the Westin hotel in Beijing on infrastructure project financing in Belt & Road initiative. The speaker Dr. Jiang Hongbin (Director of Capital Project & Infrastructure (CP&I), PwC Beijing) introduced a closer look at the Belt & Road initiative, reports FBCB. The discussion evolved around the investment activities under the initiative as well as the project development schemes. A clear conclusion of the discussion was that there definitely are opportunities for Finnish companies as well, starting from design and engineering. With the B&R initiative a new strategic dimension for Finnish companies is also to help Chinese corporate giants develop and realize the projects under B&R, together with a Chinese company conquer foreign markets.

Source: Finnish Business Council Beijing

Finnish Parliament delegation Beijing event

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n early November, members of Finnish Business Council Beijing (FBCB) had an oppor tunity for a morning breakfast table meeting at the Ambassador’s Residence with the Ambassador Jarno Syrjälä, Speaker of Parliament of Finland Maria Lohela and members of the Parliament delegation that was visiting China.

The discussion topic was the companies’ opportunities and challenges operating in China. Maria Lohela was pleased to hear many success stories of Finnish companies in so many different sectors.

Also, the Delegation was interested in hearing how to overcome specific problems foreign companies might face, for which members shared their views and ideas.

Source: Finnish Business Council Beijing 10 ScandAsia • January 2018

News Brief

Bankify of Finland aims at Philippines and Vietnam

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ankify, a Finnish social finance sharing app, has reached an agreement with Reech Corporations Group to fund an initial commercial rollout in selected markets.

The app, which has been successfully soft-launched in Finland, Ireland and the Netherlands aims to expand to Asian markets such as Philippines and

Vietnam, which are seen as highly receptive to new app based financial propositions.

Bankify was founded in July 2016 by Antti Tarakkamäki and Tero Lappalainen, a pair of serial tech entrepreneurs who believed that a generation which grew up on game consoles and smartphones needed something radically different

from what is in offer from traditional financial services providers – something which will resonate with Millennials’ social lifestyle, ideals, tastes and interests.

Bankify will make finance FUN, so that everyone wants to be a banker in their social group. The ‘Banker’ application links sociality and finance together conveniently. With the ‘Banker’ application, users earn money and have fun while sharing expenses with others. The application is free to use and the “Banker user” benefits from the service and can recommend it fur ther to their social groups.

Rather than becoming a fully-fledged financial operator in its own right, Bankify aims to work with existing financial services providers such as banks, credit card companies and payment networks, taking advantage of new technology and legislative developments such as API (Applications Programming Interface) and Open Banking (for instance PSD2; the EU’s 2nd Payments Services Directive) to provide a highly intuitive and user friendly interface to access a range of financial applications.

How can you make your money work while you enjoy life?

Pontus Cavefors Svensson pontus.cavefors@nordea.sg

www.nordeaprivatebanking.com Nordea Bank S.A, Singapore Branch is part of Nordea Group, the leading financial services group in the Nordic and Baltic Sea regions. Some products and services may, due to local regulations, not be available to individuals resident in certain countries and their availability may depend, among other things, on the investment risk profile of persons in receipt of this publication or on any legislation to which they are subject. Nothing in this publication should be construed as an offer, or the solicitation of an offer, to purchase, subscribe to or sell any investment or product, or to engage in any other transaction or provide any kind of financial or banking service in any jurisdiction where Nordea Bank S.A., Singapore Branch or any of its affiliates do not have the necessary license. Published by Nordea Bank S.A., R.C.S. Luxembourg No. B 14.157 on behalf of Nordea Bank S.A., Singapore Branch, 138 Market street Capita Green #09-03 Singapore 048946. www.nordeaprivatebanking.com subject to the supervision of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (www.mas.gov.sg).

January 2018 • ScandAsia 11

News Brief

Norwegian Kongsberg Indonesian defence supplier

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ongsberg, Norway’s premier supplier of defence and aerospacerelated systems, has signed a contract worth 77 MUSD with the Ministry of Defence of Indonesia to supply a NASAMS air defence system.

The contract comprises delivery of a complete Nasams system with command posts, radars, launchers, radios and integration, and training and logistics support. Amraam missiles will be provided

in a separate government-to-government agreement between Indonesia and the United States.

Nasams defends high value civilian and military assets on the ground against air threats. The inherent flexibility and modularity of this system makes it a world leading solution with unique capabilities to combat modern airborne threats, as well as having the ability to integrate with a variety of different sensors

and weapons. Several nations have chosen Nasams, including Norway, Finland, The Netherlands, USA, Spain, Oman and now Indonesia.

“We are very pleased that Indonesia, as the first nation in its region, chooses NASAMS for its homeland defence. The continuous technical evolution and addition of users confirms that NASAMS is the most modern and advanced air defense system in the world,” says Eirik Lie, President of Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace.

Kongsberg Gruppen is an international technology group that delivers advanced and reliable solutions improving safety, security and performance in complex operations and under extreme conditions. Kongsberg works with demanding customers in the global defence, maritime, oil and gas, fisheries and aerospace sectors.

Scandinavian speakers on CSR at Singapore EU Delegation seminar

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very year the EU Delegation organizes a seminar to highlight the international Human Rights Day that takes place on December 10, under the auspices of the United Nations.

Building on past practice, the European Union Delegation to Singapore is organising an annual seminar to mark and raise awareness of Human Rights Day. In 2017 the seminar ‘Business and Human Rights’ held in Singapore focused on Corporate Social Responsibility and government measures to support Human Rights in Asia and Europe.

On Friday the 8th of December Swedish Ambassador H.E. Håkan Jevrell spoke about Sweden’s ambitious policy on CSR and responsible business in a panel discussion on ’CSR Practices in Asia and Europe: Government Measures to Support Business’.

12 ScandAsia • January 2018

And from Denmark, Mr Mikkel Larsen, Managing Director, Co-Chair of DBS Sustainability Council, DBS Bank attended a panel on ’ Private Sector Perspective: Beyond Philanthropy to Responsible Business Conduct’. Furthermore, Ms Veronica Nilsson, Programme Manager,

Friedrich Ebert Stiftung attended the ’Labour Issues in Business Practices: Asia and Beyond’ panel.

Sources: Embassy of Sweden Singapore, EU Delegation to Singapore

News Brief

Danfoss provider to world’s biggest crane ship constructed in Singapore

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anfoss will be part of the crane vessel Sleipnir which is now being built in Singapore. Once constructed in 2019 the 220 meters long and 102 meters wide crane ship will be the biggest of its kind in the world.

Sleipner is being built with Danfoss drives, set to ensure that the ballast water is pumped to the back of the crane ship as counter ballast when the cranes are in operation. In addition, Danfoss will supply drives to be used for 12 sets of position mooring winches and provide a turnkey solution that includes project management, engineering, documentation, and delivery of custom-built enclosed drives and transformers.

“This is the first step towards gaining more market share in this attractive marine market. The pipeline keeps growing and with this win, we are in a good position to achieve our targets even though the market situation remains challeng-

ing,” says Søren Kvorning, Head of Asia, Pacific and India Region, Danfoss Drives.

Sleipnir will be equipped with two 10,000 MT cranes and will be able to perform multiple ultra-heavy lifts, some of which will be in the excess of 15,000 MT. The vessel will have the ability to install larger modules than currently possible, with existing equipment.

When Sleipner is operational in 2019, it will be heading for its first contracted awards.The first contract is from Noble Energy Mediterranean, Ltd. for transportation and installation services associated with the Leviathan Production Platform in the Mediterranean Sea. The second transport and installation contract has been awarded by Maersk Oil for the new production and living quarters platforms as part of their Tyra Future project.

The partners behind the Tyra-field, Maersk Oil and Danish Underground

Consortium (DUC) has just agreed on a deal worth DKK 21bn rebuilding and expanding Tyra, the largest investment in the Danish sector of the North Sea. Danfoss Drives, Now one of the largest companies in the industry and a world leader in variable speed control of electric motors, has since 1968 been pioneers in the AC drives business.

Philippines-Sweden Airport Collaboration

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n 21-22 November the Embassy of Sweden and Business Sweden arranged the “Philippines-Sweden Airpor t Collaboration” delegation to Manila, headed by State Secretary Oscar Stenström.

This activity is the start of a long-term partnership on airport development between our two countries, in line with the commitments that Swedish Minister for Enterprise and Innovation Mikael Damberg and Department of Transportation - Philippines Secretary Arthur Tugade made when they met last year.

Key stakeholders in this event are Mr. Vivencio Dizon, President and CEO of Bases Conversion Development Au-

thority, Mr. Alexander Cauguiran, Acting CEO and President of Clark International Airport Corporation, Mr. Noel Manankil, President/CEO of Clark Development Corporation, Captain Manuel Tamayo, Undersecretary for Aviation and Airports of DOTr, and Mr. Ed Monreal, General Manager of the Manila International Airport Authority.

Swedish companies in the delegation included Axis Communications, Cavotec Sverige, Roxtec, Inc., Volvo Buses, Saab AB and Xylem.

Source: Embassy of Sweden in Manila

January 2018 • ScandAsia 13

Business

Photo: Embassy of Denmark in Singapore

Danish PM looks to Singapore for inspiration Danish businessmen and Danish representatives of companies in Singapore gathered at the Danish Seamen’s Church to participate in dialogue with the Danish Prime Minister and Danish Minister for Employment, Lars Løkke Rasmussen and Troels Lund Poulsen. The two ministers visited Singapore from 29-30 November to acquire inspiration, concerning the employment challenges Denmark faces due to the fourth industrial revolution and disruption.

By Eva Eriksen 14 ScandAsia • January 2018

I have a great deal of respect for the work Danes do in Singapore and all over the globe. You represent Denmark and represent our values.

O Lars Løkke Rasmussen, Prime Minister of Denmark.

n 30 November 2017, the Danish Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen engaged in dialogue with about 70 members of the the Danish business community in Singapore to get inputs on how Denmark can learn from Singapore when preparing the economy for the future.

The dialogue was hosted by the Danish Business Association and the Danish Embassy together with the Danish Seamen’s Church. After a brief welcome from President of DABS Stine Martinussen, the Prime Minister opened the dialogue by underlining that the Danish model of society must adapt to the fourth industrial revolution to stay competitive in the future.

Løkke Rasmussen views Singapore as a leading nation when it comes to preparing for the future job market, and so he wants to hear from the Danish business society how Denmark can get inspiration from Singapore experiences to move in right direction.

Additionally, he expressed how it is important for nations to stay open to the outside world in a time where countries tend to close in on themselves: “We have achieved our wealth by being open to the world,” Løkke said. However, this is not all that simple: “We need to find the right balance between being open and at the same time not taking everyone in. Denmark is and shall continue to stay open for new talents. At the same time, we need to support people in need. Taking in a lot is naturally problematic but we cannot be selective and chose who we want and who we do not want – our basic laws and human rights do not allow us to be selective. Instead we have to look at joint solutions and future improvements” It is important to be out in the world, the PM expressed, addressing that it is always a pleasure to meet Danes wherever he visits.

“I have a great deal of respect for the work Danes do in Singapore and all over the globe.You represent Denmark and represent our values.”

January 2018 • ScandAsia 15

Danish Prime MInister Lars Løkke Rasmussen listening to (on opposite page) Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

Photo: Embassy of Denmark in Singapore

We need to find the right balance between being open and at the same time not taking everyone in. Denmark is and shall continue to stay open for new talents. At the same time, we need to support people in need.

16 ScandAsia • January 2018

Open Mic Dialogue

The dialogue was about how Denmark can learn from Singapore when futureproofing the economy, and the attended business community was eager to share their views with the Prime Minister and the Minister for Employment.

Danish professor at NTU, Jørgen Schlundt, who teaches food safety, explained how the production of many foods in Asia should be better, mentioning fewer resistant bacteria and sustainability. He views Denmark as the absolute top in this matter and thinks it is a shame Denmark does not do more to promote this. He would like to see a cooperation happening between Denmark and Singapore: “Shouldn’t Denmark try to take the lead for once?” he asked the PM. Lars Løkke Rasmussen said that we should always look to improve but a lot is being done from Denmark’s side – also in collaboration with the UN. He stated that collaboration is key and that both academia, businesses and governments around the world need to work together to secure sustainability.

Inspiration to what further can be done is always welcome, he said.

Afterwards, Søren Kvorning, the director of Danfoss in Singapore expressed that there is a lack of incitement for companies to work together in Denmark when developing complete green solutions. He explained that in Singapore, a competition had taken place where new solutions were to be developed to increase the energy efficiency in buildings by 20 percent. Danfoss participated, focusing on ventilation. The director explained that projects like this could initiate energy renovation in Copenhagen.

Løkke asked what the companies’ motivation were to participate in this kind of competition and the director explained that it gives the companies the possibility to scale if they succeed.

A more direct approach was again addressed when the country manager at Novo Nordisk in Singapore, Trine Winther Lavrsen, stated how the Singaporean government now officially has declared war on diabetes, which is an increasing problem here. She asked if that is something Denmark should consider doing as well.

The Prime Minister explained how it is different here in Asia where most diabetics are female compared Denmark where more males have diabetes. Furthermore, he expressed that he was not too sure a designated “war on diabetes” is the right move, explaining how in Jakarta it is impossible to walk from one building to the other because the infrastructure does not benefit pedestrians. He therefore thinks lifestyle is a matter that needs to be addressed more directly.

Other topics like multiculturalism and school systems were addressed during the dialogue. It was mentioned how ownership of an apartment or property might reduce the sizes and amounts of ghettoes because the sense of ownership would give people a stronger feeling of belonging. Moreover, it would minimize vandalism. A topic that concerns the Prime Minister a great deal, stating the importance to solve ghetto issues and improve integration, so “Denmark does not would break into two”.

Photo: Embassy of Denmark in Singapore

Photo Credit: Tatyana Kildisheva January 2018 • ScandAsia 17

Business

The Nordics seriously back in business in the Philippines

Denmark and Sweden have re-opened their respective embassies, while the former business council has upgraded into the Nordic Chamber of Commerce Philippines (NordCham) which offers all essential consultancy and assistance in the country - all based on significant growth in the presence of Nordic businesses.

Now the platform is there for increased trade relations and investment between the Philippines and the Nordic countries.

ScandAsia paints the picture with NordCham.

By Joakim Persson

18 ScandAsia • January 2018

Bo Lundqvist, President, NordCham.

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I am happy to see that some businesses take a deeper perspective in doing business in the Philippines. And once they get here, and quite a lot of them come, they are usually positively surprised of what they see and realise that things are different than how they are portrayed in the evening newspaper back home.

or the Nordic countries it is all good news from this island nation: two new embassies, a Nordic chamber that keeps on growing, and more Nordic companies entering the country. While, according to NordCham’s President Bo Lundqvist, Philippines has an image problem, he thinks that there are plenty of good news beyond the headlines.

“In NordCham we get a lot of questions around these headlines etc., but it doesn’t seem that Philippines is off the charts. We still get a lot queries and interest and still do a lot of consulting work - all focusing on companies eventually investing here. So I think there is still serious and strong Nordic interest in doing business with Philippines in one way or the other; be it export to, manufacturing, or outsourcing service from the Philippines.”

“I am happy to see that some businesses take a deeper perspective in doing business in the Philippines. And once they get here, and quite a lot of them come, they are usually positively surprised of what they see and realise that things are different than in the evening newspaper back home.”

But Bo Lundqvist also says the continued negative news is a concern: “While we have an extensive line of consulting assignments that NordCham is doing specifically in identifying business opportunities, I still think there is a bit of wait-andsee when it comes to actually taking the steps to come here.

And that is a little dangerous, as it may turn into a decision to go elsewhere.”

“There is a lot of positive development in the Philippines; far more positive than negative in my opinion. But we have a bit of an issue with creating positive news that hits the headlines abroad and creates a positive image.”

For the chamber itself, the very positive development can be told in numbers: from 18 founding members to 120 after five years. The organisation changed its name in September 2016 to NordCham Philippines, as a reflection of this growth.

“We are no longer a new young kid on the block but an establish player in the chamber of commerce scene here,” states the Executive Director Joona Selin. “After reaching 100 members we said that we had built a foundation that warranted us to call ourselves a chamber. We had been very modest in the beginning to get things organised and therefore took the name of a Business Council at first.”

The strong increase in members and more full time staff (currently five and hiring) were key indicators to raise the profile and re-brand.

In launching NordCham they also introduced an advisory board, which includes the four Nordic ambassadors and the honorary consul generals, in addition to Nordic-related private sector representatives.

“This is a reflection of how we position ourselves in-between the private and the public sector, between the Nordics and the Philippines. And all our levels of key stakeholders; employees, operational team, board of directors and advisory board reflect the fact that we operate in the Philippines as January 2018 • ScandAsia 19

NordCham Philippines Awards Night a mediator between the key stakeholders in the NordicPhilippine business community,” adds Joona.

“The members mostly consist in subsidiaries of Nordic multinational companies, but we also have other multinationals and also Philippine corporations. What is noteworthy is that for a number of subsidiaries there are local country heads.”

NordCham also stands out in the way it is operated, regarding both its commercial structure and with wide outreach.

“Yes, we are very serious about this,” confirms Bo Lundqvist. “The chamber is run as a business; we’re not a club. We divide our business into two segments, one being member services and the other consulting services so. Membership services could be business member services, seminars with the government and private sector, partnerships we enter into etc. We also have a cultural angle, where we pull together the Nordic community more from a family and cultural perspective.”

Some “staple events” are the annual Ambassador’s Luncheon and the NordCham Awards night.

“With the awards we recognise member companies excelling in areas that we feel strongly about: Corporate Social Responsibility, growth, being an outstanding employer, and the importance of Small and Medium-sized enterprises. At the same time we promote the fact that these companies are present here but also what the Nordic values are,” explains Joona.

“The mix of corporate events and more social events also act as the avenue of bringing the Nordic-Philippines business community together. In addition to that we have monthly 20 ScandAsia • January 2018

events where we give updates for instance on latest legislation; most recently on topics such as the new data privacy law, and tax reform.”

Reflecting its positioning NordCham cooperates with and supports the Nordic diplomatic missions. Joona says that it is the business sector that has been driving the presence, which then led to also the governments strengthening their presence.

“Major companies and also new investment both from Denmark and Sweden have poured in.The immediate impact for both these countries having re-opened embassies is that the Philippines shows on the radar screen back home. So, we see an increased number of company delegations coming in, led by the missions. There’s increased traffic and as a result of more companies doing business.”

“Locally, there is of course tremendous interest in the business community and the media that the embassies have returned.”

Sweden has recently also strengthened with a Country Manager for Business Sweden: “Now they have presence on the ground to bring in more, in this case, traffic from Sweden in terms of companies looking into and coming to the market.”

“And we have a set of very engaged and good ambassadors, all of them doing a great job in terms of selling and marketing our countries. NordCham is also very engaged in that process to sort of position the Nordic countries for the qualities we stand for,” says its President.

Overall, the chamber has noticed an increased level of interest from the Nordics. “Mainly companies are looking at the Philippines from the local market perspective - to sell

Locally, there is of course tremendous interest in the business community but also in the media that the embassies have returned.

They have been in the limelight here locally.

their products. Second, is to set up service centres, be it in IT, software development, or other services such as finance/ accounting or HR. Third, I would add manufacturing; Nordic companies have set up factories to cater to the domestic market as well as to export to markets in Asia and globally,” says Joona.

“Jotun (the Norwegian paint company) inaugurated their factory to cater to the Philippine market. That represents FDI and also tapping into the local market here; so it’s a great example. And looking broadly concerning trends in the past few years, for instance H&M have been more aggressive with their growth in the Philippine market than initially planned.”

When it comes to the specifics of the business services NordCham offers a range of those: from market entry, business development, local representation to government relations services.

Partner and distributor search is done in-house: “We have a wide network locally, across a number of industries and different companies. We have proven, that we can pretty much identify the key clientele, e.g. who is the target customers and decision makers, and set up meetings with them. We typically provide this for companies who are either in their very early stage of market presence or have no market presence in the Philippines yet but are convinced that a market exists,” explains Joona.

Nordic companies looking for a distributor have a profile of what that one should be like. NordCham then try to match that and come up with a short-list. If being part of the assignment, NordCham will then interview these companies to verify if they are suitable local partners - after which these

will be assessed with the clients.

“Local Representation is for companies who have closed a deal, where we act on their behalf to ensure that paperwork gets done and act as facilitator between client and supplier.”

NordCham has also built–and keeps on building–a network of so called multipliers, which are fellow chambers of commerce, business organisations, private consultancies and government organisations.

“This works both ways; sometimes we have an inquiry about a market we cannot cover, so we can give that to our partner organisations or collaborators - that is the sort of win-win we are looking at. And in the Nordic countries we have similar private consultants who would then provide us the inquiries and leads about Philippines market.”

“When there is interest from a business we will work in tandem to make sure that this client also gets to understand the Philippine opportunity or gets to do what they have planned.”

Nordcham also makes an annual road show to the Nordics together with the country’s Department of Industry, and in partnership with the business world organisations of the Nordic countries.

The next step, discloses Bo Lundqvist, is to establish a local foothold there, “at least one person that will represent us on the ground in the countries so we can be a bit more efficient in working with local businesses that have interest in dealing with the Philippines. So part of our core interests and missions are to really enable businesses from the Philippines to deal with the Nordics and vice versa; that’s very important to us.”

January 2018 • ScandAsia 21

Business

Bo Lundqvist: NordCham President and Retail IT solutions specialist

By Joakim Persson

T

he NordCham Philippines President himself possesses in-depth knowledge of setting up, running and growing a business out of the Philippines. Bo Lundqvist started Retail Associates 12 years ago, after a long background in doing implementations of ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) systems.

“I felt at a point that it was time to start my own business - which I did. We deal specifically with offering solutions for retailers, typically larger businesses with 20-100 stores or more; supermarkets and specialty retailers; e.g. fine dining restaurants, coffee bars, mini marts etc. We are specialized in any business that has stores and POS [Point of Sale], and nowadays that also require web store/omni-channel,” Bo explains the focus of his business.

Based on the Microsoft Dynamics business application framework, Retail Associates offer a solution called LS Retail NAV. “LS Retail NAV allows us to deliver an ERP solution that also incorporates processes at stores and on POS. LS Retail runs some of the largest companies in the world, like IKEA.” “We help retailers identify their business processes and to improve and streamline those. We help them implement a system that automates all processes, be it accounting, supply chain, warehousing, sometimes manufacturing, store processes etc.; all in a single solution.”

The typical customer is semi-automated, with comprehensive logistics that needs to be managed with multiple stores “Retailers grow organically so they typically have multiple tools, one of them being Excel that they try to integrate. When they have grown to a certain size, and it all becomes too complicated, they look for people or solutions like us that can help them putting it all together.”

“Our specialization is quite unique; so we get invited to provide consulting services to larger projects also in the region.”

While the Philippines is the main market for Bo’s company it also gets involved regionally. Recently, it deploys retail solutions in Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar.Through its partnership with Danish firm PIPOL, Retail Associates also help global business deploy the solution in the Philippines.

Unsurprisingly for a Swedish-managed business it does not

22 ScandAsia • January 2018

One of the changes the Philippine government is planning will lower the monetary threshold for retail and that will make it more attractive for foreigners to come in here and compete on equal terms with local retailing.”

compete on price but are successful based on other values.

“We try to operate by European standards, in terms of how we deliver, focusing solely on quality and detail, and from that perspective there is not much local competition.”

Retail Associates doubled their business in 2017, which points to strong growth within the retail sector.

“Philippines has had a booming economy for quite some time now and it still continues to grow. Retail is especially successful and expanding. We have strong population growth and in particular a growing middle class which fuels the retail sector.

Our customers are setting up new stores as fast as they can, launching new formats and entering new territories. And we also see new retailers, foreign brands, entering.”

Most of the larger retailers operate as chains, usually with multiple brands and based in the many shopping malls that are typical for the Philippines. The trend now is for these chains to push presence from the larger cities to the provincial cities, says Bo. Looking at changes and improvement in the country, there has been a significant breakthrough for foreign investors. “A great Scandinavian example is Swedish H&M, which was the first 100% foreign owned retailer entering the country.That has not been possible previously, but is now due to liberalization in the legislation”.

“We are hoping there will be further easing in terms of foreign ownership,” he adds.

“One of the changes the Philippine government is planning will lower the monetary threshold for retail and that will make it more attractive for foreigners to come in here and compete on equal terms with local retailing.”

The foreign paid up capital limit will be lowered from the current $2.5 million to $200,000.

Many more changes in the legislation would enable further growth, according to Bo. “Some of the laws here are counterproductive, regarding foreign ownership and around taxation and imports etc. There are lots of improvements that need to be done to create a truly level playing field.”

“The just launched tax reform is another measure that businesses believe will spur growth, and maybe make it more

attractive to do business.”

Tourism has a huge growth potential in the Philippines, but would require lots of infrastructure investment in transportation and lodging to cope with higher visitor numbers, believes the NordCham President.

And in those investments also lies business opportunities for foreign companies, with lots of funding expected to come from either foreign investment or foreign direct investment.

“The Build! Build! Build! Program of the current Administration is supposed to become the catalyst for growth in this sector, both for foreign and local business. This is something of big interest from players in Europe which see that European technology, knowhow and products could form a big part of these projects.”

When this will really take off is however yet to be seen.

Though, the urgency must be there loud and clear for the Philippine government: “We are a lot behind our Asian neighbours so there’s a lot of work to be done in a very short timeframe,” comments Bo. One sector where the country really thrives is within the business process outsourcing (BPO) employing 1.3 million locals.

Filipinos easily understand and learn new technologies in addition to their competitive English skills.

“In my experience, they tend to be very positive towards learning and improving. Filipinos top the service sectors in most places in the world, because of exactly that. And this is of course why the IT-BPO is our poster boy,” says the Swede.

“Provided the government continue to support that type of business I don’t see why it could not double within a few years’ time, because there seems to be an endless number of possibilities in terms of outsourcing processes and tasks.”

The population is young and the education is good, thinks Bo. “There are lots of well- educated, well-spoken Filipinos that are churned out from the universities every year. Hence you have quite a lot of Nordic businesses that even deal with the universities directly to grab the top talent when they graduate.

If you look at finding talent, then this is a good place!”

January 2018 • ScandAsia 23

Business

Swedish design and education:

Prince Carl Philip in Hong Kong

O

Photo: Mattias Edwall, Kungahuset.se

24 ScandAsia • January 2018

n the 5-7 December, HRH Prince Carl Philip of Sweden visited Hong Kong together with two business delegations. The purpose of the visit was to promote Swedish business and raise Swedish interests in design and education. Sweden has a well-developed cooperation with Hong Kong when it comes to design and creativity, and the aim of HRH Prince Carl Philip’s visit was to further deepen these relationships.

Business Sweden hosted two business delegations during the visit; one of these consisted of representatives of Swedish companies participating in the Hong Kong Business of Design Week (BODW). The second delegation consisted of representatives from Swedish companies who are members of the Swedish Edtech Industry (EdTech).

Carl Philips’s visit began with a tour of Hong Kong together with Consul General Helena Storm, who presented the city and its history as well as Sweden’s interests and relations with Hong Kong.

After that, the Prince participated in a reception at the Swedish residence. Among the guests at the reception were representatives from the delegations.

The first day in Hong Kong ended with a dinner under the auspices of Chief Secretary Matthew Cheung. The focus for the dinner was education and among the participants were other Hong Kong government officials, the EdTech delegation and representatives from a number of Hong Kong university universities.

The Prince’s second day in Hong Kong began with a meeting with Swedish companies and Financial Secretary Paul Chan of the Hong Kong government. The meeting also included many Swedish and international companies operating in Hong Kong.

Then a visit to West Island School followed, a school run by the English Schools Foundation (ESF) offering international education in Hong Kong. The ESF consists of 22 schools with a total of 17,500 students from more than 60 different countries. During the visit, the Prince and the delegation were given access to their work on technology and digitization.

Edward Yau, Secretary of Commerce and Economic Development, hosted a lunch where the Prince participated together with Victor Lo, founder of the Hong Kong Business of Design Week (BoDW), representatives of the Hong Kong Design Center and representatives of Team Sweden in Hong Kong and Swedish Form (Svensk Form).

BODW seminar

HRH Prince Carl Philip attended the seminar ‘Cultivating a Future Mindset – Creative Leadership’, focusing on the characteristics, attributes and values of Future Mindset & Creative Leadership.

The Prince initiated the seminar and said: “Stockholm is second to Silicon Valley in terms of number of start-ups per capita in the world. This sector creates jobs and export revenues and there is a growing awareness that it is a factor to count on by its own power. It is people who create innovation - regardless of industry. It begins with people, their knowledge, curiosity and courage to test the new and unknown.

I have understood that Carrie Lam, Chief Executive, has identified the development of the creative industries as strategically important to Hong Kong. This point of contact between Hong Kong and Sweden is something I hope we will build on. Cooperation in creativity could create amazing future opportunities. “ After that a panel debate followed, including, among others, Maria Lantz, Rector at Konstfack, creativity expert Tobias Degsell and Rasmus Rahm, CEO of the Stockholm School of Entrepreneurship.

Closing the day the Prince attended as a guest of honour to a Gala Dinner organized by the Consulate General of Sweden and the Swedish Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong. . Among the guests were also Princess Birgitta, as protector of the Hong Kong Chamber of Commerce in Sweden, representatives of the business community in Hong Kong, Swedish companies and Swedcham members. The creative

menu with strong Swedish influences had been designed by Swedish Michelin star chef Björn Frantzén.

The last day in Hong Kong began with a meeting with Hong Kong’s governor, Carrie Lam, who has a clear focus on making the city an international hub for cultural and creative industries.

The Prince and the delegation then went to Hong Kong Science and Technology Park, where around 600 companies operates.The delegation visited the Karolinska Institute’s Ming Wai Lau Center for Reparative Medicine and the Gold Peak Design Center.

Carl Philip also visited Vocational Training Council (VTC), the largest government institute in Hong Kong offering vocational training and internship inter alia in the hotel and hospitality industry. During the visit to VTC, lunch was prepared on the theme ‘from farm to table’.

Inauguration of the Swedish Pavilion at DesignInspire BODW

A highlight was no doubt when Prince Carl Philip attended the inauguration of the Swedish pavilion at BODW. In the pavilion various Swedish companies were presented as well as the exhibition Ung Swedish Form; Evelina Kollberg, designer of Human Resources, and Karin Bodin who made The New Man and the Sea were in place and told about their works.

The Business of Design Week, organized by the Hong Kong Design Center, is an international conference with over 100,000 visitors and around 180 exhibitors from around the world. Sweden has on two occasions had the role as partner country under BoDW.

January 2018 • ScandAsia 25

The Prince also attended the opening of the touring photo exhibition ‘Swedish Dads’. Consul General Helena Storm and Chairman of MTR Corporation Prof Frederick Ma inaugurated the exhibition at a well-known department store in Hong Kong - Elements.The photo exhibition is based on photographer Johan Bävman’s photographs of dads who are at home with their children.The starting point for the exhibition in Hong Kong is the fatherhood and our pursuit and identity in this regardless of class and nationality.

The photographer Johan Bävman portrayed 45 parental leave for two years, with quotes concerning their experience of becoming a parent.The project has been shown worldwide and laid the foundation for an important discussion and debate on gender equality.

The Hong Kong visit ended with a ‘Creative Talks’ (a new Swedish Hong Kong initiative) seminar held at METTA, a meeting point and platform where entrepreneurs from around the world can network. The seminar was about design and creativity, conducted in collaboration between the Consulate General, Business Sweden and the Chamber of Commerce’s Creative Swedes committee.

The main speaker was Jaan Orvet, design strategist at Boris Design Studio, who spoke on the topic ‘You and me? - Let’s design unexpected collaborations’.Then followed a panel discussion about ‘Fostering creativity in the future’. Moderator was Marie Claire Maxwell, Head of Technology and Startup Lead Asia Pacific, Business Sweden.

Photo: Terence Shum 26 ScandAsia • January 2018

Source: Kungahuset.se Photos: Kungahuset.se

Mattias Landgren, Swe Ministry of Enterprise, visited Singapore

M

attias Landgren, State Secretary for Infrastructure Affairs at the Ministry of Enterprise, visited Singapore on 4-6 December.

The purpose of the visit was to promote Swedish interests in connection

with the extensive infrastructure initiatives currently being implemented by Singapore or under planning, such as Tuas Mega Port, a fifth terminal at Changi Airpor t and the development of the subway system.

Business

The Secretar y of State met with counterparts at a number of relevant ministries and authorities, including Ng Chee Meng,Transport Minister and MPA Port Authority, Port Operator PSA, Land Transport Authority (LTA), Urban Redevelopment Agency (URA), GovTech, Center for Living Cities, and Center for Maritime Studies at the National University of Singapore (NUS).

Mattias Landgren also spent an afternoon at NTU (Nanyang Techncial University), where he, among other things, tried a driverless bus on the CETRAN test track and visited a test bed for marine energy solutions at the Maritime Institute.The Secretary of State also met Swedish companies in Singapore with business activities in the field of infrastructure and transport.

Source: Embassy of Sweden in Singapore

New Grundfos Ho Chi Minh City office

D

anish company Grundfos has opened a new head office in Ho Chi Minh City demonstrating their growing cooperation with Vietnam on sustainable development.

Visiting Vietnam in late September 2017, Mr. Thomas Egebo, Danish Vice Minister of Energy, Utilities and Climate applauded Grundfos for supporting Vietnam with solutions to a more sustainable economic development.

Source: Embassy of Denmark in Vietnam

January 2018 • ScandAsia 27

Community

Danish actor Nikolaj CosterWaldau visited NIST International School in Bangkok by the end of last year in his role as recently appointed UNDP Goodwill Ambassador. He is currently most famous for his role as Ser Jaime Lannister in ‘Game of Thrones’. But soon you will be able to see him in the leading role in his latest film – Shot Caller – where the Rudkøbing native trades fantasy lands for a ganginfested US prison.

By Frank Grice

28 ScandAsia • January 2018

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau with a team of mothers before he took to the field as a referee for the Global Goals World Cup regional leg played at NIST International School.

Nikolai Coster-Waldau impressed by Thailand

N

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau in Shot Caller.

ikolaj Coster-Waldau already had amassed a fair amount of fame – especially in his native Scandinavia – when he was gifted the chance to portray Ser Jaime Lannister in fantasy phenomenon Game of Thrones. Even so, the handsome Dane was as in the dark as the rest of us as to how much of an impact starring in the record-breaking epic series would have on his career.

Now gearing up for its much-anticipated – and final – eighth season, Game of Thrones has elevated Coster-Waldau to a position of worldwide recognition. The fact that he is also the fifth highest-paid star in American TV, with a reported $1.1million dollar pay cheque per episode, is a rather appealing incentive to get out of bed every morning.

“I’m very grateful for Game of Thrones coming to me after two decades had passed in my career,” the 47-year-old acknowledges. “I know that a lot of the other work I’ve been doing is because of the stature that has come with working on Thrones, so I’m never going to complain about having such a great role on a massive series like that. My overwhelming feeling is gratitude, not ‘I’m incredibly important.’ None of this has to do with me; none of the success of Thrones is down to my hand – my one hand! It’s the show; it’s the creators – I’m a small part.

“That’s the danger as an actor, believing your own self-importance,” he warns. “There’s an old Danish proverb, ‘Don’t fly higher than your ears will carry you,’ which basically says: ‘don’t believe you’re ever better than the next guy’ – because you’re not.”

January 2018 • ScandAsia 29

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau participating in a student panel on stage at NIST International School Bangkok.

Next film: Shot Caller

What we see though is that there’s a price to pay for allowing yourself to become violent, for allowing those violent instincts inside us to take over.

30 ScandAsia • January 2018

Even with such a welcoming sense of perspective that keeps his ego in check, Coster-Waldau has become the latest Thrones alumni to make the jump from cinematic co-star to bona fide leading man. His first big-budget foray Gods of Egypt disappointed at the box office and in critical circles alike, but his latest project – Shot Caller – sees the Rudkøbing native trade fantasy lands for the far grittier confines of a gang-infested US prison.

And even though Coster-Waldau has set the bar high in terms of playing tough characters with the one-handed Kingslayer Ser Jaime, Shot Caller gives the star a chance to go even further as a mild-mannered family man who winds up joining a white supremacist gang on the inside.

“The choice my character faces is to either join the gang, and become part of that violent culture, or become a victim,” Coster-Waldau says. “He’s not a bad guy, but he’s been put into a prison with violent offenders and he decides that he would rather not be a victim. So that means shaking hands with the devil and becoming a violent criminal himself while he’s incarcerated.You ask yourself what would you do in that situation and I can tell you that I’m not completely sure I wouldn’t follow the same path that he took.

“What we see though is that there’s a price to pay for allowing yourself to become violent, for allowing those violent instincts inside us to take over.”

The Pandora Team at NIST.

The American prison system

For Coster-Waldau, Shot Caller not only offered an opportunity to demonstrate his range, but also a chance to inhabit a life so far removed from his own.

“It’s a very tough world he gets thrown into, but I found myself being able to identify with his predicament,” he nods.

“You try to think of how you would manage in that climate of constant fear and the threat of violence. I would like to believe that I would be able to survive and maybe take a different direction and make different choices, but who knows how you’d behave under conditions of extreme danger and fear?

“I’ve never been in prison and I can’t know what it’s really like to spend years inside such a place, but I spoke to several ex-cons and tried to understand as much as I could about that kind of experience.Then you have to simply use your imagination and try to think of situations in your own life where you may have felt that level of fear and then try to bring that to the character.”

As early images of the project unquestionably demonstrate, getting into the role of a prison inmate wasn’t just a mental transformation. Though Thrones has helped CosterWaldau maintain a toned physique, Shot Caller demanded more from the 6’ 2” star – and he subsequently rose to the occasion in impressive style.

“I gained 20lb for the film and now I can tell everyone that I’m The Rock’s body double!” he laughs. “You eat a lot. It’s

The videos above are clickable in the ScandAsia emagazine and on http://issuu.com/scandasia January 2018 • ScandAsia 31

Acting is my passion and I do it because it’s something I’ve always been drawn to doing. My wife and my children understand that and we still have a very strong and close life.

mainly a diet of meat and more meat, lifting weights, and doing a lot of very tough exercises.”

He goes on to describe a particularly tough exercise he learned after meeting some ex-cons: “It’s called a prison burpee where you do a burpee, then a push-up while bringing your knee to your chest, then your other knee on the next push-up, and then you jump up before going back down and repeating the same thing. I’ve never done a tougher exercise than that. It’s brutal!”

As demanding as Shot Caller was on Coster-Waldau’s body, it would be understandable if the dark reality behind the project caught up with him psychologically too. Easy though it might be for the Thrones star to go about his day without the fear of running into one particular bloodthirsty dragon, the confined conditions and grounded, gritty violence of Shot Caller may well have left a lasting impression.

But the ice-cool actor is not the type to take his work home with him to his young family – “This is my profession and I come and do my job and I don’t need to go on living or thinking like my character – I would be ill if I did”, he says.

Indeed, the separation of work from real life is absolute: “I’ve never used my work as a form of therapy. I’m the complete opposite of method actors who believe they need to stay inside their characters to give the best performance. I switch off pretty easily, although while I’m shooting a film I’ll still be thinking about the story and preparing for the next day on the set. But I’m thinking as an actor, not as the character, which is much easier!”

Working on the film also led Coster-Waldau to appreciate the sheer scale of the prison ‘industry’ in the States. “As an actor, I’m interested in what it means to be human,” he says. “In this film you see how in the American prison system, criminals are treated like animals; when they come out, 70% of them 32 ScandAsia • January 2018

will re-offend and commit even worse crimes.

“America is the richest and most powerful country in the Western world, and yet it imprisons more people per capita than any other Western country. The system needs to be totally reformed.You can’t just lock people up like that, throw away the key, and not care what happens to them under such extremely violent conditions.”

Famous with a family

Several Game of Thrones stars have at one time or another expressed their apprehension at the legions of avid fans who follow their every move since their record-breaking feats became known the world over. For Coster-Waldau, however, the price of fame is slight.

“Of course, it’s difficult sometimes to be away from my family, but they understand the nature of my job and accept it,” he explains. “I don’t consider it a sacrifice. Acting is my passion and I do it because it’s something I’ve always been drawn to doing. My wife and my children understand that and we still have a very strong and close life.”

Then there’s the ace up his sleeve – a chance to escape the supposed glitz and glamour of Los Angeles for the far more restrained and effortlessly chilled-out surroundings of Copenhagen.

“It’s not a problem in Denmark,” he smiles. “Danes aren’t interested in movie stars the way people are in New York or London. In Spain, people are crazy about the series and always wanting to take selfies!”

He pauses to ponder for a moment, then declares: “Celebrity is a weird thing. I don’t really allow myself to feel like I’m part of that world, even though it’s very flattering. It’s always good to know that people appreciate your work, but you shouldn’t let it inflate your sense of who you are.”

N

ikolaj Coster-Waldau was visiting Thailand for the first time when he took to the field as a referee for the Global Goals World Cup regional leg held on Saturday, 30 September at NIST International School.The Global Goals World Cup is an open women’s activist soccer tournament aimed to using sport to draw greater attention to the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. In the following days, he worked as a UNDP Goodwill Ambassador pushing for the development goals of the organisation.

Later on, he participated in a live stage talk show - moderated by Nandini Popli Pavaphiphat - where he talked with NIST students about their work in achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Clearly impressed, Coster-Waldau said he had to go home and tell his daughters about this cool school.

During his visit, he planted mangrove trees in Samut Sakhon and went bird watching in the bird sanctuary But there was also time for some sightseeing in Bangkok where he enjoyed a local Pad Thai.

January 2018 • ScandAsia 33

Community

Suomi Finland 100 Years Independence Day Celebrations The centennial anniversary of Finland 100 Years culminated in December with the celebration of Finland’s Independence Day. ScandAsia reports from various cities in Asia.

Bangkok

I

n Bangkok the Embassy of Finland hosted a grand evening reception at The Athenee Hotel – A Luxury Collection Hotel on 6 December 2017. Celebrated in Finnish style, meant a mingling event, with free flow of drinks and Finnish-oriented canapés mixed with some Thai finger food.

Among the hundreds of guests were many prominent Thai as well as Western guests, including representatives of various embassies in Bangkok and a variety of Friends of Finland.

In her address Finland’s Ambassador to Thailand, H.E. Satu Suikkari-Kleven thanked all guests for honouring Finland with their presence and share an intriguing story concerning the Finland-Thailand official relationship.

“I would like to start with a little story about a Finnish man who embarked on a long journey from Helsinki towards East Asia in October 1919. The journey took him through London, Marseilles and the Suez Canal. This man was one of the first Finnish diplomats, on his way to become Finland’s representative in Tokyo. To his ship, Mr. Ramstedt received a telegram from the first Finnish Foreign Minister, saying: ‘Please be informed that Siam has recognized the independence of Finland, please pay a visit to Bangkok. Full stop.’ Mr. Ramstedt followed the order and arrived in Bangkok on a hot and humid day. His Royal Highness Prince Devavongse and the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Siam granted him an audience 34 ScandAsia • January 2018

the very same day at 2 am. As Siam was the first country in this region that had recognized Finland’s independence, the new nation wanted to express its high esteem in person to the leaders of Siam. Still today, we remember with gratitude this recognition of our independence. Thank you Thailand.”

The Ambassador then went on to explain what lead to Finland’s Declaration of Independence on 6 December 1917.

After more than 650 years as part of the Kingdom of Sweden Finland, in 1809, became an autonomous Grand Duchy within the Russian Empire – still with a high level of autonomy, which, at times, as heavily restricted, Satu Suikkari-Kleven described it.

“The goal of the nation became increasingly clear: full independence, full freedom as a sovereign state. In the aftermath of the Russian revolution in 1917, that vision became reality.”

“Two decades later, Finland had to defend its sovereignty and freedom during the Second World War. When we celebrate our independence, we pay tribute to all those who sacrificed their lives for our freedom.”

The Ambassador then went on to highlight some Finnish achievements to feel proud of; the system of general education being one of them, and a strong history of gender equality another. Another is how Finland has, from the early days, invested heavily in research and innovation.

Turning to look ahead the Ambassador wanted to convey the message of the importance of having a positive attitude:

“There are several crucial phases in our history where optimism against all odds has been the saving grace.This is a lesson to take from our history. I hope that the attitude of optimism and openness will prevail when we continue to address common challenges both globally and locally.”

Satu Suikkari-Kleven also presented a call to action: “Shall we, all of us together here tonight, also make a concrete commitment for a better future? At the Embassy, we have listed a number of concrete measures that each of us can take to reduce plastic waste and the use of plastic in our everyday lives. This commitment will be published in the website of the Society’s Commitment to Sustainable development, a Finnish innovation to speed up the implementation of the UN Sustainable development goals. We invite you all to sign up for this commitment on that website.”

The artists for the evening were Ms. Laura Pyrrö (opera soprano) who sang the Thai national anthem with her most impressive voice, followed by the Finnish National anthem were she was joined by Mr. Eino Grön (singer), and where the Finnish guests also joined in the singing – all accompanied by pianist Yusuke Komura.

The MC for the evening was Ms. Sasapin Siriwanij.

January 2018 • ScandAsia 35

Singapore

B

lue and white were the colours of the evening, when close to 350 guests from the Finnish community in Singapore gathered at the Flower Dome at Gardens by the Bay to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Finland’s independence.The evening was organized by the members of the Finnish Association in Singapore, who oversaw that every detail of the evening was nothing but perfect.

The guests heard speeches from Ambassador of Finland Paula Parviainen and Chairwoman of the Finnish Association Mira Riska, both celebrating the achievements of the Finnish community in Singapore during the centenary year. The Finnish Embassy and Suomi Finland 100 Singapore organized a staggering 100 events in Singapore this year with the intention of building bridges between Singapore and Finland, and finding ways to address the shared challenges the two countries face in healthcare and well-being, education, innovation and design. More Finnish companies have found their way to the Singaporean and South-East Asian markets during the year, and the work will continue in 2018 to establish long-lasting relationships.

The Finland gala night was celebrated in style. Guests visited the White Christmas exhibition at Flower Dome, heard

36 ScandAsia • January 2018

the Finnish-Singaporean “Arctic meets Tropic” choir performing Finnish folk songs, and enjoyed a dinner including schnapps and Finnish inspired specialties like beetroot salad, cured salmon and Christmas star cookies with prune jam.

The special guest of the evening was Finnish pop singer Olavi Uusivirta, who led the guest singing the national anthem of Finland, and later performed to the celebrating partyers both his own production as well as some well-known Finnish evergreens.

SF100SG project director Katariina Benedetti and event manager Timo Sysiö kept the audience entertained with their humorous speeches and draw the winners of lucky draws, including a visit to the Snow Castle in Kemi and to Santa Park in Finland.

The guests made their way back to the taxi stand by walking through white and blue lit Super Trees in Gardens by the Bay, commemorating the 100th anniversary of Finnish independence. What a memorable night it was!

Source: sf100.sg Photos: Milla Magia photo

Beijing

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inland celebrated its 100 years of independence on 6 December all over the world and in Beijing the celebration took place at InterContinental Sanlitun hotel with hundreds of guests, both Finns and friends of Finland.

The Independence Day reception hosted by Ambassador Jarno Syrjälä was the main event of Finland’s 100th anniversary year in Beijing NS one of the largest Independence Day parties organized outside Finland. Altogether, there were nearly 600 guests comprising of Finns and Finnish businesses in Beijing, Chinese stakeholders, foreign diplomats as well as military attachés.

The theme of the event was winter – portrayed among other things by a Finland 100 ice sculpture, wintery campfires and a dancefloor reminiscent of frozen lake ice. The visual design was by Ivana Helsinki.

The evening’s program featured world-class soprano Dilbèr’s performance of Finlandia and Diamanten på Marssnön

by Finnish composer Sibelius, a choir of Chinese Finnish-language students’ performance of Finnish folk song Kalliolle Kukkulalle, an appearance from the authentic Santa straight from Korvatunturi, Finland, and a speech delivered by Ambassador Syrjälä.The guest of honor was Deputy Director General Zhu

Jing from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China.

The President of Finland also delivered a video greeting, all this while guests could sit by the fire in a wintery setting and enjoy Finnish treats.

Earlier, in the morning of Independence Day, Santa Claus visited Guang Ai orphanage in North Beijing giving Christmas gifts to children and also donation to the director of the center. During the day Santa visited also in Western Academy of Beijing to meet Finnish pupils.

Later in the evening lucky draw winners received great prizes from the sponsor companies, and the Hunters set the mood for the dance floor. FBCB wants to thank all guests, the sponsors, Embassy and whole Team Finland for creating a memorable night.

“We are happy to have received so many guests to share the joyous occasion together.”

Sources: Finnish Business Council Beijing, Embassy of Finland, Beijing

January 2018 • ScandAsia 37

The Independence Day receptiFinland’s centennial in China culminated in the Independence Week, during which receptions were held both in Beijing and Shanghai. Two galas were organized in Shanghai. First was organized by Finnish Business Council Shanghai and the Shanghai Finns on December 2, and the other was held by the Consulate General in Shanghai on December 6.on in Shanghai Fairmont Peace Hotel on December 6

Shanghai

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o honour Finland’s 100th anniversary, the Independence Day was celebrated at two different occasions.

Both of the events were held at the historic Fairmont Peace Hotel, with one on Saturday, December 2, and the second one the actual Independence Day, December 6.

Saturday’s event was organized by Finnish Business Council Shanghai (FBCS) together with the Shanghai Finns. The Independence Day reception on December 6, held for the first time in Shanghai, was hosted by the Consulate General together with FBCS. The Independence Day Gala on December 2 continued the tradition where the Finns in Shanghai and the surrounding provinces gather together to celebrate the most important day of the year. This time, with “Together” as the slogan for the Centennial year, the invitation was extended to friends of Finland and nearly 400 guests attended the gala. Shanghai’s very own international choir, Shanghai International Voices, performed at the event and the party kicked into full gear with Annika Eklund and band – naturally, the culmination of the gala was when the artist performed her very aptly titled hit song, “Lights of Shanghai”.

The Independence Day reception on December 6, hosted

by Consul General Jan Wahlberg, was attended by three hundred guests, including important Chinese partners, Finnish companies and members of the diplomatic community.

Consul General Wahlberg held a speech in honor of the occasion, followed by the performance of Ida Elina – a popular Finnish artist combining the traditional instrument kantele with modern musical styles.

38 ScandAsia • January 2018

Source: Embassy of Finland, Beijing

Hong Kong

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he 2017 edition of the annual Gala Dinner organised by the Finnish Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong was truly special one. On 9 December over 200 guests attended the Finland 100 Gala to celebrate Finland’s 100th Anniversary of Independence. FinnCham Hong Kong had the honour to have Chief Executive of Hong Kong, Carrie Lam as one of its special guests.

The Gala commenced with special cocktails combining Mahla Forest – Lagrima Arctica and The Helsinki Distilling Company – Helsinki Dry Gin on the terrace overlooking the Tai Tam Bay with a musical performance by Ida Elina – a singersongwriter, one of the leading kantele performers in Finland and first ever ‘pop-kanteleplayer’ in the world.

After the cocktail hour, all the guests got to enjoy the Hong Kong Police Band play the The Jäger March and the National anthems of Finland and Hong Kong at the American Club Ballroom. The Consul General of Finland in Hong Kong and Macao, Mr. Jari Sinkari gave a welcoming speech to all the guests and passed the podium to Mrs. Carrie Lam. Mrs. Carrie Lam, who has a remarkable way with words, and in her speech compared Hong Kong to Finland and how they can both learn from each other; new tax system for SME’s, decrease of crime rate as well as low unemployment rate in Hong Kong and implementing a design street similar to the one in Helsinki.

The CE praised the Finnish airline, Finnair several times in her speech, since whenever she would travel to Finland with her family she always chose to travel with the Finnish airline.

The Finland 100 Gala Menu featured the finest Finnish flavours and ingredients in Hong Kong and it was designed by Chef Jaakko Sorsa, the Executive Chef at FINDS restaurant.

During the dinner reception, all the guests got to witness a surprise fashion show which showcased five Finnish designers; Minna Parikka, Liisa Riski, Ivana Helsinki, Riikka Ikäheimo and Katri Niskanen. The fashion show was a huge success and all

of the guests were pleasantly surprised with the programme.

To top everything off, the event held an amazing Lucky Draw, including sponsors that featured numerous Finnish high-end products such as; Iittala – Hong Kong Bird, Jalla – Jalla Board, Polar – Fitness watch, Aava Resort – two-night stay at the resort and spa and our grand prize was a diamond ring – KIDE designed by Olli Johan Lindroos.

All guests also got to take home a goodie bag filled with Finnish products; Ivana Helsinki tote bag, Rapala exclusive Finland 100 fishing lure, Goodio chocolate, Benelic Moomin Kuksa Charm and Finlayson tote bag. The event also featured a unique display from Tammi Jewellery in front of the Ballroom, presenting Finnish handmade jewellery.

Katri Somerjoki & Niittisydän also performed, while the bar at the terrace featuring Kyrö Distillery – Napue Gin also opened. Niittisydän is the niece of the legendary Rauli “Badding” Somerjoki, Katri Somerjoki is an experienced recording artist most known to the wider audience from projects such as the Voice of Finland, Mascara and Cat Lee & Co. jazz & swing band.

In honour of Finland’s 100th Anniversary of Independence, the Finnish community in Hong Kong knows exactly how to celebrate it Finnish style; by mingling, drinking and dancing the night away. It was a great end to commemorate this special occasion.

The Finnish Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong would like to specially thank all of their gala sponsors that provided their support and made it all to happen. A special thanks goes to Henry Chan, Kone and Sagafurs for being Finland 100 sponsors.

Text: Rebecca Thin; Key Account Manager, Finnish Chamber of Commerce Photos: www.chinapro.video & www.helmiphotography.com January 2018 • ScandAsia 39

Kuala Lumpur

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n Kuala Lumpur the Finland 100 Years reception was held at JW Marriot hotel on 6 December, with nearly 400 guests joining the Embassy of Finland in Malaysia to celebrate the special occasion. Dato’ P. Kamalanathan, Deputy Minister of Education were among those in attendance, bringing greetings from the Malaysian government.

H.E. Ambassador Petri Puhakka 40 ScandAsia • January 2018

The international choir Cantus Musicus graced the guests with its wonderful voice by singing the Finnish, Malaysian and EU national anthems. After Harith Iskander received an award of acknowledgement from Finland’s Ambassador Petri Puhakka for winning the “Funniest Person in the World” competition in Finnish Lapland last year.

In his speech Ambassador Petri Puhakka said: “The story of the 100-year-old Finland is quite extraordinary and rests on the values cherished by the Finns: democracy, education, equality and freedom of speech and expression.This epic year has been built in a unique and open way, together with the whole of society, Finns and friends of Finland, in more than 100 countries. It has been touching to see how many friends our country has all over the world, and we have invited everyone to join in the celebration with us.”

“Finland became an independent state on the 6th of De-

cember 1917. Finns willed the newly born state into being after a long struggle.The path has not always been easy, but for a hundred years we Finns have been engaged in the building of our country and making decisions together. The unbroken period of 100 years of democracy is quite exceptional.

“To succeed in a constantly changing world, you have to change as well. Finland has reinvented itself in just one short century – and we’re still at it. Changes can be seen in the major policies of society as well as in small everyday matters.

In the century comparisons one can see the change with the help of figures from the early years of independence and the present day,” said the Ambassador, followed by some examples. ”Even a small country can jump to the top of the world, and this is what Finland has done: in international country comparisons of positive things Finland is often among the top countries next to other Nordics.”

Petri Puhakka mentioned a short list of comparisons that speak for themselves. Among the comparisons mentioned were: Finland is the most stable country in the world. The Fund for Peace, Fragile States Index 2017; Finland’s judicial system is the most independent in the world, World Economic Forum,

The Global Competitiveness Report 2017–2018: Judicial independence; and Finland has the third least corruption in the world, Transparency International, Corruption Perceptions Index 2016.

“As for our bilateral relations with Malaysia, I could say that the relations have always been very good. We have had a resident Ambassador in Kuala Lumpur since 1988.The interest of the Finnish business has been on a steady rise and the number of Finnish companies present here keeps on increasing. Malaysia is seen as an important and highly potential partner for Finland in the field of trade and economic cooperation,” said the Ambassador.

As the final part a wonderful multimedia presentation about Finland through pictures, videos and music showcased the versatile and multilayered beauty our beloved country was truly visible.

“None of this would have been possible without our partners Malaysian-Finnish Business Council, MaSu and the support from Finnish companies.”

Photos: Embassy of Finland Kuala Lumpur

January 2018 • ScandAsia 41

Human resources

Nordic countries all in the IMD World Talent Ranking top ten

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he annual IMD World Talent Ranking is a strong indicator of how countries are performing when it comes to talent. And in the 2017 study the four Nordic countries Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden all ranks in the top ten when it comes to the methods countries use to attract and retain the talent their businesses need to thrive, where Denmark is the 2nd most competitive country in the world. Finland is in fifth place, Norway seventh and Sweden 9th. Iceland ranks 18th.

This ranking is based on countries’ performance in three main categories — investment and development, appeal and readiness. The three categories assess how countries perform in a wide range of areas. These include education, apprenticeships, workplace training, language skills, cost of living, quality of life, remuneration and tax rates. The study draws on an in-depth survey of thousands of executives from 63 different economies, and more than two decades’ data from the IMD World Competitiveness Center.

The top talent economies in the ranking share similar attractiveness indicators. They invest significantly in their outstanding educational systems, they offer a superior quality of life, and they offer substantial opportunities for career advancement throughout the entire professional life span.

European economies are superior when it comes to attracting, developing and retaining top talent; performing well 42 ScandAsia • January 2018

in all three talent components. says the IMD study.

It is European countries’ outstanding education systems that set them apart from the rest of the pack. On average, each has a high level of investment in education accompanied by a superiorquality educational system, from primary to tertiary levels. This allows them to develop local talent and at the same time attract foreign, highly-skilled professionals, which many European businesses rely upon to perform.

Denmark is ranked 1st in the investment and development category, with strong performance in expenditure on education (5th). The country ranks 10th in appeal, mostly because of its effective implementation of apprenticeships and the prioritization of employee training.

Denmark is also ranked second for language skills.

While the Nordic countries perform well in some areas, they slightly lag behind other economies in terms of their appeal to foreign workers.

“Fundamentally, the Nordic economies have a very high quality of life, extremely good educational systems, and massive investment by the public sector in education. At the same time, the Nordic countries remain difficult for foreign talent, mainly due to the high cost of living,” commented Arturo Bris.

Denmark is 1st in the Investment & Development factor, in which it ranks 5th in total public expenditure in education and public expenditure on education per pupil.

Denmark ranks high in the level of worker motivation (2nd), personal security and private property rights (2nd), remuneration (services professions, 3rd) and in the prioritisation assigned to attracting and retaining talent (3rd). But Denmark ranks 25th in its level of attractiveness to foreign highly-skilled personnel.The country also ranks extremely low in the effective personal income tax rate indicator (63rd).

In the Readiness factor, Denmark ranks 4th largely as a result of its capacity to satisfy the demand for specific skills and competencies.

Finland is 4th, 24th and 5th in Investment & Development, Appeal and Readiness factors (respectively). Its position in Investment & Development is strengthened by the country’s performance in expenditure on education (6th in total expenditure and 3rd in expenditure per pupil), the effectiveness of its health infrastructure (5th) and the participation of female labor force (9th).

In regards to the Appeal factor, Finland’s cost-of-living (38th) and income tax (58th) makes it difficult to attract overseas highly-skilled staff (43rd).

Its position in the indicator for talent readiness are high: educational system (2nd), science in schools (3rd), university education (3rd), management education (3rd), language skills (8th), availability of finance skills (5th) and skilled labor (3rd).

Ranking of some countries in Asia as follows: 12 Hong Kong, 13 Singapore, 28 Malaysia, 40 China.

My current assignment

Tero Ahonen

Previous position: Sales Manager for Greencarrier Freight Services Sweden AB. New position: Country Manager, Greater China for Greencarrier Asia Limited

G

reencarrier is the biggest private owned freight forwarding companies from the Nordic area. We focus on sea, air and rail shipments to and from China. It is an honour and challenge to lead and develop the organization within one of the most important and biggest countries within the Greencarrier group. We are a team of about 100 dedicated employees in our China organization and the aim for the coming years is growth.

What is/will be most challenging with your new position?

It is a challenge to work in Asia due to the competativness in our industry. We have great competitors offering good service. We however not only survive but we also grow in the market. Since we are a smaller player, and relatively unknown since our focus is on the Nordic, Baltic and UK markets we sometimes struggle to attract employees. It’s easier for our global competitors to attract young talents in China.

Who should contact you in your new position?

Companies with freight in our out of China, especially the Nordic, Baltic and UK market.

Potential suppliers with great products and ambitious people who would like to work for a great company should get in touch with me.

How is working in Asia different from back home in your profession?

The pace is much faster here. I used to work four years in Shanghai and after moving back to Sweden I missed the pace. China is still the factory of the world and this is the place to be if you are in the supply chain profession.

Therese Bording Hermann

Previous position: Head of the Global Tech Team in the Trade Council, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Denmark New position: Counsellor and Head of Trade at the Royal Danish Embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia What is/will be most challenging with your new position?

To get more Danish companies to realise that Indonesia - with a population of more than 250 million - is one of the fastest-growing economies in Southeast Asia and thus a very interesting market for Danish products and services.

Who should contact you in your new position?

All Danish companies that are interested in an informal talk about doing business and business opportunities in Indonesia or South East Asia.

How is working in Asia different from back home in your profession?

What strikes you first is of course the traffic in Jakarta which makes it very difficult to get around and have external meetings. You need a lot of patience – not only in traffic – but in all situations to work here. Things takes time. However, you really feel that the Indonesian economy is good and has more than tripled in size in the last decade, but that not all have benefitted from it and that a lot of challenges still remain related to education, infrastructure, health, waste and other environmental issues.

Kim Jensen

Previous position: Group Senio Vice President and Regional Managing Director for the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) markets since 2015 New position: Group Senior Vice President and Regional Managing Director of Grundfos Asia Pacific region

I

n his new role, Kim will lead the company’s business across 22 countries including 13 wholly-owned sales companies and local assembly plants Grundfos operates in the region. He will also be spearheading opportunities for the company’s development and expansion in Asia Pacific.

Kim has been with Grundfos for more than 25 years, working across Europe and the Middle East. Having held numerous senior management positions within Grundfos, Kim assumed the role of Group Senior Vice President in 2006, where he was in charge of developing Grundfos’ global Water Utility business, after which he served the Central and Eastern Europe (CEREG) markets in 2010.

Grundfos is a global leader in advanced pump solutions and a trendsetter in water technology. The company contributes to global sustainability by pioneering technologies that improve quality of life for people and care for the planet. Grundfos Singapore Pte Ltd (Grundfos Singapore), incorporated in 1984, is the regional headquarters of the company for the Asia Pacific Region.

Let ScandAsia know if you would like to be featured/started a new position! email: joakim@scandmedia.com January 2018 • ScandAsia 43

Community

Nils Nordh: Shipping executive, World Amateur Golfers’ Chairman & CEO

By Joakim Persson Photos: Randy Braaten

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ew people cleverly match business with pleasure as does expat Dato’ Nils Nordh. This well-known Swede (not least in Malaysia where he is the only Swedish person holding the Malay state title Dato’ awarded by the Sultan of Pahang) has previously worked for Star Cruises in Malaysia, and been Chairman and CEO of World Amateur Golfers Championship (WAGC) for the last ten years in parallel with being Chairman of Dynamar B.V - a world-leading company within Transport and shipping information.

Last year was a special highlight for Nils, who has had his home in Malaysia for over 20 years (though often being on the move due to having offices also in Holland, U.K and Miami). Because in this year Nils could bring the world final

44 ScandAsia • January 2018

for legendary Swedish sports icon Sven Tumba’s golf tournament (described as the Olympics for the world’s amateur golfers) “home” to Malaysia for a two-year period. It took place on four golf courses in Kuala Lumpur during 18 – 25 November, and in October of 2018 it will be held in the Sultanate of Johor in Southern Malaysia.

“Malaysia is my second home country, where I am a permanent resident, so it’s exciting. And it’s a fantastic country for people to visit. And there are so much excitement to see and experience, not only the many fantastic golf courses here, where you can play golf all year around!”

Nils Nordh told ScandAsia just prior to the 2017 final, where WAGC Patron HRH Princess Birgitta of Sweden was in attendance.

Princess Birgitta played for ‘Royal Sweden’ together with her standard teammate Ingrid (Nils’ wife) in the ‘Invitational’. “They have played together during the last couple of years.”

The Invitational is a separate tournament that gives the opportunity to share in the exciting “WAGC experience” of a worldwide tour-like championship event without first having to qualify. Business executives with VIP clients, national agents with sponsors, loving couples, celebrities, royalty and other enthusiastic golfers from all corners of the globe are regular par ticipants of the World Amateur Golfers Invitational (WAGI), a tournament that’s played parallel to WAGC, on the same courses, same format and rules except that it is a 2-persons team event.

“One player in each category compete against players from all over the world in the same handicap group. You get a lot of competition vibe and everybody wants to see that their team succeeds,” explained Nils.

“More than 25 Swedes came to the finals in Malaysia, including about 10 two-man Invitational teams. So, Sweden was well represented. From Denmark, there were 12 people and Finland was represented with nearly twenty people,” concluded Nils.

The final also promotes the host country for the final each year, via television broadcasts, the Internet and other

media and also all the participants showing to the world where they have been and recommending it.

“When talking golf there are tons of golf courses and many excellent ones in Malaysia, and here you can also play all year around.”

As for his royal relations this goes back all the way to 1966 when Sweden’s current King Carl XVI Gustaf and Nils Nordh were classmates in the navy in Sweden. Later on Nils met the King’s sister H.R.H Princess Birgitta (who has her own golf tournament - the Princess Birgitta Trophy on Mallorca). When Their Majesties of Malaysia came to Sweden on a State Visit in September 2005 Nils was invited and attended the gala dinner.

After ten years working with WAGC he is looking to see it could be re-organised to take up less of his time. However, that is easier said than done: “I personally have an incredible amount of international contacts worldwide and those with such a network of people do not exactly grow on trees. It was the same with Sven Tumba – he knew everyone - the whole world!”

Golf became part of Nils’ life rather late when a friend once challenged him to take up the game and he won the bet.

“It could be much more playing but I have managed to balance my handicap at a fairly O.K level.”

His dedication to golfing and shipping continues.

Team Sweden

Team Finland

Team Sweden

Team Denmark January 2018 • ScandAsia 45

Community

A weekend of Danish Christmas

By Eva Eriksen

I

t is the most wonderful time of the year. It is also the busiest – and the most crowded. Christmas is coming and this weekend the Danish Seamen’s Church had their big annual Christmas Bazar 25-26 November 2017.

Red, white and twinkling gold captivated your eyes as you entered the hall of the Danish Seamen’s Church on top of Mount Faber. Christmas ornaments, Christmas goblins and Christmas lights were all around and if it wasn’t for the sweating 30 degrees dripping down your back, you were almost certain to feel like you were in Denmark awaiting the holidays.

At 11 o’clock the doors opened and the many guests indulged in the abundant of traditional Danish foods – both to be bought for later purpose and immediate pleasure. The big sellers in the grocery department were red cabbage, jarred potatoes, cherry sauce, pudding rice, and of course a lot of sweets. Outside tables were ready to host for lunch. For Saturday alone, 800 pieces of open-faced sandwiches, smørrebrød, had been made, and they went quickly. On the terrace, æbleskiver, glögg, ris à l’amande and the not so Christmassy 46 ScandAsia • January 2018

– but very Danish – hotdogs were sold.

In the afternoon, a ukulele band performed Christmas carols, and Santa paid a visit at the hill.The Singapore weather is not really suited for Santa’s usual outfit, so even Santa had to adjust which made flip flops the chosen footwear.

At 3 pm the kids could immerse into Christmas stories which were read aloud. Up until then, a creative workshop was set up on the playground where everyone could paint their very own inedible magical cake man – something to trim the Christmas tree with later.

And live Christmas trees were also available for purchase at the church. In this heat, it is important to keep the tree indoor, in water, and a good tip is to add a bit of sugar to the water, Alexa, who sold the trees, said.

At 2 pm on Saturday, 700 people had already visited the bazaar. At 4 pm, the Danish Christmas Bazaar closed, but on Sunday next day, they did it all again.

Community

Finnish sauna in Hong Kong

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or a few days in December a Finnish sauna was installed in front of the Cultural Centre of Hong Kong. It was part of the main act of Hot is Cool-event, that is put together by a new forward-looking organization called Culture for Tomorrow. The idea is to boost cultural dialogue between Finland and Hong Kong.

Main actors of this dialogue are the ‘sauna man’ Ville Hara, and the ‘Chinese pavilion man’ Stanley Siu, both architects.

The event is endorsed by the Prime Minister’s Office of Finland to be one of the Finland100 acts.

Source: Consulate General of Finland in HK and Macau

Nordics in Shanghai: More Surprises per Square Meter

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ome experience the Nordics! During the weekend 15-17 December citizens and visitors to Shanghai could experience a spread from the Nordic countries.

Consulate General of Finland together with the Danish, Norwegian and Swedish Consulates and in partnership with their four countries’ tourism organizations, hosted the open tourism and culture event ‘Nordics: More Surprises per Square Meter’ at Daning Music Plaza.

Visitors to the event were able to experience Nordic lifestyle in various areas such as tourism, design, food, children’s life and winter sports, and take part in various interactive activities and discover more Nordic surprises.

Source: Consulate General of Finland in Shanghai

January 2018 • ScandAsia 47

Community

Fifa World Cup 2018: Celebrate with ScandAsia!

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hree Nordic national football teams have qualified for the Fifa World Cup finals in Football in Russia, taking place on 14 June – 15 July 2018.

Sweden have in the process progressed at the expense of Italy, and the Danish Vikings have impressed in beating the Irish in their play-off matches. And Iceland... what and achievement - again!

ScandAsia wants to congratulate Denmark, Iceland and Sweden, and look forward to many exciting football community events also in Asia in connection to the at least nine matches with a Nordic interest this coming summer!

At ScandAsia we recognise the significance of this and are enthusiastic about the role we will be able to play for PR and marketing leading up to and during the Fifa World Cup in 2018.

ScandAsia therefore has the following call to action: If you have a Nordic/Scandinavian brand or Nordic-related restaurant or bar etc., and would want to tap into the big Nordic community in Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and China in connection to the World Cup tournament, then you should get in touch with us at ScandAsia!

ScandAsia’s Marketing Manager Mr Finn Baslev says: “Since we cover all things relating to the Nordics here ScandAsia is certainly the best platform–and in fact the only one of its size and capacity within its target area–for this kind of outreach and engagement! We will be happy to assist in promotion and marketing activities as well as spreading the news in relation to the Nordic teams’ upcoming participation during the world cup. We can offer efficient opportunities for outreach.”

“It is certainly not every day we have three Nordic teams in the World Cup!” comments Managing Director Gregers Moller. “We anticipate there will be lots of Scandinavianrelated events connecting to the football matches – events that ScandAsia will cover as much as we can. This is an excellent way for us to reach out and connect to the Nordics in a setting where one can really gather Asians and Scandinavians together! This will generate a lot of good exposure for all.

We know of many food and beverage outlets that will most certainly tap into this rare occasion! Many years have passed since we had the World Cup in Asia (Japan and South Korea), with Denmark and Sweden,” he adds.

The time schedule when the games will take place is also relatively favourable, with many matches to take place at 8 pm and 11 pm IndoChina Time (ICT).

This is something really relevant for ScandAsia to highlight, also since it is a matter of branding and the promotion of the Scandinavian countries Denmark and Sweden over here in Asia.

Brands, sponsors, event organisers (such as hotels and restaurants) etc. can contact ScandAsia to discuss the op-

48 ScandAsia • January 2018

portunities for partnerships and outreach and engagement with ScandAsia.

“ScandAsia rarely covers football, or sports, with the exception of the occasional Formula One races taking place in the region, based on the strong Nordic participation in that sport, or if there is a Scandinavian-related golf tournament arranged in our waters, or similar. But the Fifa World Cup is an event on an entirely different scale and hugely popular also in Asia,” says Joakim Persson.

The ScandAsia team congratulates the Nordic teams and are very much looking forward to this engagement. We celebrated the good football news with an After Work beer and football photo session on Friday 17 November at the Bangkok headquarters.

About ScandAsia

ScandAsia presents ‘Nordic News and Business Promotion in Asia’; being the one and only such established media portal covering Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and China on location and reaching out both in Asia and worldwide online. ScandAsia caters to Nordic businesses and services as well as other businesses here.

We have a strong emphasis on business, not least concerning to fulfil a role for B2B, and of course B2C, via our portal ScandAsia.com and ScandAsia magazine. We offer possibilities to maximize outreach and constitute a unique platform within our context. We localise the content for Asia and we have very strong visibility on Google.

Contact ScandAsia for World Cup Football 2018 engagement: Finn Baslev (for marketing and sponsorships), finn@ scandmedia.com; or Frank (for Singapore), frank@scandasia. com; or Joakim Persson (regarding editorial news and suggestions), joakim@scandmedia.com.

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KIS is offering one full IB Diploma scholarship, and partial scholarships for the IB Middle Years Programme and the IB Diploma to inspire individuals to be successful in life.

Apply now for 2018-2019. www.kis.ac.th admissions@kis.ac.th.

January 2018 • ScandAsia 49

Style Chic The new regional ScandAsia is here and with that we welcome our readers to ‘Style & Chic’! Here I will guide you through the seasons with a monthly selection of designdriven and stylish products within an unlimited range of consumer products. Expect themes and

concepts as I canvass the latest trends and new product launches from established brands as well as from local and international debuts.

We kick off with essential aromas and flavours for the New Year 2018!

If you would like to have your brand/product featured, contact ScandAsia: joakim@scandmedia.com

Nespresso Creatista Plus

F

or big espresso/Nespresso lovers! This ultra-modern coffee maker from Nespresso enables you to easily create an authentic top quality Latte Art coffee at home.

Thanks to Nespresso’s system’s convenience and coffee expertise combined with Breville automatic steam pipe, you can easily texture milk to the selected temperature and style for unique Latte Art creations and a broad range of delightful milk-based recipes. Try one of all new coffee flavors e.g. apple crunch, cocoa, chocolate mint, orange, liquor just to mention a few!

The machine has an elegant design and is easy to use, even if you are no technique specialist. Nespresso Creatista provides an intuitive user interface with its high-resolution display which guides you on all preparation, setting and maintenance aspects. It also features a premium design with a high-gloss finish. A stainless steel barista milk jug is included. Getting hot within 3 seconds, automatic cleaning system and automatic milk steaming! www.nespresso.com (Nespresso Creatista Plus is not available in Thailand)

Ambre by Romyda Keth

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ooking for a perfect dress to begin the New Year 2018?

Take a look at the Limited Edition collections from Ambre! Described as “premium crafted Fashion Designs that are classy and fabulous, highly feminine, stylish and elegant”, Ambre is a French-Khmer Designer Fashion collection coming out with new clothing collections a couple of times per year.

You will find the dress made for you. Comfortable to wear, colourful and easy to pack. Available in Thailand, Singapore and Cambodia among other countries. The retail shop in Bangkok is Amber Jolie. www.romydaketh.net

La Vie Est Belle

by Lancome

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his perfume has become a best-seller shor tly after it was launched. It is a fresh fragrance with a sweet touch. This fragrance’s contents of ingredients include pear, black currant, jasmine, orange flowers, Iris, vanilla etc. This fragrance has been mixed and tested 5521 times before the perfect mixture was found.

The bottle is classic, elegant and lady-like. Several sizes are available, from 50 ML to 100 ML. You will also find Body Lotion and Shower Gel La Vie Est Belle. This label’s face is the beautiful, well known actress Julia Roberts. Try it, a perfume that suit the tropical heat, smells wonderful. www.lancome.com

50 ScandAsia • January 2018

January 2018 • ScandAsia 51