DEC 2016
Everything under the sun for Sweden’s Hong Kong Consul-General
BUSINESS
PEOPLE
COMMUNITY
START-UPS
Danish Business Person, Entrepreneur of the Year
Consul-General Helena Storm
Swedcham Hong Kong 30 Years
PlayLab, mobile games
DEC 20 16
Nordic tourism promotion in Beijing with Chinese Baidu Map
Ev undererything th for Sw eden’s e sun Hong Ko ng -Gener al
Consul
BUSIN ESS
Danish EntrepreBusiness Person, neur of the Year
PEOPLE
Danish Ambassad Char lotte Laur senor
COMM UN
ITY Swedcha 30 Year s m Hong Kong
START -UPS
PlayLab, mobile games
Copyright : Ivan Mikhaylov
Your FREE ScandAsia Magazine in China ScandAsia is the only magazine that covers all the Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, and Swedish residents in China. We also publish a ScandAsia magazine in Thailand, Singapore and the rest of South East Asia.
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n 27 November the Finnish, Swedish, Danish and Norwegian Ambassadors to Beijing had the opportunity to promote tourism to the Nordic countries. The event, hosted by the tourism organization Scandinavian Tourism Board, Internet corporation Baidu and other tourism promotion agencies, was part of Baidu’s launch of a strategic cooperation agreement with the national tourism organizations of Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland. The Nordic countries have teamed up with Baidu Map in a bid to attract more Chinese tourists and to improve their travelling experience when visiting the Northern European region. The strategic cooperation agreement enables Baidu promote tourism to these countries through their online platforms, including Baidu Maps, where more localization to these Nordic destinations will be offered. The deal will allow Chinese tourists to use the Chinese language mapping service – which has up to 500 m illion users in China – when searching attractions and querying routes during their trips to Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. “The cooperation aims to increase the destinations awareness, inspire the Chinese travellers and improve their travelling experiences,” Yile Gong, China PR Manager for Visit Sweden, told gbtimes.
For Baidu Map, the cooperation with the Nordic countries is part of the company’s efforts to transform itself from a Chinese mapping service to a global one comparable to Google Maps. “The cooperation signals a further step forward in the localisation of Baidu Map in the course of its internationalisation, following our cooperation with the tourist administrations of South Korea and Thailand,” Li Dongmin, general manager of Baidu Map, told China Daily. Denmark’s Ambassador A. Carsten Damsgaard was during the event asked to name one place he thought would surprise Chinese travellers in Denmark. “I would urge the Chinese travellers to visit the island of Bornholm. It is the perfect retreat with a tranquil and clean environment, beautiful nature, world class cuisine and artwork,” said the Ambassador. “If I am to name one reason why Chinese tourists should visit Denmark, it would be to explore why Danes have been named the world’s happiest people numerous times, and to experience what makes Copenhagen one of the most liveable cities in the world.” Sources: Embassy of Denmark, China and gbtimes.com
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Daily news and features here: www.scandasia.com
December 2016
ScandAsia Community 5
9 Senab Interior Shanghai
6 7
Swedish chef Björn Frantzén opens in Hong Kong Danish Business Person & Entrepreneur 2016 SwedCham Hong Kong 30 Years party
Scandinavian design showroom opens in Shanghai
7 Swedcham Hong Kong 30 Years
ScandAsia Business
5 10
8 Hartwall Original Long Drink World’s first long drink finally inh Hong Kong
9 Eva Karlberg, Swedcham Hong Kong
Consulate General of Sweden to Hong Kong
Helena Storm stays busy with everything under the sun
The General Manger remains on her post
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13 Swedish Institute Management Programme New sustainable businesses in Asia promotion
18 Southern Sweden Creatives
Innovative design companies exhibits in Hong Kong
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4 ScandAsia.China • December 2016
Community
Finnish children’s books to launch in China
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hildren’s books from Finnish publisher Dramaforum, ‘Petra’s Planet’ will launch in China based on a deal signed with Shanghai Zhiyuang Culture Communication Co. Ltd. The agreement is for eight books; combining four already published titles with four new books to be developed in cooperation with Shanghai Zhiyuang Culture Communication.The books will be available in Chinese from early 2017 after their official launch in Beijing in January. With this cooperation their mutual target is to sell minimum of 800 000 copies per year. “We are delighted to be in partnership with an established and trusted publisher in China and we are excited about introducing Petra to children across China,” said Ms. Eevamaria Halttunen, founder of Dramaforum Oy. Drawing on the Nordic approach to children’s learning, Petra’s Planet products combine fun, quality content, cultural and environmental awareness, and global citizenship. With each book, children go on a journey to a new culture. Ms. Selena Huang, CEO of Shanghai Zhiyuang Culture Communication Co. Ltd is confident that Petra’s Planet will be a great success in China.
“We chose to par tner with Dramaforum thanks to the high quality content and educational nature of the Petra’s Planet range.While the books are great fun, they also provide an opportunity for children to learn more about the world around them,” said Ms. Huang. Dramaforum Oy Ltd is an independent Finnish transmedia company specializing in children’s products, established in 2003 by Ms. Halttunen. “Our goal is to inspire children to stay curious and discover the wonders of the world. Through Petra’s Planet, children learn about the richness and diversity of our planet and are empowered to become global citizens,” said Ms. Halttunen. The company delivers a host of Petra’s Planet products, including Petra’s Planet virtual world - which has more than 1.7 million subscribers worldwide. Dramaforum also delivers a range of Petra’s Planet products designed for primary school use by teachers in Finland and the UK.The school products focus on 21st century skills, digital literacy and e-safety.
Swedish star chef Björn Frantzén opens Hong Kong restaurant
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candinavians and other locals, as well as visitors to Hong Kong can look forward to top gastronomic experiences as the “Chef of Chefs”, the very talented chef Björn Frantzén is opening a restaurant in Sheung Wan, Hong Kong! In mid-November, the Swedish chef and restaurateur Björn Frantzén will be opening his first restaurant outside Sweden, Frantzén’s Kitchen. Situated in central Hong Kong it will be a modern bistro with influences from both Nordic and Asian cuisines. Hong Kong’s diners are promised a new restaurant experience, offering À la carte dishes with gastronomic ambitions served to up to 36 guests in a stylish and relaxed Scandinavian environment. The restaurant will be located in Sheung Wan; initially a traditional Chinese part of Hong Kong but now one of the world’s trendiest urban areas. Over recent years, Björn Frantzén has made a number of guest appearances around the world and has also created a pop-up restaurant in Dubai. But Frantzén’s Kitchen will be his first permanent restaurant outside Sweden. “Opening Frantzén’s Kitchen in Hong Kong is a natural step for us. I have long dreamt of opening a restaurant overseas and Asian cuisine is very close to my heart”, says Björn Frantzén. “Hong Kong is one of the world’s most interesting cities for food and it will be a challenge to create a Nordic food experience with local ingredients and influences there.” The project is in collabor ation with entrepreneurs Arne and Helen Lindman, who
have lived in Hong Kong for 10 years and own the property in Sheung Wan. “There has long been an absence of modern Nordic cuisine in Hong Kong and we are happy to be involved with opening Frantzen’s Kitchen. The restaurant will represent the best of Swedish gastronomy”, say Arne and Helen Lindman. To ensure a top quality experience in Hong Kong, Jim Löfdahl will be Head Chef for Frantzén’s Kitchen. Jim Löfdahl has previously occupied the same role at Restaurant Frantzén in Gamla Stan in Stockholm and was par t of the team that achieved two Michelin stars there. “After my time at Restaurant Frantzén it will be incredibly exciting to be involved in taking Bjorn’s gastronomic cuisine out into the world. Cooking Nordic food in such a far-off city as Hong Kong is a major step for us within the Frantzén Group”, says Jim Löfdahl. The address of Frantzén’s Kitchen in Hong Kong will be 11 Upper Station Street in Sheung Wan. The restaurant will be open in the evenings and for lunches at the weekend. Restaur ant Fr antzén in Stockholm is temporarily closed and will open at a new address in the same city in early 2017.
December 2016 • ScandAsia.China 5
Business
Danish Business Person & Entrepreneur of the Year, China 2016
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n Saturday 22 October 22 2016, the Danish Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai hosted the 10th Business Person of the Year and Entrepreneur of the Year award ceremony and gala ball on behalf of the Danish Chambers in Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong. The party, held at the Grand Kempinski Hotel, attracted more than 200 guests, among which were A. Carsten Damsgaard, Ambassador of Denmark to China, and Nicolai Prytz, Consul General of Denmark to Shanghai. Allan Sand, Sand Future, was awarded 6 ScandAsia.China • December 2016
Business Person of the Year 2016. In 2005, Allan Sand founded Sand Future, a manufacturer of consumer high-pressure washers for worldwide power tool brands that value innovation and quality. Today, he is the sole owner of this supplier quality award winning company with a capacity of more than 500,000 units of consumer highpressure washers per year. Allan has seen numerous challenges in China, including a problematic Joint Venture partnership and selling out the company too early, before buying back his “baby”. He went through a period of three golden years, followed by three low growth years, finally reaching a mature growth strategy with himself back in control. The selection committee chose Allan Sand for his success in going through a complete business cycle, but also for his determination to stay on course, for his delegation of authority to his Chinese team, and for his continual inclusion of Danish values in his business conduct. Steen Teisen, NordicSound Hear ing Technology, was awarded Entrepreneur of the Year 2016. Steen Theisen is founder and coowner of NordicSound, a high-value rehabilitation service provider for the hard of hearing that commercializes mainly Danish hearing aids and diagnostic medical devices for hearing measurements in China. It was carved out in 2015 from Widex Hearing Aid Shanghai, which Steen started in 1998.Today, NordicSound has 68 employees and is present all-over China. Steen was selected as the Entrepreneur of
the year 2016 due to his early exposure to China at a young age, his entrepreneurial spirit from the beginning and his alternative philosophy on implementing successful business practices in a Chinese setting. Steen has endured personal risks in the process of succeeding and has demonstrated above standard growth within his field. His abundant ability to sell products, which some might consider difficult to sell, is a result of his ingenuity and hard labour. The other candidates for the title Entrepreneur of the Year were: Henrik Ger t Larsen, CEO, Flügger China Asia-Pacific Palle Linde, Managing Director, Multi-Wing China, NEA For the first time in the award’s history,Young Professionals of the Year were selected. The 3 winners of the proud title were: Sarah Chu, Head of Marketing, ECCO Business Management (Shanghai) CO., Ltd. Kasper Gelardi Madsen, Managing Director, BSA Sanding System (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. Jonas Frank, CCO China, Mar tin Bencher International Transportation (Shanghai) Ltd. The award-winning Danish radio and TV hosts Esben Bjerre Hansen and Peter Falktoft alias Monte Carlo entertained the crowd with a long row of Danish jokes. After the dinner, Shanghai’s most popular dance band Studio 188 rocked the dance floor for another three hours, and thereafter the party continued with night buffet on the hotel’s top floor bar until early morning.
Community
Swedcham Hong Kong 30 years - the party of the century!
Text: Swedish Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong Photos: Jayne Russell Photography
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hen the Swedish Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong was planning its 30th anniversary it said that turning 30 requires the party of the century! So, on 19 November more than 200 members of the chamber and distinguished guests travelled to Studio City in Macau, to celebrate SwedCham HK. Inspired by James Bond’s secret missions in Macau, the theme was evident: Casino Royale. The evening started out in the beautiful French Garden, where a culinary experience began in the environs of the impressive Studio City Hotel. The cocktails were an art of their own, with drinks from Ganjal created by the Swedish bartender, or “mixologist”, Oskar Johansson. They were all shaken, not stirred, of course ... The guests also enjoyed canapes from Carelian Caviar and champagne sponsored by MIQ Logistics. After cocktails, incredible cheese from Almenäs Bruk and arcade gun-gaming,
the dinner took place in the Grand Ballroom. Michelin 2-star chef Björn Frantzén truly lived up to his reputation. The five-course dinner had an awesome touch of Swedish culture (seared scallops topped with spruce shoots was a hit with diners). Looking like Mr Bond himself, with a glass of mar tini in his hand, Antony Phillips did a marvelous job as MC. Guests who were experts on SwedCham trivia and knew their Bond movies enjoyed gifts from Daniel Wellington, Helen and Arne Lindman, Baumgarten Di Marco and Skogsberg & Smart. When the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest winner Måns Zelmerlöw and his band took to the stage the ballroom transformed into a concer t and the dance floor became crowded with singers and dancers. After encores and even more dancing, the nightclub Pacha offered an after-party with drinks and vickning (midnight meal). The party lasted until the wee hours and some guests even saw the sunrise. December 2016 • ScandAsia.China 7
Business
Finnish Lifestyle Asia promotes brands
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n 13 – 16 October 2016 Finpro arranged a match showroom for its ‘Lifestyle Asia Growth Programme’ held in in Mode Shanghai, the official showroom tradeshow (for selected brands) of Shanghai Fashion Week. The Finnish three-year programme (officially launched in March 2016) helps Finnish lifestyle brands explore sales oppor tunities in Asian consumer markets. It offers a range of commercial activities for Finnish lifestyle companies in Japan, China and South Korea. Lifestyle Asia growth program brought 10 brands from Finland to present their products at MODE Shanghai: Aarikka, Frenn, Ivana Helsinki, Kauniste, Lovi, Lumi, Marita Huurinainen, Nomen Nescio, Papu and Terhi Pölkki. The showroom was organized in cooperation with Match Showroom, a local partner and showroom. A large crowd of buyers, impor ters and media visited the “Lifestyle Finland” showroom at MODE Shanghai. Many of the Finnish companies took actual orders by buyers from Shanghai, as well as other second-tier Chinese cities. The program also included a media reception at the Finnish Consul General’s residence, hosted by Consul General Mr. Jan Wahlberg. Some 20 leading fashion and design medias, including Elle
China, Grazia and Popbee, were invited to the reception, which also included mini fashion shows. Each Finnish brand was interviewed by several medias. The Shanghai edition of the Lifestyle Finland showroom is part of a “Lifestyle Finland” project in China, which includes a pop-up shop in Hong Kong that took place in September and that will end with a final pop-up shop in Taipei in November. The aim of the showrooms is to help Finnish lifestyle brands find new sales channels and buyers in China.
Finnish Hartwall Original Long Drink now in Hong Kong
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ince the summer of 2016 there is new beverage on the market in Hong Kong that originates in Finland – the legendary Hartwall Original Long Drink. This world’s first long drink was originally developed for the 1952 Helsinki Olympics, a very innovative product back then, to say the least: a cocktail in a can, easy to serve and ready to drink. It has been a Finnish success ever since but only as recently as in 2015 also been taking Sweden by storm. “Hartwall Original Long Drink was supposed to be ser ved only for the Olympic visitors, 8 ScandAsia.China • December 2016
but since Finns fell so much in love with it, the production has continued ever since. Moreover, it even created a whole new category of ’long drinks’ in Finland – better known as ’lonkero’ among the Finns”, says Eeva Ignatius, Brand Manager of the Hartwall Original Long Drink. Har twall Original Long Drink is a mix of Finnish premium gin and grapefruit soda. “The gin manufacturing process is a carefully cherished ar tisan work, and the drink is still produced according to the original recipe from 1952. All the gin ingredients are hand-selected, and the final quality is ensured with triple filtering. The original taste, a mix of gin and grapefruit, is totally unique and cannot be found anywhere in the world.” Year after year, Hartwall Original Long Drink rules the sales statistic as Top 1 alcoholic beverage in Finland. “It is a true Finnish icon and many Finns consider it as our national drink. Even the package symbolizes our national heritage as the blue and white colours come from the Finnish flag.The thin white stripes on the other hand symbolize the running track of Helsinki Olympic stadium and remind us of the history.” Now Har twall Original Long Drink has started to conquer the world, with the longwaited sales started in Sweden in April 2015, resulting in immediate success. At the same time, Hartwall signed a distribution contract in the Netherlands and Belgium. “Hartwall Original Long Drink was originally invented to be shared with the world and now it is about to happen”, Ignatius concludes.
Now the Finnish “lonkero” is sold in 900 7-Elevens around Hong Kong, as Har twall earlier in 2016 started cooperation with major distributors in Japan, Taiwan and Hong Kong. In In Taiwan, the local retail store chain Simplemart added Hartwall Original Long Drink to its selection in its 500 stores. “We were not expecting such huge success. In Hong Kong, for instance, many shops are struggling to meet the high demand. The sales figures of long drink are ten times higher that those of a famous international beer brand that was launched using the same retail channel,” says Matti Ristola, Director of Export at Hartwall. “The unique taste, great story and easyto-identify container of Hartwall Original Long Drink have become popular across the world. Furthermore, the long history and strong success of the beverage in the Finnish market give it credibility; before winning over consumers, we must attract distributors to the product,” says Eeva Ignatius, Brand Manager for Hartwall Original Long Drink. “Hartwall has a fine history as a provider of Finnish products that spans 180 years. Finns love our brands, and our foothold in the Finnish market is strong. I believe that many of our highquality brands that are successful in Finland have what it takes to succeed also abroad. The success story of Hartwall Original Long Drink is a good example of this. Exports are an important part of our growth strategy, and we will continue to investing in them in the future,” Hartwall CEO Kalle Järvinen says.
Business
Eva Karlberg remains at SwedCham Hong Kong
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arlier in the summer of 2016 the Swedish Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong posted a job opportunity that the chamber was looking for a new General Manager. However, ScandAsia can now disclose that this attractive position has been cancelled since General Manager Eva Karlberg will remain at this job posting. “Instead of the planned move back to Sweden at the end of this year, my husband and I decided to stay on in Hong Kong. The SwedCham Board kindly asked me to remain as GM of the chamber, which I of course happily accepted. This is the best position I can ever wish for: to meet new companies and people and learn a lot about all the exciting entrepreneurs and start-ups coming in to Hong Kong right now,” says Eva Karlberg.
The reason for the tentative move to Sweden was that Eva’s husband had been offered a new exciting job position. “We have lived in Hong Kong since 1993, and I have been on the posting at chamber of commerce since 1998. Before that I worked for five years at the Medical Faculty lf the University of Hong Kong.”
Scandinavian office design: opens in Shanghai
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n 18 November 2016 Senab Interior opened their newly designed showroom in Shanghai – also constituting a modern office space that introduces a more flexible and efficient view on office interior. The Scandinavian design has been adapted to the vibrant Chinese market, and also taking into account the needs of the local staff introducing different office zones. The Consul General of Sweden in Shanghai, Lisette Lindahl, attended the event. She held an opening speech and cut the ribbon together with Carl-Henrik Lagnefors, Executive Vice President Senab AB, Jojo Gu, Director WE” international hub and Erik Stigmar, Retail Experience / CI Manager Volvo Cars. Senab Interior offers Scandinavian design and new ways to create the office to clients across Asia. The design of the office has become increasingly impor tant to improve efficiency, promote collaboration and innovation. At the same time a company’s brand image is becoming essential, making the interior design of your office a competitive advantage for staff retention and company moral. “In China, the current topic on everyone’s minds is innovation. This has led to an increased interest for good design, as well as new ways to organize the office that encourage collaboration and innovation, such as Activity Based Workplaces (ABW),” says Sales Director Trine Roland Westergaard. “Together with our clients we are bringing together our deep understanding of products with competence around optimizing the work process in order to improve the way they work.” In the last few years, increase in real estate princes and environmental concerns have gained a lot of attention in China. Begging for a change in the traditional way we look at office space and consumption of office furniture. Senab acknowledged this with an introduction to a more flexible and space efficient view on
office interiors with Activity Based Workplaces (ABW). And more sustainable – asking its clients to invest in high quality furniture with a longer lifespan than cheap ones that get worn out quickly. Westergaard stresses the impor tance of designing the office in a correct way in order to make coming in to the office everyday more enjoyable. Something that is necessary in the fierce business competition in the Asian market today. “Employer branding is an aspect that has become increasingly impor tant. An attractive work environment is critical to attract and retain talent, as well as promoting the brand and quality of the company,” says Eric Lu, General Manager, Senab China. In addition to this, office research shows that we increase the wellbeing of our employees
in beautiful environments. An appealing office interior triggers feelings of joy and lowers stress according to Swedish researcher Katarina Gospic. Senab (Shanghai)Trading Co. Ltd is a subsidiary of the Swedish Edsbyn Senab group and is led by General Manager Eric Lu. The company has 14 employees and an annual turnover of 50 million RMB. The company is divided into the two business areas Senab Concept and Senab Interior, with broad competence on public interior environments. The focus lies on offices, retail, hotels and restaurants. Senab has 12 offices and showrooms in Sweden, nine in Norway and one in Shanghai.
December 2016 • ScandAsia.China 9
Business
Everything under the sun for Sweden’s Hong Kong Consul-General By Joakim Persson Photos: Consulate General of Sweden to Hong Kong and Macau
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ith Sweden’s new strategy for increased expor t prioritising China, frequent minister visits from back home, and the presence of Swedish companies still growing, combined with the Consul-General’s own goal to put her home country and some of its businesses on the Hong Kong map, makes Helena Storm’s role very busy and interesting indeed. The Consulate General of Sweden to Hong Kong and Macau shares her experiences on the development and insights gained since she arrived to the vibrant metropolitan in the Far East in April 2015, her first posting here. Previously Helena Storm was posted at the head office of Sweden’s Minister for Trade, where she says coordination with the embassies in Asia was an important part of the job.
Putting Swedish businesses on the map Since coming over to Hong Kong there has basically been a constant flow of events and activities where the Consul-General has been seen and heard. “I am happy to hear that you have noticed that,” Helena Storm answers in response to this. “One of my main goals coming to Hong Kong was to put Sweden and Swedish businesses on the map. We have a lot to be proud of in our country and I think we should be even better telling others how good and successful we are. There is of course knowledge about Sweden and Swedish companies in Hong Kong but sometimes I get the impression that representatives from Hong Kong are unaware of how well Swedish products and innovations perform. The Swedish brand stands for quality and trust – I would like everyone in Hong Kong to associate Sweden with these values.” On of the activities she has brought back to life and that she considers a milestone activity since she arrived is the re-introduction of the Swedish National Day celebration. “It’s the first time for over ten years that the Consulate General celebrates the Swedish National Day and I was overwhelmed by the positive feedback and encouragement both from the Swedish community and also from our Hong Kong friends. Therefore we have already decided we will celebrate the Swedish National Day in Hong Kong again next year and hopefully every year in the future.” 10 ScandAsia.China • December 2016
In focus for Team Sweden When it comes to her role overall in a tradefocused place like Hong Kong, and the relation to the Embassy of Sweden in Beijing, Helena Storm refers to how the Swedish government’s new strategy (from 2015) to increase Swedish Exports where China is one of the prioritized countries, guides the work. “The strategy includes 22 action points and one of these is to work closer together with Swedish actors in our respective regions and countries. I therefore work very closely with my colleagues in Beijing and Shanghai and together we form what we call Team Sweden China. When it comes to the sectors we are focusing on, it may differ a bit depending on the specific characteristics of Hong Kong. Here we have worked to promote Swedish innovations, smart cities solutions, Swedish food and agricultural products, design and other creative businesses as well as Swedish start-ups and entrepreneurship. We also put a lot of effort in promoting Swedish values such as transparency, freedom of speech and equal rights for all.” In Hong Kong the Consul-General’s efforts benefit from very tight collaboration within Team Sweden locally: “I am almost in daily contact with Business Sweden in Hong Kong. We work very closely and carr y out a number of common projects. In addition to the Team Sweden China network, we also have a local Team Sweden Hong Kong including Business Sweden as well as the Swedish Chamber of Commerce as key partners. We have monthly meetings to go through our respective activities and see how we can find synergies in order to promote Sweden and Swedish business in Hong Kong.” She also comments on the very fact that the Swedish Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong celebrates 30 years in 2016: “SwedCham HK is a dynamic and important platform for Swedish businesses, from large corporations to start-ups as well as for individuals. The chamber promotes members’ interests to various decision-makers in Hong Kong and provides a forum for members to exchange experiences and ideas. There is also possibility for members to engage in various creative and business-oriented committees. The fact that the Swedish chamber has been present in Hong Kong since 1986 and grown from 40 companies to today’s 180 companies is quite impressive. It is also at present the 4th largest of all Swedish chambers abroad. Together with the Consulate General of Sweden and Business Sweden, the chamber plays an important role for the whole Swedish community here in Hong Kong – and we warmly congratulate them to their 30 years of presence and look forward to yet another 30 years of growth!”
gateway to China.The average time for Swedish companies to have been present in Hong Kong is around 15 years, indicating that Hong Kong is a stable base for regional business. However, we see that several Swedish companies tend to keep their organisation in Hong Kong lean with limited number of key positions and rather growing their APAC operation through local presence on their respective markets of interest. Locally, there is still growth within Swedish business and trade, however at a slower pace compared to a few years ago, mainly due to slowing down of the mainland China economy.” At the same time as Hong Kong’s role as the gateway to and from China is diminishing, the PRC matures, the number of foreign companies present in Hong Kong have never been as high as now, notes Helena Storm in terms of the development of its economy. However, every aspect is currently not rosy. “With one of the most beneficial tax systems, business climate and geographical positions in
the region, Hong Kong continues to act as a hub for regional operations. However, there is some concern of Hong Kong’s future position after the political instability in 2014/2015, and being named a tax haven by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, as well as the increasing costs of operating business and difficulties for small businesses to open bank accounts in Hong Kong.” But Hong Kong is determined to maintain and strengthen its hub position and competitive edge: “Commitments by the Hong Kong SAR government include further enhancing ease of doing business by simplifying legal framework, tax incentives and improving infrastructure. Efforts have also been made to ensure access to skilled workforce, by different migration schemes and increased support for education, as well as affordable office and housing space. Hong Kong also has close ties with important APAC markets through Free Trade Agreements and Double Taxation Agreements.”
I am almost in daily contact with Business Sweden in Hong Kong. We work very closely and carry out a number of common projects. In addition to the Team Sweden China network, we also have a local Team Sweden Hong Kong including.
Hong Kong as regional gateway The number of Swedish companies continues to grow, however the trend is now that new entries mainly consist in smaller high-tech companies, the Consul-General has noticed. “For many Swedish companies, the Hong Kong office acts as regional headquar ters to manage business in the APAC-region. The two most impor tant reasons for Swedish companies to locate in Hong Kong are the city’s geographical location and function as December 2016 • ScandAsia.China 11
Business
Commitment by Chinese leaders to develop Chinas innovation ecosystem since the 1990s has enabled it to outpace Hong Kong by a wide margin. For example, Shenzhen is a home to the mainland’s online service conglomerates and is becoming a booming centre for tech R&D as well.
Knowledge-based economic development China is probably ahead, when it comes to Hong Kong’s development of an ecosystem for innovation and start-ups, evaluates the Swedish Consulate General. The reason behind this is that as the traditional four pillar industries (financial ser vices, trading and logistics, tourism, and producer and professional services) have served the economy in Hong Kong well it has previously not been able to broaden its economic base through investments in innovation and technology. “Commitment by Chinese leaders to develop Chinas innovation ecosystem since the 1990s has enabled it to outpace Hong Kong by a wide margin. For example, Shenzhen is a home to the mainland’s online service conglomerates and is becoming a booming centre for tech R&D as well.” “The Hong Kong SAR Government have realised the need to diversify the economy and is thus determined to develop Hong Kong into a knowledge-based economy and an innovation hub for technology and its application in the region. The 2016-17 budget has committed over HK$18 billion to formulate a series of initiatives with a view to foster Innovation & Technology development in Hong Kong from multiple aspects.” Hong Kong’s gross domestic expenditure on R&D increased from $7.1 billion in 2001 to $15.6 billion in 2013, an average annual growth of 7%. “We have also seen increased interest for Hong Kong from foreign research institutions.The establishment of the Hong Kong MIT Innovation Node and Karolinska Institutet that opened its first overseas research centre at the Hong Kong Science Park are examples of this. Hong Kong ranks among top five in the APAC region regarding innovation and fastest growing start-up ecosystem. “
Strong FinTech potential Another interesting area for Sweden to pay attention to is FinTech. 12 ScandAsia.China • December 2016
“With Hong Kong placed at the hear t of APAC and with the world’s freest economy and top business climate, there is potential for Hong Kong to climb before Singapore as the premier regional FinTech hub. The HKMA will set up a FinTech Innovation Hub and has launched the FinTech Super visor y Sandbox, two initiatives aimed at spurring banks to embrace technology to make financial transactions safer, speedier and more convenient for consumers.” “Hong Kong has important advantage with the access to Mainland China,” she continues, “and the clustering of local, mainland and overseas FinTech talents and star t-ups have potential to create a vibrant Hong Kong FinTech sector. Alongside the local innovators, about 50 of the top 100 Fintech companies in the world operate out of Hong Kong.” “Hong Kong is also undertaking efforts to become the “super-connector” between the Mainland of China and the rest of the world in areas such as finance, investment, professional ser vices, trade, logistics, culture, creativity, innovation and technology under the Chinese Belt & Road Initiative. In relation to Swedish design, that has been making good inroads in recent years, she describes Hong Kong as a regional design centre providing a rich source of innovative products and design talents. “It is at the crossroads of Asia, and is a key gateway to the Chinese mainland. As a step to diversify the economy, six focus industries were introduced in 2009 to propel Hong Kong towards a knowledge-based economy. Among of these industries were the cultural and creative that have been among the fastest growing sectors.The software, computer games and interactive media have all along been the dominant component in the creative industries but the design sector has experienced a strong growth, with value added growing from 1 billion HKD in 2005, to 4 billion HKD in 2014. The biggest expor t market for Hong Kong’s design services is mainland China and Hong Kong’s design industry is expected
to keep growing with the strong Governmental support and increasing demand from Mainland China.”
Hopes for high-level Swedish visits When asked to summarise her time so far in Hong Kong Helena Storm describes it not exactly as a 9 to 5 job: “Being a Consul General in Hong Kong means that you are working 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, if needed. I should be able to represent Sweden in all its facets, whether it is economics, business, culture, science, sports and politics – it is not always an easy task, especially in a city that never sleeps. One of the most rewarding parts of my job is that as a Consul General I have the honour of meeting many interesting people, from both Sweden and Hong Kong, and hopefully I can contribute to further exchange between these people and bring our two societies even closer. Since I arrived we have had three Swedish Ministers visiting Hong Kong and a dozen of other business delegations.” What is in store in 2017 for Sweden in Hong Kong she promises it to be a very active year. “We hope we will have several high level visits and are planning a major event by the end of 2017. It is still at a very early stage so I choose not to say more presently. But before the end of this year one of Sweden’s most important days, Santa Lucia will be highlighted; here becoming a tribute to the Swedish community in Hong Kong and a celebration of the friendship and strong links between Hong Kong and Sweden. We also recently took part in Hong Kong Pride, to stand up for equal rights for all, and for the first time ever hosted our own Pride event. To promote Swedish creative companies and design during Business of Design Week BODW is also one of our priorities left to tick of this year.“ “I advise you to stay tuned on the Consulate’s Facebook page where we announce and report on the main events we are involved in.”
Business
Sweden creates people network to push for sustainability By Joakim Persson
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we d i s h I n s t i t u t e ’s M a n a g e m e n t Programme - SIMP - has implemented a new approach to promote sustainability in Asia by focusing on building an active network of open-minded leaders in their mid-career, between the age of 25 and 45, from China, India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam looking to Sweden for inspiration to broaden their management skills and holistic approach to business. In 2016 the programme comprised three weeks of intensive training divided into two introductory kick-off days in Asia, a two-week module in Sweden and a concluding five-day module in Asia. This last module took place in Thailand where the Swedish Institute and the Swedish Embassy in Thailand on 12 October organised an interactive business seminar on the role of business in sustainable development as one ingredient. A key speaker was CEO Vikrom Kromadit of Amata Corporation, which was also the place for a site visit in Thailand. Opening the seminar H.E Sweden’s Ambassador to Thailand share his and Sweden’s approach and views on the topic of sustainability. “How much of a priority is this for the government I represent as an ambassador among all the other priorities? The simple answer is: very
much! Sweden is a small, free trade-oriented nation with strong commitment to the environment and human rights; hence the necessity to integrate sustainability into to business. Not CSR as an external philanthropic activity; but sustainable business as core business for any company. Two executive leader s attending the programme shared some insights with ScandAsia. Oliver Ye Yang, Deputy Secretary General of Shanghai Soong Ching Ling (SSCIF, a public welfare foundation), has been working in the field of corporate social responsibility ever since 2005 and he said they have a quite active CSR practitioner’s group in China. He star ted his CSR career with The American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai building up from scratch the Chamber’s CSR programme during eight years. Wulandari Setyaningsih is Head of Legal at the French company Sanofi Indonesia said the SIMP Asia is designed to benefit her organisation as well through the individual project that each participant most select Wulandari said that sustainable business is not a common concept in Indonesia. “Working in the pharmaceutical industry it’s a sensitive, a highly regulated industry, I really wanted to know how sustainable business concept can be implemented in this sector in Indonesia.”
“CSR in Indonesia is mostly limited to philanthropic activities or giving donations, doing something for the community; it’s a one stop activity, with no follow up,” she reflected. “When we had the module in Sweden, all the concepts and ideas we got from the speakers in Sweden were from western point of views. But then when we reflected what we learned I think it can be doable in Asia. But the next question is actually how, because running business in Indonesia is still profit-driven business and making it sustainable from environmental, human rights, responsible supply chain point of view, it means more investment, but it’s not impossible. It’s about how we can educate, actually. It was an eye-opener.” Oliver Ye Yang’s motivation was mainly to refresh his knowledge on sustainability development and CSR – and he had heard a lot about how Scandinavian countries being leaders within sustainability. “I wanted to learn more about best practices, since our foundation basically facilitates the companies and advices them and also to allocate resources for them to better implement their CSR programme or design a CSR strategy. So the best practice I see from SIMP Asia can be replicated and be passed forward to our partners or potential foundations partners.” The visit to Sweden he found as most interesting, getting to understand the global impact and dynamics of business through the value and supply chains. According to Oliver, the special value of the program was bringing the participants together to achieve an influence in their home countries. “In ten or twenty years from now you can imagine what the alumni network will have become! It’s significant, amazing, I would say! Any time someone wants to establish a concrete, solid programme to address certain business issues, regarding sustainability, he or she will through this network have the possibility to mobilise dozens of people from different backgrounds and working in different sectors.” As for the status of sustainability in China he said that there is still tremendous amount of work to do. “A tiny percentage of companies are today able to develop their business in a sustainable way. The majority, big companies or SMEs are still stuck with traditional models. So there’s huge responsibility for people working in the sustainable development field,” he said, though optimistic about the room for implementation. December 2016 • ScandAsia.China 13
Business
Danish game company grows in Southeast Asia
By Joakim Persson
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anish-owned PlayLab is a mobile games company based in and focusing on Southeast Asia as future growth market, with a global success landed with their ‘Juice Cubes’. As their third developed game became their break-through they quickly grew from a team of 20 people to over 100 within a short period of time. CEO and co-founder Jakob Lykkegaard Pedersen held a presentation at the Techsauce start-up summit earlier this year and ScandAsia got a chance to get insights into the gaming industr y and how PlayLab has grown into a success and continues expanding, striving to create the best games for iOS and Android devices along with Facebook. Along with Danish co-founder Thomas Andreasen Jakob tstar ted Playlab and a third Dane, their CFO Kasper Kragelund has also invested into the company. Legally based in Hong Kong they have games labs in Bangkok and Manila. Anino Games (Manila) that Playlab bought up is their fifth games team that focuses on developing Playlab’s casino slots games further. The games company has also received a $5 million investment from Monk’s Hill Venture in one of the largest games VC deals in Southeast Asia to date. PlayLab was basically born out of Jakob’s initial
14 ScandAsia.China • December 2016
intention to move to Asia, first aiming at Japan, but ended up instead in Thailand where there was no teach start-up or anything back then. “I didn’t really feel like the lifestyle was fully there,” he comments on Japan, and randomly came by Thailand that he could live here and build up his business. “There was no one really to communicate with, but I liked the country and the lifestyle enough.” His interest in Asia was also based on the business potential. “I could see that Europe and the US felt were stagnant. I didn’t feel that things were going as fast and I was impressed by the heavy growth that was happening in Asia in general and that was what attracted me.” Jakob had done a start-up previously, which was a plug-and-play editor for Facebook pages, which was quickly bought up by a US company, and him eventually bought out. “I then started investing into different startups in Thailand, early on when there was really also no angel investor community. And one of these investments was into a gaming company, so I bought my way into a gaming company.” Ten the team of fifteen people in Thai team decided to shift focus, moving to mobile and into more social games. “And I came from a background of doing Facebook applications, so we moved into this
where people can play against each other and leveraging Facebook heavily to build it up.” The third game became a real hit on the global market, we have over 25 million downloads on it and it has generated more than 18 million dollars, and is still generating revenue. That was the game that also really kick-started the growth of the studio.” The success with Juice Cubes meant having problems with server issues, mainly due to lack of expertise in Thailand to handle hat big servers, explains Jakob. “When you scale up games that fast you need cloud servers that can handle it. The game still communicates with our servers to keep the information and keep game saved.” The remedy was to find internal talent, which the do mainly do in Denmark and the rest of Europe. “So our Bangkok team is 50 per cent foreigners, many from Denmark and France.” Succeeding in getting popular with a game very much depends on the game as such, explains Jakob: “in the case of Juice Cubes, for every user that we got in he/she invited three friends that signed up to play. So we could do marketing to get one users and get three friends in per user on average. That is also why you can grow that fast.” To market this game they spent mostly on Facebook advertising.
“They have a lot more information about the users so we can more specifically target based on interest. So for Juice Cubes we have spent over two million us dollars up to now.” Google and Apple mainly are the main distributors of the game: “As long as we get approved to the apple store, for instance, they will handle all the credit cards and download. Apple gets a thirty per cent cut of all sales that happen on the iphones but they also help with some of the promotion.” All mobile games, these days, are free to download while the revenue comes from no more than five per cent of player who spend money. “Angry Birds was probably the last successful Premium game, it cost you a few dollars to download the game but in today’s markets most games you download are free. Instead you focus on when they are in the game, in app purchases. If you don’t spend money you might have to wait ten hours for building to get done, but if you pay money it gets done instantly. So you now get users to spend several times.Those that buy spend a lot. Around 0.1 per cent of them, the super spenders, several of them spent more than 10 000 us dollars in our puzzle game alone!” You have people who are addicted to it; usually American housewives who have plenty of time and money and are in need of something to do. They haven’t been playing games for many years; it’s a completely new market,” says Jakob and says that they are not against the freemium games [game provided free of charge, but money (premium) being charged for proprietary features] like others who try to complete the game without spending money. “American housewives are not that way; they
As long as we get approved to the apple store, for instance, they will handle all the credit cards and download. Apple gets a thirty per cent cut of all sales that happen on the iphones but they also help with some of the promotion.
think that this is normal so it is easier for them to adopt the culture of actually spending money on mobile games as entertainment.” Their games were mainly built for the U.S market as they have the best online payment penetration and while they are still competing on the western market they have decided to go after Southeast Asia.
“There is not really any player in Southeast Asia and that’s the market we want to grab, that has been neglected so long that you cannot even pinpoint any specific market here now.” “You can see that the growth here is incredible, 50 per cent year-on-year growth of both revenues and downloads.Where Southeast Asia is unique is that they kind of jumped over the PC generation and directly to smart phones.That’s why you have Line so successful, for instance.” As for finding talented team members it is 50/50 locals and westerners. “For local talent in Thailand you have great art, animation, and also some good game designers. But of course you don’t have the experience in Thailand and that’s where we can bring in people from overseas, even our lead art is Danish. And you have in Scandinavian a different style in sense of quality. But he is able to train a local team to get up to that level. So our games are by far globally competitive; on par with global successes in terms of production value.” Scandinavia is a good source for talent, based on its success in the gaming industry. “You have really good schools, art schools and development schools, so you can get really good people from Scandinavia at the moment.” As for the local star t-up scene Jakob comments: “For the last three years it’s been crazy growth within that; we now have events like Techsauce that we would never have seen a few years ago. I didn’t know a single guy in tech in Thailand, but the last three years you started with co-working spaces, got the investors in, even the telecoms feeling that it’s trendy to do start-ups so they started promoting it and that’s where we now have a local Thai scene as well, building start-ups.”
December 2016 • ScandAsia.China 15
Business
Scania’s premium bus factory inaugurated in China
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cania has together with the Chinese company Higer inaugurated a new, stateof-the-art bus and coach factory in Suzhou, China. This new plant will exclusively build Scania Touring and Scania-Higer dual-branded high-end buses and coaches. After ten years together with Higer Scania’s President and CEO Henrik Henriksson says that the cooperation has grown into a successful project, although it has developed differently from what they first thought it would be. “I think both parties expected that China would be the main market for our cooperation, but, as it has turned out, most of our joint products have been sold overseas. To date, we have sold close to 2,500 premium coaches to over 40 overseas markets and we are the leading exporter of premium coaches out of China.” With the financial crisis in 2008 demand for high-end coaches vanished in the Chinese market, a trend reinforced by the extensive investment in high-speed trains over the following years. But with a growing and increasingly resourceful Chinese middle class, demand is on the rise again for long-distance travel by high quality buses and coaches. The new factor y will strengthen Scania and Higer as the leading exporter of premium coaches from China, as well as sales of premium coaches in the Chinese market. “So, adding the good reputation of our products abroad and the potential of China, we anticipate much bigger volumes. In order to
be able to meet these volumes, and in order to improve the quality even further, this modern factory comes at the right time,” Mr Henriksson said. The Scania-Higer cooperation is purely a commercial partnership, where Higer provides bodybuilding exper tise, while Scania supplies the chassis and the experience of international customer demands. Jointly with Higer, Scania´s team of stylists gives the coaches a distinct Scania character. The 250 factor y employees in the new Suzhou facility will be working with the same efficient production processes, integrated quality stations and continuous improvements as there are in Scania´s other production units for trucks and buses around the world. The current capacity of the new Chinese factory is 1,000 premium coaches per year, with the potential capacity for as many as 2,000. Scania is a par t of Volkswagen Truck & Bus GmbH and one of the world’s leading manufacturers of trucks and buses for heavy transpor t applications. Scania is also leading provider of industrial and marine engines. Service-related products account for a growing proportion of the company’s operations, assuring Scania customers of cost-effective transpor t solutions and maximum uptime. Scania also offers financial services. Research and development activities are concentrated in Sweden. In 2015, net sales totalled SEK 95 billion and net income amounted to SEK 6.8 billion.
Volvo Cars’ new China strategy and expansion
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olvo Cars, the premium car maker, has in November 2016 unveiled a new manufacturing strategy for China in which production capacity will be increased and a global manufacturing and export hub will be developed, servicing growing demand for its new range of cars in the US, Europe and Asia Pacific. Volvo Cars will make its top-of-the-range S90-series cars based on its Scalable Product Architecture (SPA) at its plant in Daqing, Heilongjiang province, in northern China. In the future the production of the new S90 premium sedan will also be moved from Europe to China. The Swedish company also announced that existing and future 60-series medium-sized SPAbased cars will be built at its plant in Chengdu, Szechuan province, in Western China, while its planned 40 series smaller cars, based on its Compact Modular Architecture (CMA), will be made at a plant that is currently being built in Luqiao, 350km south of Shanghai. “With three plants – and the designation of one car line for each plant – Volvo creates an efficient production structure ensuring future capacity for growth,” said Håkan Samuelsson, president and chief executive. The Luqiao plant, which is owned by Zhejiang Geely Holdings but operated by Volvo Cars, will 16 ScandAsia.China • December 2016
make Volvo’s new range of smaller 40-series CMA-based cars, as well as CMA-based cars for LYNK & CO. This is the new car brand launched in October by Geely Auto. Volvo’s expanded production capacity in China forms an integral part of its broader global industrial footprint. Volvo currently operates two plants in Europe, in Sweden and Belgium. The Sweden
plant in Gothenburg will continue to make 90 series and 60 series SPA cars while its plant in Ghent, Belgium, will in future be a CMA-only production facility making new 40 series cars. Volvo has paved the way in developing China’s exports of locally made cars to global markets. It was the first Western car maker to expor t a premium China-made car to the US in 2015 with the S60 Inscription.
Business
Atria Finland starts pork export to China
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tria is a growing Finnish food company with an international presence. Its success is built on three pillars: food, people and traditions. Atria Finland Ltd on 12 October 2016 received an official confirmation of the pork expor t license to China. Chinese licensing authorities have admitted Atria’s production plant in Nurmo Finland a site-specific export license for pork meat to China. Export license is a significant driver of development and expansion for Atria’s business. Atria is one of the leading food companies in the Nordic countries, Russia and the Baltic region, with experience stretching over 110 years. Atria aims to cooperate with Chinese partners for the long-term and has conducted surveys and prepared commercial arrangements to start the exports to China. Export operations are intended to launch as soon as possible. “Negotiations with Chinese and Finnish licensing authorities were successful. Authorities are convinced of Atria’s high quality. We now have a unique opportunity to enter the Chinese market and expand our business in a new market area. At this point, we do not yet know the future economic impact. “ says Atria Group CEO Juha Gröhn.
Danish Crown to open own meat plant in China
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uropean meat processor Danish Crown has announced it will establish a processing plant in China, invest app. DKK 300 million, as part of its strategy towards 2021. It is to be situated in Shanghai and the production will be based on Danish raw material. Today Danish Crown is already a big and successful exporter of fresh pork and the socalled “China goods” – i.e. trotters, ears, tails etc. which the Chinese love, appreciate and pay well for. Summing up Danish Crown is already measured in value Denmark’s second largest exporter of goods to China, only surpassed by Kopenhagen Fur. But there is more to be had.The sale of meat to Chinese consumers continues to a large extent to be from so-called wetmarkets where the pig is sold cut into relatively large pieces, which the consumer can see and touch. However, China’s consumer pattern is rapidly changing. “Actually three things are happening: First, much of the consumption is moving into foodservice or restaurants similar to the USA or Europe. Second, we see a vast increase of e-Commerce where groceries are bought and delivered at home. This is growing immensely in China and cities such as Shanghai likely have the world’s most advanced e-Commerce market.The third trend is that consumers in supermarkets have also started buying retail-packed products
precisely as we know from Denmark,” says Jais Valeur, CEO. From frequent visits to China the Danisyh CEO has noted that Chinese consumers have many common characteristics with consumers in Europe. The Chinese also have less time to be at home cooking food from scratch than they had a few years back. Their wishes and demands for convenience, quality and animal welfare is therefore increasing. Denmark and Danish raw material is in this connection popular. “It is therefore evident that we should try to capitalise on this by our own production. Is this a chance we are taking? Yes, it is, but this is one of the chances we should take as a big company and try to see if we can get closer to the market, closer to consumers and further up in the value chain in China – rather than just being a raw material supplier,” says Jais Valeur.
December 2016 • ScandAsia.China 17
Business
Slush Shanghai gathers 5 000 attendees
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n 31 October 2016 Slush, one of the world’s most prestigious start-up events from Finland, was held in Shanghai, gathering 5,000 attendees including 270 startups, 360 investors, 120 journalists and 500 volunteers from 48 countries. Last year Slush was organized in Beijing, China for the first time. This year it was time to move
south to the biggest city of China, Shanghai. “Slush Shanghai is aiming to build bridges between China and the rest of the world. China has sometimes been considered as the “nation of copycats”. What the rest of the world doesn’t see yet, is that China is in fact ahead of everyone else when it comes to several technologies and how they are integrated into the everyday life of the
teeming masses,” explained Chen Wang, the Main Organizer of Slush Shanghai. Looking at the final numbers of Slush Shanghai, the organizers are extremely happy about the level of internationalization of the event. “Slush Shanghai is our third global Slush event in 2016, and there’s one more to come in Helsinki. This year marked a new exciting chapter in our global community’s history,” says Olga Balakina, Head of Global Operations at Slush. On the Pitching Stage 50 startups from all over the world will take the stage to pitch in front of the judges. The competition is divided into five different badges and the winner will be announced on the Heaven Stage later today. Slush, together with a dozen Nordic startup organizations, also brought a delegation of 200 founders, ecosystem leaders, investors, executives, and journalists to Shanghai.This is the fourth time Slush brings the entire #NordicMade community together. Our trip to Shanghai was about meeting local investors and the community here,” explained Jessica Blechingberg, Head of Nordic Operations at Slush. 40 start-ups from the Nordics were visiting Slush Shanghai. Source: Jessica Blechingberg, Slush
Southern Sweden Creatives at Hong Kong design expo
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outhern Sweden Creatives, eight of southern Sweden’s most innovative design companies exhibited at InnoDesignTech Expo (IDTE) in Hong Kong during 1 - 3 December 2016. The exhibition highlighted the breadth of innovation and design that southern Sweden has to offer. Participating companies were looking for business opportunities and partnerships, not only in Hong Kong but around Asia and the world. Visitors were able to interact with graphic design, play with robots, find out how a bike seat for children can also be a stroller, see truly innovative products and ser vices made by Blackberr y, Apple and Sony mobile veterans, encounter unique educational experiences for kids, feel reindeer moss and try the latest lifestyle gadgets. The trade mission was conducted in the framework of the Southern Sweden Creatives project which suppor ts Swedish companies in the creative and cultural industries to grow internationally and is currently largest export-
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related project for the cultural and creative industries in Sweden. “It is extremely challenging as an international indie-developer to reach out in China by ourselves, so we look forward to meeting local game developers who can help us navigate the over 400 app stores available for android apps”, said Jaana Nykanen, CEO at Divine Robot, one of the participants. “Earlier this year China surpassed the USA when it comes to profits from iOSgames, and it became clear that the Chinese games market can’t be ignored, especially when it comes to mobile.” Business Developers from Invest in Skåne, along with matchmaking consultants were also on site in Hong Kong and had pre-booked over 30 relevant meetings for the companies attending. “What is special about this project is that we help SME companies in their internationalisation, facilitate and coach a meeting with a distributor or hold a workshop. We engage and monitor the companies prior, during and after the activities
and secure that they are tooled with the right competence and material to be able to go out internationally,” said Business Development Manager and Deputy Project Leader at Invest in Skåne, Maria Larsson. The par ticipating companies were Påhoj, Nordgröna, Divine Robot, Block Zero, Mint, Minut, Iamrunbox and Madmap. The Southern Sweden Creatives project supports small and medium- sized companies from the cultural and creative industries to grow internationally through professional business development, international exposure, and national coordination. The project focuses on southern Swedish companies that work primarily with film and tv, digital games, digital media and design and is co-financed by the European Union and the Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth. Southern Sweden Creatives is a 3-year project supporting companies in the cultural and creative industries to grow internationally. The project is carried out by 9 partner organisations in southern Sweden. The project focus areas are film & tv, digital games, design and media. Southern Sweden is one of the world’s most dynamic and creative regions, acknowledged as a hotspot for design and innovation. According to Forbes Magazine, Malmö, the region’s largest city, is the world’s fourth most inventive. Southern Sweden is the home of the milk car ton, the invisible bicycle helmet, Bluetooth technology and the mobile phone, inventions that have truly changed the way we lead our lives.
ScandAsia means Business!
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re you aware of our steadfast business section in ScandAsia? You may have noticed our strengthened focus - in print and online - on innovations, business solutions, joint ventures, star t-ups, trade etc. This is now further enhanced as Business pages in the magazines and with the dedicated ‘Business in Asia’ channel, along with adding business categories, online! The digital economy, business disruption and start-ups etc. are having significant impact on all business sectors and trade, boosting the economies of the future. SEA’s countries are in parallel taking significant steps forward and increasingly getting the deserved attention as their respective populations’ middle-to-high income earners are growing and their respective economies are forecasted to continue having strong growth in the decades to come. Investors and entrepreneurs from the Nordics are tapping into this by setting up business in SEA/Asia and targeting the region as a growth market for their products and services. While each Nordic country has its particular strong sectors, business is now spanning across the board, much thanks to the digital economy and the Nordics’ strong capability within innovation and star t-ups. Simultaneously, several Nordic countries are moving their focus from development to business support, ready to assist market entrance in for instance Vietnam. The developments and trends that define and shape the business climate are covered by ScandAsia. We award coverage to all stakeholders; introducing new start-ups and business concepts and portraying how larger corporations are adapting their businesses and preparing for the future, and also how the innovations, solutions and know-how from the Nordic countries can find markets and gain market shares in Asia. With this brief introduction we want to put the spotlight on the increasing importance of B2B and B2C for ScandAsia! Build awareness around your brand and product (s) through storytelling and engagement!
And did you know: • That ScandAsia is the only dedicated media reaching out and communicating all things of relevancy in connection to the Nordic countries - SEA/China? • That ScandAsia can assist your business in various ways by communicating news and events as well as other commercial messages (sharing news and events, republish PR, advertorial, email blast, print and e-magazine marketing, e-marketing…)? • That you can publish your own content marketing on ScandAsia.com?
• That you can have your complimentar y personal and company profile as one of our members on ScandAsia.com (with high-ranking result on Google) and that our web traffic is close to 100,000 readers monthly! • That you can get extra print copies of the magazine edition featuring your business for an affordable price?
For further information and prices contact: Mobile: +66 (0) 8 9761 6701, Ph: +66 (0) 2943 7166-8, , joakim@scandasia.com, gregers@scandmedia.com
At Stenhus High School you can either attend Pre-IB in English or take the Danish STX og HF exam. Stenhus High School is one of the largest high schools in Denmark offering a big variety of subjects and extracurricular activities.