MAY 2017
Danish Mini-MBA
fills market gap in Singapore BUSINESS
TRADE
COMMUNITY
PEOPLE
Finnish delegation at Ageing Asia Innovation Forum
Tekes and Finpro to become ‘Business Finland’
New NBAS Board elected
Singapore Minister visited Danish Church
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European Union Film Festival 2017
17 MAY 20
Events
Where: National Gallery Singapore, 1 Saint Andrew’s Road, #01–01, Singapore When: 11 May - 21 May Sweden and Finland are among the countries promoted as the European Union Film Festival takes place for the 27th time on 11-21 May 2017. In the setting of National Gallery Singapore, 27 movies from 27 European countries will be presented. Award+-winning Finnish Film “The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Maki”, a true story about a famous Finnish Boxer, will be showed on 17 May. The Swedish contribution will be showed on 21 May and is about two young girls Sophie and Alice who are looking forward to their life after high school graduation. But these dreams are shattered when Alice suddenly and mysteriously disappears. Searching for answers, Sophie retraces Alice’s steps through Berlin, leading her on a life-changing journey that will open her eyes to a world of both beauty and darkness.
A i-MB apore h Mpin in Sing Damnais rket ga
fills
ESS BUSIN gation
dele Finnish Asia at Ageing n Forum Innovatio
Where: Science Park Drive, #04-04 The Cavendish Building Singapore When: Wednesday 24 May 2017, 18:30 - 20:30 85 remains within the remaining 6 billion people who demand tasty, healthy, natural, safe and affordable food and nutrition, and Chr. Hansen seeks to fulfil this demand with their range of natural solutions. In 2010, Chr. Hansen was reintroduced on the stock exchange after 5 years of private equity ownership. The company has also significantly expanded its market presence in emerging markets i.e. China. Chr. Hansen has just reaffirmed their Nature’s no. 1 Strategy and communicated their longterm 8-10% organic growth ambition supported by a series of strong megatrends. The company recently completed a study examining long-term, structural trends in food and health and will discuss how these findings relate to consumers’ food and life choices.
SWEA Summer Day May 2017 Where: t.b.a When: 26 May, 11:30 - 14:00 “Summer is approaching with big steps. Some of us leave Singapore in the summer, others move on to other places. But before we part, we will meet once more for a summer lunch before the regular summer break.” The program group will publish with more information about time and place and registration form on the website: http://singapore.swea.org/
Tekes and me to beco s Finland’ ‘Busines
UNITY COMM S New NBA ted Board elec
PEOPLEMinister e Singapor ish visited Dan Church
Your FREE ScandAsia Magazine in Singapore
Chr. Hansen – Improving Food & Health
Something big is happening in the world of food and health. Chr. Hansen Executive Vice President Sten Estrup Nielsen and the APAC team in Singapore are hosting an event to present the company’s products and share how they turn insights into opportunities. Ever y day, more than 1 billion people worldwide consume a product with a natural Chr. Hansen ingredient. Significant potential
TRADE Finpro
ScandAsia is the only magazine that covers all the Danish, Finnish, Norwegian and Swedish residents in Singapore. We also publish a ScandAsia magazine in China, Thailand, and the rest of South East Asia.
Get your own FREE copy: scandasia.com Publisher : ScandAsia Publishing Co., Ltd. 211 Soi Prasert Manukitch 29 Prasert Manukitch Road Chorakae Bua, Lad Prao Bangkok 10230, Thailand Tel. +66 2 943 7166-8, Fax: +66 2 943 7169 Editor-in-Chief : Gregers A.W. Møller gregers@scandmedia.com Managing Editor: Joakim Persson Joakim@scandmedia.com Advertising : Frank Leong frank@scandasia.com Finn Balslev finn@scandmedia.com Graphic Designer : Peerapol Meesuwan Peerapol@scandmedia.com Distribution : Wanvisa Rattanaburi wanvisa@scandmedia.com Printing : Inthanon Interprint Co., Ltd.
May 2017
ScandAsia Community
5 New NBAS Board 2017 6 DABS Committee for 2017/2018 6 SWA Ladies Business Night
10
Mr Asger Daugbjerg The Danish Director leading IME Singapore
10
Mini-MBA at IME Singapore
5
ScandAsia Business
7 Norwegian Energy Collaboratorium Singapore
The platform for innovative collaboration joined eSmart Systems
Mr. Fredrik Lager
13
The new Swedish General Manager for Nordea Asia
6
13 Singapore tryb Capital
Invests in Swedish cloud platfor
14 Finland at Ageing Asia Innovation Forum
6
Finnish solutions presented in Singapore
17 Business Finland
14
Merger of Tekes and Finpro announced
H.E. Paula Parviainen
Finland’s Ambassadar presented Finland Pavilion at Aeging Asia One-Stop Shop for all your editing, design, printing and digital printing needs
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4 ScandAsia.Singapore • May 2017
Community
New NBAS Board 2017 elected
O
n 31 March the Annual General Meeting of NBAS, Norwegian Business Association (Singapore) elected its new
Board. Two new members joined the board, namely Mr Magnus Grimeland (Global Fashion Group) and Mr Erik Strømsø (Pareto Securities Asia). NBAS also welcome their new Executive Director, Ms Silje Kalsaas. NBAS also thanked Ms Una Skram for her contribution to NBAS and wished her all the best. Norwegian Embassy in Singapore commented that they are looking forward to continuing their close cooperation with the Norwegian Business Association (Singapore), and welcomeed Ms Silje Kalsaas.They also like to welcomed NBAS’ newest board members. Sources: Norwegian Business Association (Singapore), Norwegian Embassy in Singapore
Singapore Minister visits little Denmark at Mount Faber
O
n Wednesday 29 March 2017 the Danish Seamen’s Church in Singapore welcomed Khaw Boon Wan, Singapore’s Coordinating Minister for Infrastructure and Minister for Transport, to a visit at the beautiful Danish Church located on Mount Faber in Singapore. Dorte Bech Vizard, the Danish Ambassador to Singapore and the Port Chaplain at Sømandskirken Singapore accompanied the Minister on his visit. The Danish Ambassador decribes the church as a lovely second home to Danes living in Singapore. Khaw Boon Wan also seemed to think very fondly of the Danish church.
“The church is of great cultural importance to the Danish community in Singapore and had been used as a community gathering space for many years. It will soon undergo some restoration works and I took the opportunity yesterday afternoon to visit it with the Ambassador, before the works begin. Housed in the building called Golden Bell Mansion, the mix of architectural styles and redand-white stripes makes it unique. It is also very special as it goes beyond its missionary duties to also promote the welfare of Danish seafarers.The next time you visit Mount Faber, do look out for this little piece of Denmark,” wrote the Minister on Facebook following his visit. May 2017 • ScandAsia.Singapore 5
Community
DABS Committee for the year 2017/2018
D
anish Business Association Singapore thanked all for showing support at their AGM on Thursday 23 March. “After a successful and well-attended meeting our members and guests had time for networking while enjoying the Danish dinner favourite: ‘Stegt Flæsk og Persillesovs’.”
The elected DABS Committee for the year 2017/2018 is as follows:
President, Ms Stine Martinussen, Faststream Recruitment Pte Ltd Honorary Vice President, Ambassador Ms Dorte Bech Vizard, The Royal Danish Embassy Honorary Secretary, Mr Peter Draminsky, Regent Singapore, A Four Seasons Hotel Interim Honorary Treasurer, Ms Stine Martinussen, Faststream Recruitment Pte Ltd 1st Vice President, Mr Torben Friis Lange, AAKSG Pte Ltd 2nd Vice President, Ms Mette Line Pedersen, Viking Life-Saving Equipment Pte Ltd
Committee Members:
Mr Anders Peter Sauerberg, Norbreeze Pte Ltd Mr Asger Daugbjerg, IME Singapore Pte Ltd Mr Jan Lund, Asia Advisor Ms Lise Demandt, Svitzer Asia Pte Ltd Ms Sarah Versari, COTY Mr Søren Klitgaard Salling, Salling Search Pte Ltd Ms Trine Andersen, JuhlerGroup Asia Pte Ltd
SWA held Ladies Business Night with Nordea
O
n 19 April Scandinavian Women’s Association held the event Ladies’ Business Night at LinkedIn Asia-Pacific HQ Singapore, on the theme ‘Passion and Investment’. Investments isn’t always about numbers and figures, it could also be about passion. What you feel passionately – or not passionately about. What you are passionate about could also make a good investment. However, how can you make sure that your passion is also sustainable? Strategic Advisor at Nordea, Duro Schlafer, will give you some examples and insight into about how to keep your passion long lasting as an investment. “It was great night of insightful presentations and valuable networking,” SWA wrote. The guests’ taste buds were also pampered by small canapés and bottled cocktails, sparkling wine and white wine, courtesy of VASCO. Scandinavian Women’s Association is a Singapore organisation dedicated to raising funds for local charities helping families in need and girls’ scholarships to college through exciting networking events. SWA is orginally a Scandinavian initiative, but welcomes all nationalities!
New SWEA Singapore Board elected for 2017
S
WEA Singapore received a new board on 22 February 2017 as the annual meeting at the Caribbean @ Keppel Bay. After the annual meeting everyone was invited to good Indian lunch with rice, butter chicken, chicken Tikka, Palak paneer and more and accompanied by strong sauces as condimments. New Board 2017 consists of, back from left to right: Kristina Meijer (Program Manager) Sofia Malmbratt (Webmaster) Pernilla Hjelm Danielsson (Members manager) Annika Larsson (Editor); front row from left: Caroline Kjellme (Donation manager) Emma Sjöberg (Secretary) Eveline Sidenvall (Chairman) ) Maria Palm (Vice-President). An addition SWEA elected Annie Lilja as new treasurer. Source: SWEA Singapore 6 ScandAsia.Singapore • May 2017
Business
Norwegian Energy Collaboratorium, Singapore joins eSmart Systems
e
Smar t Systems’ Managing Director in Asia, Henrik Bache has signed the m e m b e r s h i p a g r e e m e n t fo r T h e Norwegian Energy Collaboratorium (NEC) in Singapore, together with Per Christer Lund, Science and Technology Counsellor at Innovation Norway Singapore and The Research Council of Norway. The Norwegian Ambassador to Singapore, Mr Tormod C. Andresen, and Director of Innovation Norway, Singapore, Torunn Aas Taralrud all witnessed the signing. N E C i s a “ p l a t fo r m fo r i n n ov a t i ve
collabor ation” between Norwegian and Singaporean companies, research institutions and universities engaged in the energy markets in South East Asia. NEC is an initiative by Innovation Norway Singapore, the Research Council of Norway and Energy Research Institute at Nanyang Technological University (ERI@N). The objective of NEC is thus to guide and support existing and “incoming” Norwegian energy companies to these markets through networking, internal collaboration and bridges to existing energy “eco-systems” of companies, institutions and gover nment agencies in
Singapore and other hubs in the region. NEC is a membership organization with several Norwegian companies, universities and research institutes on the member list, including Elkem/ REC, DNV GL, Nordpool, eSmar t Systems, NTNU and University of Oslo. eSmart Systems develops digital intelligence for the energy industry and smart communities. The company is based on more than 20 years of international experience in establishing and operating knowledge based and leading IT and energy related companies targeting global markets. Its platform is designed to handle Internet of Things, big data and analytics in real time. It gives grid operators insight into the distribution network, it makes it possible to trade energy in a local market, and it can be used to monitor air quality in a city. Common to all applications is large amounts of data from sensors, analysed using models for prediction and optimization. This results in completely new ways to visualize data, make decisions and save resources and costs. Source: Henriette Forsetlund of eSmart Systems
How can you make your money work while you enjoy life?
Michael Kaj Blom Michael.Blom@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).
May 2017 • ScandAsia.Singapore 7
Business
Finland minister attended Suomi Finland 100 Singapore seminar
A
Suomi Finland 100 Singapore seminar on Creating Solutions for Active Ageing – Together, gathered over 100 participants on 27 April. Ms. Pirkko Mattila, Minister of Social Affairs and Health of Finland met with Mr. Chee Hong Tat, Minister of State for Health of Singapore in a meet and greet session before the seminar. The Ministers discussed mutual challenges in healthcare and exchanged good practices in active ageing. During Minister Mattila’s one day visit to Singapore she also met with Mr. Tan Chuan-Jin, Minister for Social and Family Development, Mr. Gan Kim Yong, Minister for Health and Mr. Lim Swee Say, Minister for Manpower. Source: Embassy of Finland, Singapore Pictures courtesy of Marica Salokangas
Danish, Norwegian and Singaporean maritime authorities agree on E-Certificates MoU
O
n 24 April 2017 the with The Danish Maritime Authority (DMA) together w i t h t h e N o r we g i a n M a r i t i m e Authority (Sjøfar tsdirektoratet), and Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore – MPA signed a Memorandum of Understanding. The MoU promotes the adoption of E-Cer tificates (E-Cer ts) for the shipping community as par t of move to digitalise the shipping industry for greater efficiencies. This is believed to be the first MoU anywhere in the world between the maritime authorities of European nations and an Asian country that promotes the acceptance and use of E-Certs over hard copy documents practised by the shipping community today. The MoU was signed by Mr Andreas Nordseth, Director General of the Danish Maritime Authority; Mr Andrew Tan, Chief Executive of MPA; and His Excellency Tormod C. Endresen, Norwegian Ambassador to Singapore on behalf of the Norwegian Maritime Authority. The signing ceremony was done at the sidelines of the Singapore Maritime Week, the leading maritime event which gathers the international maritime community in Singapore for a week of conferences, dialogues, exhibitions and social events in celebration of all things maritime. The areas of cooperation under the MOU include the promotion and use of E-Certs on ships registered under the respective flags of the parties, the acceptance of E-Certs for port entry and Port State Control inspections, as well as the sharing of information and experiences relating to issuance, use and acceptance of E-Certs. The shipping business is traditionally a paperintensive industr y. Hard copies of over two dozen certificates such as Certificate of Registry, Certificate of Class and Load Line Certificates, among others, are kept on board ships to provide proof that the vessels are compliant with the various regulations or conventions applicable to them. 8 ScandAsia.Singapore • May 2017
Signatories of the E-Certs MoU, from left Mr Andreas Nordseth, Director General of the Danish Maritime Authority, Mr Andrew Tan, Chief Executive of MPA and His Excellency Tormod C. Endresen, Norwegian Ambassador to Singapore on behalf of the Norwegian Maritime Authority The heavy reliance on hardcopy certificates means that stakeholders such as flag administrations, classification societies, seafarers and shipowners, have to incur considerable manpower and financial commitments in the preparation, printing and delivery of these certificates. In recent years, new technologies and increasing digitalisation have impacted our lives and business operations and the shipping industry is no exception. Converting the hardcopy certificates to E-Certs is part of the digitalisation movement to reduce these administrative burdens in the shipping industry. “Through such initiatives as e-certification, Singapore seeks to harness the growing importance of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) to prepare the maritime sector for a digital future. We look forward to working with more partners to promote the use of technology in the industry. The time is ripe for this. I am glad that Denmark, Norway and Singapore have led the way to show the potential
of harnessing ICT to improve administrative efficiency while reducing costs for the benefit of the industry,” said Mr Andrew Tan, Chief Executive of MPA. His Excellency Tor mod C . Endresen, Norwegian Ambassador to Singapore said: “The time is now ripe to pursue the rewards which can be realised by the prospects of extending the use of and capitalise on the information technology in the maritime shipping industry.” According to Mr Andreas Nordseth, Director General of the Danish Maritime Authority there is still more to do before the maritime world can truly reap the benefits of digitalisation. He said, “Our first target is to inspire and support more countries to implement similar solutions. The reduction of paperwork benefits all stakeholders as it makes the entire maritime sector more efficient.We hold high hopes that the MoU signed today will encourage many countries to complete a similar transition.”
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Business
Danish Mini-MBA
fills market gap in Singapore
We are targeting people who desire to acquire new skills which they can use immediately because they need it NOW. That’s the ideal IME client and that is why we came to Singapore. Asger Daugbjerg By Gregers Moller Photos: Kim Tonning
10 ScandAsia.Singapore • May 2017
I
ME Singapore has fast become well known in Scandinavian business circles in Singapore despite the fact that the Danish management education provider established the company in Singapore only last year in October. Prior to that, IME was offering its signature Mini-MBA only in Denmark. “We decided to expand IME to Singapore because we have identified a gap in the market which we believe exists also in Singapore,” explains Asger Daugbjerg, the 54 year old Danish Director, who is leading IME Singapore. “Business schools are in general quite conservative,” he explains. “They all offer close to the same programme and call it an Executive MBA. It is a 18 to 24 months huge investment in time and costs between 50.000 to 100.000 dollars.” “People see this and say:“Whoa! This is a lot of money and how could I take out that many hours for 18 of 24 months!” And so instead of pursuing their dream, they end up with nothing.” “They have the ambition, they have the desire, they even have some money and they are ready to allocate some time - but not that kind of time! And that is why they end up with nothing!” IME’s mini-MBA is designed for these people, Asger Daugbjerg explains “Let me give you an example. Last week I had a chat with this woman. She is an Asian and started her own chain of retail shops in Singapore some years ago. Today she has four retail shops and a staff of 15 to 20 people. She is smart. She is also smart enough to know, that the more successful she gets, the more management skills she needs. Skills in people management, change management, financial management, etc.” “She was looking at all these different MBA schools and said “My problem is, that I need to acquire these skills at the same time as I am running my company - and that is even more of a fulltime job today than when I started it!” “I am mentioning this lady because she is a “sweet spot” in who our target audience is,” Asger Daugbjerg explains. “We are not targeting people who need a diploma they can hang on the wall and brag about online - well, we do give them a certificate and we certainly hope they will brag about it online - but we are targeting people who desire to acquire new skills which they can use immediately because they need it NOW. That’s the ideal IME client and that is why we came to Singapore.” “Singapore has the same market gap as IME identified in Denmark. People that are looking for an MBA but get scared
away because of the time and the money. They get attracted to us because we are a better alternative - in particular to the nothing alternative,” Asger Daugbjerg essentially sums up IME’s business position.
Networking workshops
Recently, IME Singapore sent out invitations through the ScandAsia network to attract people to attend their evening seminars which are also networking events. “We pick a subject - like the recent one on digital marketing - and offer a workshop on that subject for about two hours.The point is, that you can walk out of the workshop with new knowledge that you can go straight home and apply. The workshop is about the subject not about our mini MBA,” Asger Daugbjerg points out. “I don’t speed-talk about how fantastic IME is and that you should sign up now and I will give you a 20 percent discount if you sign up before you leave the room,” Asger Daugbjerg explains. The first class of IME students is currently running. It is mostly composed of European and Scandinavian students. “It is a great group of students, but we are a Singapore based company and if my audience was only Scandinavian students I would run out of potential students in no time.” “When our current students finish, we will have our first “ambassadors” out there starting to talk about us to colleagues and friends in their networks.” The next class starts in August and finishes in December. “Ideally, we should be 20 people in each class. A class should not be too small. If you want a solid discussion with a lot of different input and perspectives then you need a pool of 20 people. From time to time some student can not attend, but with 20 students that will not have such a big impact on the quality of the class for the remaining students.” Asger Daugbjerg is the only Danish national employed in the IME Singapore company, but two of the lecturers are currently Danish as well; Michael Nielsen, Caterpillar, lecturing in Change Management and Jesper Svenningsen lecturing on Lean and Process Management. All the others are different other nationalities and there should never be too heavy a Danish presence, Asger Daugbjerg says. “We are very cautious that this is IME Singapore, not IME Denmark. Our audience is based here and we are lecturing in an Asian context and an Asian culture and not in a Danish culture. The subjects and the structure of the courses are identical but when you talk about marketing we use examples and case studies which are relevant here.”
May 2017 • ScandAsia.Singapore 11
Business
“I left Singapore because I was offered the job as Managing Director of Leo Burnett agency in Denmark. The job was to do a turnaround and that we did - and then in 2007 I had had enough of advertising after more than 20 years,” Asger explains.
Cultural differences
It is always interesting to start up something from scratch and do something where you are new in the market and your product is new and even though we did a lot of research you will never know if it works until you actually start selling it
Previously based in Singapore
Asger Daugbjerg has his background in the adver tising industr y and although it is today about 10 years ago that he left the advertising business, it is still very much who he is. It was also the advertising industry which gave him his first opportunity to work in Asia. “I was here as Regional Director for J. Walter Thompson back in the early 2000’s. The agency had its regional HQ in Bangkok, but I was based in Singapore because Unilever was their largest client and Unilever’s Asia Pacific HQ was located here.” “That meant I was flying constantly between 12 ScandAsia.Singapore • May 2017
the two cities - plus the other 15 locations in the region where the agency had business. I lived in Singapore but travelled close to 200 days a year.” “When I was here the first time, I didn’t spend any time in the Danish community. Mostly for the reason that I did not have any time to spend. I was traveling all the time,” Asger says. “This time it is different. Many of the people on our first class I met via the Danish Business Association DABS, Scandinavian Women’s Association, ScandBizBar networking and the like. That has been a huge help and a huge introduction to the Scandinavian community and potential students here.”
The idea of establishing IME in Singapore was Asger’s. He was lecturing in marketing and social media on the mini-MBA programme in Denmark when he suggested to IME that they should establish themselves here in Singapore as well. “It is always interesting to start up something from scratch and do something where you are new in the market and your product is new and even though we did a lot of research you will never know if it works until you actually start selling it,” Asger says. “When you ask people in a research phase if they think this price is fair, it is easy for them to say yes, but when you say OK I will send you an invoice tomorrow, that is the moment of truth.” “I feel my personality fits well with the Singaporean mentality. Obviously when you have lived here and when you are married to a Singaporean, you are clearly well aware of the cultural differences. But I don’t see this as a problem. I am just aware of it. Things work differently, that’s all,” Asger Daugbjerg says. “In Denmark we are more informal, more open to discussion and sharing and not so sensitive to making a mistake, which we all do, but in Singapore they are not happy to admit it. Here, on the other hand, people are extremely committed. They work hard. Ever y business cultures has it advantages and its disadvantages - I think the key is to simply be aware of that.” “I have a tremendous respect for the way Singapore has managed to establish and develop itself. They set up goals and they achieve them. They may not discuss the goals much compared to Denmark, but they are extremely focused on development and execution. I am very impressed by that. We tend to talk and talk while here they just do it.” “This country has a vision. They moved from being a manufacturing base to be a knowledge based society. It did not happen - it was envisioned and created. They turned on the long range spotlight, identified the target and then went that direction.” “I sometimes miss a discussion on the goals, I believe there would be some benefit in questioning the goal and profit on the challenge of discussing the goals even if it would mean a slight detour. But Singapore certainly gets things done.” “There are a lot of ambitious and hard working Singaporeans. It is part of the culture. The demands are high, the expectations are high, the working hours are long. It comes back to the reason why people do not have the time to do a full MBA. They don’t work 35 hours here. They work really long hours. And competition is fierce.” “In Singapore, the demands on you as a professional are fierce and there are lots of people out there who are more than willing to take your place if you don’t perform. That’s why there is such a clear demand for a programme like what IME Singapore is offering.”
Business
Fredrik Lager joins Nordea Singapore
M
r Fredrik Lager has joined the Nordic bank Nordea as Head of Nordea Bank S.A, Singapore Branch. “After 11 years with SEB, I decided the time was right to take on new professional challenges. As of 1 April 2017, I am General Manager for Nordea’s private banking business in Asia, headquar tered in Singapore,” the well-known banker tells ScandAsia. “The former GM, Kim Osborg Nielsen, will take up a more front office role as head of private banking where he will work directly with Nordea’s larger clients in the Region. Given my legal and tax background, I will of course be directly involved in the day-to-day business and work closely with Kim and the rest of the team,” he continues. “I find the opportunity to work for a large international bank, which has a clear focus to further develop its private banking business and
Nordic client base in Asia, very exciting. The ambition is to grow significantly in the coming years and at the same time ensuring the first class customer experience expected by today’s high-net-worth clients.” The new GM fur thermore says that the go-to-market model remains intact and Nordea wants to be the private bank of choice for Nordic clients in Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand, China, the Philippines and Malaysia. ScandAsia congratulates Mr Fredrik Lager on his new position!
Singaporean tryb Capital invests in Swedish cloud platform
S
ingapore-based investor tr yb Capital announced on 6 April investment to enhance Stockholm-based Chinsay’s risk and analytics platform and expand Asian presence via Singapore. tryb Capital is a Singapore-based growth stage technology investor. Chinsay’s Software-as-a-Ser vice (SaaS) solution is a vital part in the ongoing digitisation of trade and trade finance, which will connect traders, brokers, shipping companies, ports and financial institutions. Chinsay AB, with offices in Sweden and Singapore, has secured strategic investment of US$4 million, to be used to fund the continued development of Chinsay’s next-generation product and expansion into Asian markets. The platform is described as the leading cloud based platform for end-to-end administration of global commodity and freight contracts. It offers a comprehensive suite of front-end tools and the
opportunity to apply back-end APIs to enable clear productivity benefits to not only global traders, shipping companies and brokers but also ports, marketplaces and financial institutions involved in trade and trade finance. “Singapore’s position as a key shipping and trading hub made it more attractive for tryb Capital to invest into Chinsay. This is a great example of how innovative technologies from anywhere, in this case Sweden, can leverage Singapore as a growth platform into Asia,” said Magnus Böcker, Chairman and Co-Founder of tryb Capital. “Chinsay’s board and team see this as a great opportunity for the company to take in additional capital for the current expansion phase while staying fully independent and at the same time getting a strategically important shareholder with an active agenda in the technology industry. The tryb team’s experience and network within
technology will benefit Chinsay greatly as we continue influencing and driving usage of new technology in the freight and commodities markets,” commented Dag Sundén-Cullberg, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Chinsay. tryb and Chinsay’s partnership is part of the growing interest in the digitisation of trade and trade finance and Singapore’s plans to become a leading Smart Financial Centre. Chinsay provides the oppor tunity to integrate into local trade ecosystems in Asia and optimise trading processes and workflows while providing enhanced big data analytics capabilities. Markus Gnirck, Managing Director and CoFounder of tryb Capital, added: “We believe in Chinsay’s growth potential as a core component of ASEAN and global trade infrastructure. We are looking forward to working with Chinsay to continue to develop defensible intellectual property.”
May 2017 • ScandAsia.Singapore 13
Business
Innovative Finnish solutions for Ageing Asia in Singapore Text and photos: Nadja Dam Jensen
Better life for the growing elderly population was the big focus as 700 international and local industry representatives, government and community leaders were gathered in Singapore for the 8th International Ageing Asia Innovation Forum (AAIF) on 25-26 April 2017 at Marina Bay Sands Convention Centre. There, the goals were to access the best global ageing models and drive discussions on how to change the way seniors age in Asia and around the world.
M
inister of Social Affairs and Health in Finland, Pirkko Mattila, was invited as the guest of honour at AAIF as Finland was the focus country of the forum, celebrating their 100 years of independence. Like many countries in Asia, Finland is facing a growing elderly population, expecting 1.4 million Finns to be over the age of 65 in 2030, and 400 000 even over the age of 80, making up a very big part of the Finnish population of just 5.5 million. Paula Parviainen, Ambassador of Finland to Singapore, among the speakers at the opening of AAIF2017, said: “Ageing is a proof of the success of humankind in improving people’s lives. On the other hand, an ageing population is seen as a challenge for a small nation. With shrinking workforce and rising costs for healthcare, the society has to change.”
A variety of Finnish solutions
For two full days, Finnish innovation was a focal point at the Marina Bay Sands. Minister Pirkko Mattila was accompanied by a delegation of 11 14 ScandAsia.Singapore • May 2017
Finnish companies, who were presenting their innovations and services to Singapore’s health sector decision makers under the theme of ‘How to live to 100 with knowledge from Finland.’ Finpro, a Finnish organization helping to promote Finnish businesses abroad and one of the key organisations behind SF100, were working hard to suppor t the companies and innovators present at the Finnish pavilion, which stood out in the middle of the exhibition with Finnish colors and pictures of beautiful Finnish nature. “Finland and Singapore share a very similar starting point in terms of their ageing population, and they have about the same population size. Both countries value high-level education and also represent a secure social and political living environment. They both have a great need for innovative and advanced healthcare solutions. There are many possibilities for cooperation,“ said Finpro in their press release. The 11 companies were exhibiting five to six at a time, changing from day one to day two, giving visitors an opportunity to hear about a variety of
Finnish solutions to the many problems that countries all over the world are facing with an ageing population.
Diabetes prevention
Diabetes was highlighted several times as one of the major burdens of old age. Finnish Professor Ar to Hautala held a presentation at the Marina Bay Sands about diabetes. His focus was on new approaches on how to manage type 2 diabetes as he talked about the role of prevention and exercise as medicine to better the big problem that diabetes is when in comes to healthy ageing. One of the critical things to solve the diabetes problem is living a healthy life. But according to Professor Hautala it is not as it is made out to be. He experiences that exercise and healthy diet is often just talk and there need to be more focus on how it happens in practise. “I think diabetes should be treated with very individual approaches. I am very interested in how technology can help that in monitoring and giving individual feedback,” he says.
Janice Chia, Founder and Managing Director, Ageing Asia
Dr Pierre Bouchelouche, Zealand University Hospital in Denmark
Finland Ambassador Paula Parviainen
Professor Arto Hautala
Most of all, Professor Hautala believes that early prevention is the key to stopping diabetes and believes that prevention through exercise should be started already as children are in school. He praises a Finnish government-suppor ted project that targets putting at least one hour of exercise into the small children’s school day as a great move for a healthier elderly population in the future. Nightingale, one of the companies from the Finnish delegation, have developed a method of detecting diabetes much earlier so it can be treated before it really becomes a problem and in that way contribute to a healthier life. By revolutionizing blood testing, Nightingale can get a much more detailed analysis of the blood, which help predict and prevent chronic diseases, one of the world’s biggest health problems. But it can also help answer whether the treatment is really helping the patient. “We talk so much about eating healthy and exercising to treat diabetes, but with our technology, they can see if it actually makes a difference. And then they can adjust the
treatment accordingly,” says Satu Saksman, COO of Nightingale.
TV exercise
One company providing solutions for easier exercise for the elderly was SE Innovation, a developer of eco-systems to provide integrations for products and service development. One of the services is a game for elderly where they can exercise using their television. Meanwhile it also analyses their activity and can give feedback and can detect things as balance problem without wearing any equipment. SE Innovations have already agreed to bring test beds to Singapore, but are focusing hard on developing their product so the elderly will not get bored of it. They hope that the game can be a way for elderly to explore places around the world, places they visited before or have always wanted to visit, such as a Finnish forest.
Mobile hospital lab
Among other speakers at the forum was also Dr Pierre Bouchelouche from Zealand University
Hospital in Denmark. Being part of creating the World’s first mobile hospital lab to help the elderly and reduce hospitalisation. Having built a specialised van, a nurse from the hospital and a bioanalyst drives around and does medical checkups in the elderly’s home and in nursing homes. Dr Bouchelouche argues that is puts a lot of stress on the elderly when they need to leave their house, and therefore many will not go for check-ups or visit their doctor before they can hardly even leave the home themselves. Then the doctor has no other choice than to send an ambulance and have them admitted to the hospital, which in the end is much more expensive than sending a nurse out with a mobile hospital lab and treating the problem before it becomes too serious. “They are often just emitted for one night or less because when they come to the hospital they find that it is not something that needs to be treated in a hospital. So they’re quickly sent back home,” says Pierre. Some of the Finnish companies are also May 2017 • ScandAsia.Singapore 15
Business
We talk so much about eating healthy and exercising to treat diabetes, but with our technology, they can see if it actually makes a difference. And then they can adjust the treatment accordingly
Representatives of SE Innovations strongly promoting early prevention methods to ensure a better quality of life for the elderly. Juhanna Ojala is a young innovator who has started a company with his father that allows elderly to have their health monitored from home.Their company VideoVisit has a virtual care team, which can provide consolation and makes it possible for elderly to return faster to their home during rehabilitation. Janice Chia, Founder and Managing Director behind Ageing Asia, is very grateful for the Finnish support she has received from the Embassy of Finland in Singapore through several years and is happy to present some of the Finnish innovations. 16 ScandAsia.Singapore • May 2017
“The best way to care for elderly is to support and enable them to do things, not to do things for them. We always want to do everything for them, but instead we should find ways to make them more independent,” says Chia.
Friendly app for the elderly
One solution to make the elder ly more independent is presented by Nader Nada, CEO of Ainovia, a Finnish research development and innovation company. His company has developed a digital platform, which provides a user-friendly app for the elderly to help them find the right healthcare option and get personalized health
management. “There are so many care options, but it is difficult to create an overview of it. Our app allows elderly to make their own decision and find the solutions that is best for them,” says Nada. Many of the AAIF visitors were impressed and inspired by the Finnish delegation’s innovation and solutions and Ambassador Paula Parviainen hopes that Finland in the future can continue to be a part of Ageing Asia. “I would really like to see that next year there will be a new lot of companies, and to raise awareness in what Finland can offer in the ageing care sector,” says the Ambassador.
Business
Tekes and Finpro merger will launch new Finnish agency:
‘Business Finland’
T
ekes, the Finnish Funding Agency for Innovation and Finpro, a provider of internationalisation advisory services, will be merged into a new operator carrying the working title ‘Business Finland’, Finland’s Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment announced on 28 March. This agency will gather all services related to the promotion of innovation funding, exports, investments and tourism under one roof. About 600 exper ts will be transferred to the new organisation. Abroad, co-operation with the Ministry for Foreign Affairs will be intensified and the heads of missions will assume wider responsibility for the entire field also as regards exports and the internationalisation of companies. Together with the diplomatic missions, Business Finland will form a stronger Team Finland network globally. The Government outlined the reform in a strategy session. The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment will start the preparations for establishing the new operator immediately. The objective is that Business Finland will begin its operations at the beginning of 2018. With the help of the reform, it will be possible to take into account the entire life cycle of the growth and internationalisation of companies. A uniform service pathway will begin from the development of products, services and business models and continue to the introduction of the innovation in the markets, and there will be no break in the chain at any point, says Minister of Economic Affairs Mika Lintilä. The achievements of Tekes and Finpro have
been good, but by merging them, it will be possible to reduce the partial overlapping and free people to work in the field, Lintilä continues. The reform is aimed at allocating a larger number of people to customer services both in Finland and abroad. The responsibilities of the units of Tekes and Finpro, which are Export Finland, Invest Finland and Visit Finland, will not change in the reform, but the way to organise and provide the services will be harmonised. The purpose of the change is to improve the services provided for customers – growthoriented companies aiming at internationalisation. The customer will in future be served by one organisation instead of two. The new model will be as step closer to Team Finland’s promise of a one-stop-shop service, says Minister Lintilä. The reform enables moving the focus of resources in expor t promotion from Finland to a network abroad, like our most successful competitors have done, states Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Kai Mykkänen. At the same time, the importance of export promotion is increased in the work of embassies by strengthening the role of the ambassador as a country manager of Team Finland’s work and, on the other hand, the role of Business Finland in steering the content of export promotion as regards the resources of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Mykkänen says. These changes are part of the Team Finland reform that was launched last autumn. The aim of the reform is to support the Government’s objective to double the exports of small and medium-sized enterprises by 2020. May 2017 • ScandAsia.Singapore 17
Business
Norwegian launches London-Singapore airline route
C
hangi Airpor t Group and Norwegian Air Shuttle (Norwegian), have announced the arrival of the Scandinavian lowcost airline to Singapore. And as the rumours have finally been confirmed it is not a Scandinavian destination but from London that Norwegian will be connecting Europe with Singapore. Norwegian is scheduled to commence non-stop services on 28 September 2017. Norwegian will initially launch a 4x weekly service, which will increase to 5x weekly from the Northern Winter Season (from 29 Oct 2017 to 24 Mar 2018). It will use a 344-seat Boeing 787-9
Dreamliner aircraft in a two-class configuration offering economy and premium cabins. With the launch of this new service, the number of weekly flights from Singapore to London will increase to 50. This translates into an addition of 1,720 (+11%) one-way seats weekly. London is Changi Airport’s 14th busiest route, with over 1.2 million passengers travelling between the two cities in 2016. Norwegian’s new ser vice will benefit travellers from the United Kingdom, as they can capitalise on Changi’s excellent connectivity to about 120 destinations in South East Asia and South West Pacific for onward travel to the region. Likewise, passengers from Singapore Photo: Erik Bye
Photo: David Peacock
18 ScandAsia.Singapore • May 2017
will have access to a plethora of destinations in Europe and even the United States using Norwegian’s global network. Changi Airport Group’s CEO Mr Lee Seow Hiang said: “We are delighted to welcome Norwegian to Changi’s portfolio of airlines in September; it will enhance options for Changi Airport’s passengers as well as attract more UK visitors to Singapore. With changing consumer preferences and an improvement in aircraft technology, low-cost carriers have taken the opportunity to expand into the long-haul market. We will continue to work with our airline partners to exploit other such opportunities to grow their operations at Changi.” Norwegian CEO Bjorn Kjos said: “Our transatlantic flights have shown the huge demand for affordable long-haul travel, so we are delighted to expand into new markets and offer our first route to Asia from the UK. Travel should be affordable for all so adding Singapore to our growing UK network will give passengers even more choice for affordable, quality travel to a range of global destinations. “The UK is at the hear t of Norwegian’s ambitious plans for growth so it is a significant moment not only to launch this exciting new route, but also for it to be the first long-haul route to take to the skies with our new ‘Norwegian UK’ subsidiary.” From Gatwick Norwegian flies to 111 destinations, including, in the Nordic countries, Aalborg, Ålesund, Alta, Andenes, Bardufoss, Bergen, Billus, Bodø, Copenhagen, Gothenburg, Har stad/Nar vik, Helsinki, Kemi, Kir una, Kristiansand, Lakselv, Luelå, Malmö, Molde, Oslo, Oulo, Rovaniemi, Skellefteå, Stockholm, Svalbard, Tromsø, Trondheim, Umeå and Visby. The Singapore-London ser vice will be operated by Norwegian’s UK subsidiar y ‘Norwegian UK’ (NUK), using Gatwick-based crew. The flight schedule is as follows (launch of service is subject to regulatory approval. Schedule of fifth service will be shared at a later date): Singapore to London with departure times: Tuesday 08:50, Wednesday 23:40, Friday 08:45, Sunday 23:40. London to Singapore with departure times, Monday 10:30, Tuesday 22:30, Thursday 10:20, Saturday 22:30. Founded in 1993, Norwegian is the sixth largest low-cost carrier in the world with around 7,000 dedicated colleagues. Our customers can choose from over 500 routes to more than 150 destinations in Europe, Nor th Africa, the Middle East, Thailand, the Caribbean and the US. Norwegian is one of the world’s fastest growing airlines.
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