Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
1
SEPTEMBER 2016 | SWISS-THAI CHAMBER OF COMMERCE | E-NEWSLETTER #74
SUPPORTED BYTOP NEWSSeedstar - Switzerland: Silicon Valley in BangkokLuncheon SNB: President Thomas J. Jordan Interview: Christian ChevalleySchool News: First day of schoolLegal Update: Thai Legal News Flash from Roedl & Partner
After a well deserved summer break in Europe, many of our members and their families have now returned back to their work or school. As Switzerland celebrated its 725th anniversa-ry on 1st August, my wife and I decided to visit the capitals of the founding cantons of the Swiss confederation this year, which played an important role in Swiss history. The capital cit-ies Schwyz, Altdorf and Stans are just wonderful places to visit. There is so much pride to have in our Swiss heritage and when you experience the Muse-um of Swiss Charters in Schwyz, where the original Federal Charter of 1291 and documents
related to Switzerland’s early history are on display, you tru-ly understand the meaning and depth of Switzerland’s standing as one of the longest democra-cies in the world.
In contrast, in a widely antic-ipated referendum, the Thai people have once again collec-tively spoken their preference to approve a draft constitu-tion, which bears the stamp of acceptance of Prime Minis-ter Prayut Chan-o-cha and his economic team, led by Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatus-ripitak. The results were quite astonishing and surprised many pollsters; 62% of the eli-gible voters accepted the draft charter. Reading the outcome of this referendum, one could argue that the Thai electorate wants a cleaner government, to keep the election timeta-ble on track, ensure a peaceful transition, and to reach some sort of compromise and recon-ciliation in order to move Thai-land forward.
DEAR FRIENDS AND MEMBERS OF THE STCC
THE PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
PRESIDENT BRUNO G. ODERMATT
STCC CALENDARThursday 8th September 2016: STCC Stamm at Amari Boulevard Hotel, 18:00
Thursday 8th September 2016: German Chamber’s International Conference on Dual Education at Crowne Plaza Bangkok Lumpini Park at 08:00
Wednesday 28th September 2016: Breakfast Talk event GTCC + other Chambers, by L&P on the topic: “Labour Law Matters - How to Avoid Labour Disputes in Thailand”at Pullman Hotel G, start 08:00
Friday 30th September 2016: ASO-Auslandschweizer-organisation: Guestspeaker Mr Remo Gysin , President ASO @ Moevenpick Suk 15 at 11:30
More details for above events please waitfor the invitation-mail or get it from www.swissthai.com, click on “events”.
SERVICE
2
SEPTEMBER 2016 | SWISS-THAI CHAMBER OF COMMERCE | E-NEWSLETTER #74
THE PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
Capital markets are usually a good measure of a country’s perceived political stability and after the yes vote on 7th August, capital inflows into Thailand surged substantially, mostly into Thai equities (source Bank of Thailand). In the month of August, near US$ 1,1 billion worth of offshore funds en-tered the Thai capital markets, which is a strong vote of con-fidence. Thailand’s economic growth beat expectations in the second quarter, as GDP rose by 3,5% year-on-year, boosted by rising tourism, government spending, improving household consumption, and a recovering farming sector. Even after the horrible string of bomb attacks and arsons in different regions across Thailand, it appears that the economy is immune against factors that try to undermine stability. To further prove its resilience, the Thai Baht hit a 13-month high.
The high point of August was the luncheon with the Swiss Gover-nor of the Swiss National Bank, which was jointly organized with the Swiss embassy. Though many of our members were on holidays, a large number of members, guests and govern-ment officials attended this tru-ly enjoyable luncheon. You will find an enlightening summary of this event in this newsletter edition, and we can ensure you of similarly exceptional events in the future.
With this in mind, I wish you further success in your busi-ness and I am looking forward to meet you at our next lunch-eon. I thank you for your con-tinued support of our Chamber and our functions.
With my best wishes
Bruno G. OdermattPresident
***Contact the President:Bruno G. OdermattPresident [email protected]: +66 2 652 1911
SUPPORTED BY
TRINAINTERNATIONAL
Adhesive & Sealant Technologies
MS Hybrid Polymerbest performing
window, doorand facade
sealant.
Southeast Asia Link Co., Ltd.www.seal-ast.com
T: 0 2732 2092
MEMBER DETAIL UPDATESDo you have changes among your delegates or changes to your e-mail, mobile, telephone, or fax numbers? Please send all updates to [email protected]
MEMBERSHIP FEES 2016Please verify with your accounting that the membership fee is paid and kindly make sure that thecopy of the payment is sent to [email protected] , we have received over 20 “blind payments” without identification.
SERVICE
3
SEPTEMBER 2016 | SWISS-THAI CHAMBER OF COMMERCE | E-NEWSLETTER #74
SEEDSTAR - SWITZERLAND
SEEDSTARS WORLD SWITZERLAND - SILICON VALLEY COMES TO BANGKOK
“An idea born in Switzerland”, Didn’t we hear that already before?…. Solar Impulse II, the airplane that hit the news a couple of weeks ago, when completing its trip around the world with a flying machine that was powered solely on so-lar energy. We have reported:
http://swissthai.com/news/STCC-Newsletter-July-2015.pdf Many ideas give birth in the Swiss mountains. Here is another one: Seedstars World “Discover the best startups from emerging markets”
Great innovators seem to grow on similar soil. The discover-ies in Physics and Science were largely made in Europe a few decades ago. The US became the nurturing ground of the digi-tal revolution in the seventies and eighties with wizz kids like Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, just to name the two famous ones. The place of birth is the most important criterion to make you a technological hero or zero. Imagine Bill Gates born in Rwanda, Africa, I wouldn’t type this newsletter article in .docx format. From 373 Nobel prize
laureates in physics and chem-istry, three come from Africa. Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Yahoo, Apple …… all are based in the Western United States. In terms of technology and en-trepreneurship the differences are staggering. Opportunity on one side of the planet, misery on the other. Why?
Steve Jobs could not have done it alone. He needed people lis-tening to him, needed men-tors, needed moral and f inan-cial supporters, needed smart people around him and need-
4
SEPTEMBER 2016 | SWISS-THAI CHAMBER OF COMMERCE | E-NEWSLETTER #74
Premier International Co.,Ltd.
We fabricate P.T.F.E. Coated Glass Fabric Material into different kind of belts for many Industries
We produce textile dryer belts, packanging belts, processing belts, backing sheets,
Contact us: Tel.0-2935-9023 to 5 Fax. 0-2539-1743, 0-2935-9023 E-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.premier-belting.com, www.premier-belts.com
silicone sheets and tapes according to customer specification
ed a platform to pitch his crazy ideas. Imagine such a platform in Africa, Myanmar, China, Thai-land. No need to be in Mountain View, California, United States. Imagine you can pitch your idea in Bangkok, Thailand.
Seedstars World has exactly this vision. Give creative people a platform, a voice and an ear.
A look on how they do it over there in the Silicon Valley may be helpful to understand the business model of Seedstars World. For example Salman Khan is pitching his passion and business model, Watch it:
https://www.ted.com/talks/salman_khan_let_s_use_vid-eo_to_reinvent_education In a similar fashion, an inter-ested audience enjoyed new ideas and business models from
local entrepreneurs at Siam Discovery Center in downtown Bangkok on August 18, 2016. The Swiss startup Seedstars World has provided the plat-form for nine startup compa-nies. Details of the event can be found in the press release published in this newsletter.
The Swiss Embassy of Thailand in Bangkok is an enthusiastic supporter of Seedstars World. Viktor Vavrika, Deputy Head of Mission, has organized a “Thank You Party” and invited the three top entrepreneurs, the organiz-ers, past winners, the jury panel and board members of the Swiss Thai Chamber of Commerce to his residence on August 19, 2016. After the congratulation notes from Paul Ark, Managing Direc-tor of Digital Ventures, one of the main sponsors of the event, Viktor Vavrika and the three winners, many engaged discus-
sions and interaction started to take shape.
Thank You Viktor and Swiss Embassy for the well made reception.
SEEDSTAR - SWITZERLAND
5
SEPTEMBER 2016 | SWISS-THAI CHAMBER OF COMMERCE | E-NEWSLETTER #74
SEEDSTAR - SWITZERLAND
VERIFIK8 NAMED THAILAND’S BEST STARTUP AT SEEDSTARS BANGKOKOn August 18th during Seedstars Bangkok, VERIFIK8 won the Thai-land round of Seedstars World and will represent the country at the Seedstars Summit in Switzerland to compete for up to USD 1 million in equity investment. BANGKOK, THAILAND, August 18th, 2016 - Seedstars World, the global seed-stage startup com-petition for emerging markets and fast-growing startup scenes brought its Thailand round to a successful close during Seedstars Bangkok. The event took place this Thursday at Siam Discovery, and 9 selected startups were invited to present their ideas in front of the local jury panel. The local winner, Verifik8, a soft-ware platform improving social and environmental performances in the seafood supply chain, was selected the best startup in Thailand for its innovative solution. “We launched Verifik8 a year ago, to provide small farmers, especially in the seafood space, with affordable verifications to bring more transparency and credibility in the seafood supply chain.” explains Emma, founder/CEO of Verifik8. As a part of the prize, Verifik8 will be participating at Seedstars Summit, taking place
in Switzerland in March 2017, a weeklong training program with the opportunity to meet the other 60 winners, as well as investors and mentors from around the world. Traditionally, the final day of the Summit will be dedicated to pitch-ing in front of audience of 1000 at-tendees, with the possibility of win-ning up to the USD 1 million equity investment. 1st runner up Glazziq with its eye-wear e-commerce providing great purchasing experience came sec-ond and 2nd runner-up, Indie Dish, making healthy food accessible anywhere in Bangkok, grabbed the last spot in the top 3. The oth-er startups invited to pitch were Lawender, Blue Boat Malls, More-Mate, PeerPower, Seekster and Transporters.io. The 9 startups pitched in front of a prestigious jury, including Monthida McCoole, Porlanee Jeamsaksiri from Digital Ven-tures, Jun Hasegawa of Omise, Chad Tangsriwong from Cyber-Agent Ventures, Simon Akeroyd of Amadeus, Nick Feneck from Seed-stars World. The local Ambassador of Seed-stars World, Paul Ark of Digital
Ventures, organized the event with Seedstars World’s local part-ners Digital Ventures. Further support was provided by Siam Cement Group, Mitr Phol, Siam Discovery, HUBBA Thailand and Academy, and Bangkok Venture Club. The event attracted interest from over 40 startups, and over 140 attendees. Continuing on its world tour of startup scenes in emerging mar-kets and fast-growing startup scenes, Seedstars World’s next stop is Shanghai, where the event will be held at XNode, to select the best startup in China. Seed-stars World is looking for smart startups that solve regional is-sues and/or develop profitable products for the global market. Seedstars World has partnered with TRECC to bring the “Trans-forming Education Prize” which will award the best startup in the education space from around the world with a prize of over USD 50,000. Along with PayU, Seed-stars World is also looking for the best fintech startup, which will be awarded the “FinTech Prize” at the Seedstars Summit.
6
SEPTEMBER 2016 | SWISS-THAI CHAMBER OF COMMERCE | E-NEWSLETTER #74
Tel: +66 76 319 179 I www.bitsiren.com
• Website Development • Internet-Based Business Solutions• SEM, Digital & Traditional Marketing Solutions• Web & Print Design
Do you Have The Right Business Tools?
SEEDSTAR - SWITZERLAND
ABOUT SEEDSTARS“They tried to bury us, they didn’t know we were seeds.” - Mexican proverb Seedstars is a Swiss based group of companies which has the goal of impacting people’s lives in emerging markets through tech-nology and entrepreneurship. Seedstars connects stakehold-ers within these ecosystems, builds companies from scratch with public and private partners and invests in the top entrepre-neurs. Through different activ-ities of startup scouting, com-pany building and acceleration programs, the team has now access to entrepreneurs, inves-tors, incubators, corporations and government officials. The Seedstars group includes:
• Seedstars World: The worldwide startup compe-tition, on the ground in 65+ countries, with four regional summits and a global summit in
Switzerland. Its objective is to identify leading startups from all regions and provide them with value added services such as mentoring, networking and access to funding.
•Seedstars Growth: The four months virtual pro-gram to accelerate startups in the Seedstars network.
•Seedspace: The network of coworking spac-es, now in 17 countries with lo-cal partners. The spaces permit more engaged programs and on-going events.
•Seedstars Academy: The six months program to train aspiring entrepreneurs. Currently running in Lagos and Nigeria and opening in other locations soon.
Press Contact:High-resolution photos, logos, as well as press information and in-terview options are available on demand. Feel free to contact us at [email protected] Ana AlmeidaPR and [email protected]
7
SEPTEMBER 2016 | SWISS-THAI CHAMBER OF COMMERCE | E-NEWSLETTER #74
LUNCHEON SNB PRESIDENT THOMAS J. JORDAN
SWISS NATIONAL BANK PRESIDENT THOMAS J. JORDANTALKS MONETARY POLICY AT LUNCHEON ORGANIZED BY THE SWISS EMBASSY AND SWISS THAI CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
On a busy trip through Asia, Thomas J. Jordan, President of the Swiss National Bank (SNB), found time to speak to the Swiss-Thai business commu-nity in Bangkok. 55 members and friends of the Swiss Thai Chamber of Commerce found the way to the Nai Lert Swissô-tel, most remembering the tur-bulent times more than a year ago when the SNB decided to let go the 1.20 CHF/EUR cap. As SNB President, Dr. Jordan was the emotional lightning rod for many perplexed Swiss for the tough decision then. Now, 18 months down the road,
emotions calmed down and Dr. Jordan took this opportu-nity to explain and elaborate on “Swiss Monetary Policy in a Global Context”.
After the delicious lunch (Swissôtel, Nai Lert, as usual a safe bet), the vice president of the Swiss Thai Chamber of Commerce (STCC), Lutzi Matzig, introduced the Swiss Ambassa-dor to Thailand, Ivo Sieber, who then took turns to introduce Dr. Thomas J. Jordan. “The Cur-riculum Vitae is too long to go into details so I settle for two landmarks: Economic Research
Fellow at Harvard University and now President at the SNB”, the ambassador concluded and freed the stage for the SNB President.
Thomas Jordan’s presentation started sensibly with an over-view of the worldwide economic activities and then focused on the Thai and Swiss situation. Diff icult interconnections be-tween economics and f inance were explained in an under-standable fashion.
For example, the time chart showing the value of the Euro in
8
SEPTEMBER 2016 | SWISS-THAI CHAMBER OF COMMERCE | E-NEWSLETTER #74
LUNCHEON SNB PRESIDENT THOMAS J. JORDAN
CHF, GBP and USD over the last five years clearly demonstrates a convergence of major curren-cies and supports the SNB deci-sion made in January 2015.
“Unsustainable” was a word Thomas Jordan used several times describing the situation then. Of course this is no help to the butcher in Kreuzlingen, Switzerland, who sees his cus-tomers buying their sausages in Constance, Germany, for half the money. Jordan admits that explaining to the butcher how movements in the dollar euro rate relate to unsold sau-sages is a challenge. During the presentation it became clear though that he is a man with f irm footing and understands the impact to Swiss companies. Therefore a clear strategy to re-
duce the pressure on the Swiss franc is important. He stressed the two pillars of current Swiss monetary policy which have ex-actly this aim: 1) –0.75% inter-est rate and 2) readiness to in-tervene in the currency markets.
Another landmark event dis-cussed was the recent deci-sion by the British sovereign to leave the European Union (BREXIT). The decline of bank-ing equities and uncertainty over the next months are the challenges ahead and may be softened by the weaker valua-tion of the British Pound. The greater question mark for Swit-zerland is how BREXIT will im-pact the negotiations with the European partners regarding the implementation of bilat-eral treaties. In particular the
discussions regarding the Swiss voter’s decision to control the flow of immigration might be affected.
In summary, Thomas Jordan’s presentation about “Swiss Mon-etary Policy in a Global Context” was clear, coherent and pre-sented comprehensively. Some interesting questions followed. “Will the SNB stick to the one thousand Swiss Franc note?” A f irm “YES” from the President, and he added that the recently launched f ifty Swiss Franc note combined “very nice design with absolute top Swiss technology.”
When asked about the recent American election process he declined to take stand, point-
9
SEPTEMBER 2016 | SWISS-THAI CHAMBER OF COMMERCE | E-NEWSLETTER #74
LUNCHEON SNB PRESIDENT THOMAS J. JORDAN
ing to the political neutrality of the SNB.
Jordan cleverly answered a ques-tion regarding the “bitcoin” cur-rency referring to the similarity of the one thousand Swiss Franc question, but reminded the au-dience that the confidence in a currency and its backing is of utmost importance. Bitcoin may not be there yet.
While some of the Swiss em-bassy staff were already get-ting nervous due to the tight schedule of the SNB President’s program, one more question was allowed.
“Why are some of the SNB’s gold reserves stored out-
side Switzerland, and can we trust those countries with our gold?” Thomas Jordan answered calmly and reas-suringly: 70% of the gold is stored in Switzerland and only 30% is stored abroad. The gold abroad allows more flexibil-ity if/when the need for trade arises. He told the concerned interrogator that he can safely sleep at night and not need to be worried.
To round up a perfect lunch, Ivo Sieber presented flowers and gifts to the speaker and his wife Jacqueline. In particular, a gift from the STCC and the Thai startup ‘Toojah.com’ (a hand crafted Tuk-Tuk) caught Jacqueline Jordan’s attention.
A nice reminiscence of a well-made luncheon event. Thank You Dr. Jordan!
10
SEPTEMBER 2016 | SWISS-THAI CHAMBER OF COMMERCE | E-NEWSLETTER #74
INTERVIEW
CHRISTIAN CHEVALLEY, MANAGING DIRECTOR, ADOC SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT CO. LTD.Christian, Thank You for giving us the time for this interview.You are in the business of Soft-ware development. When dis-cussing this, India, China, East-ern Europe come up to my mind. Thailand and Software does not seem to be a natural match?
I do not entirely agree with this statement. These days we have reliable internet connections and advanced communication tools, thus software can be created in any place. In addition, the infra-structure costs have tremendously decreased over the last couple of years. You can buy and get support for computer systems everywhere. The key is to find skilled and well educated software engineers. That is where it gets a bit more tricky to develop software in Thailand. It is difficult to find people who think abstraction and structure who can apply concepts to programs.
When I hear the term “Software Development”, immediately I think of iPhone/Android apps, accounting programs or website creations. What kind of software does ADOC develop?
Our strength is the fast adaption of software to all sorts of appli-
cations. Our expertise and back-grounds allow us to offer a wide variety of solutions. For example we had projects in the measure-ment / metrology industry where our software was used for Quali-ty Control of mechanical objects (electronic caliper). Whatever the project, today all applications re-quire a broad range of skill sets. The front end (user interaction) maybe a website or an Android app whereas the back end (database / calculations etc) is a computing intensive Java or C++ program. The biggest chunk of our current projects is in the field of medical informatics. We are working with hospitals in England to streamline the medical records of patients. When you go to a doctor and he measures your blood pressure, he writes this information on a pa-tient record or may enter it into the local hospital’s computer da-tabase. Very likely this informa-tion is kept in a file cabinet and is only accessible by your personal doctor or the local hospital. More-over medical information is com-plex. Take the “blood pressure” example. It is not just one number, there are many related parame-ters along with it, for example the heart rate, systolic, diastolic etc. This and other information
in the patient’s medical record is valuable for medical research and should be accessible. A new Open Electronic Health Record stand-ard (openEHR) has evolved over the last twenty years which allows the information to be stored in a structured and interoperable way. Our software product, “EtherCIS”, can retrieve medical information based on very selective questions. You could combine blood pressure with Body Mass Index numbers. Our software will search for those combinations and produce the relevant records. This helps med-ical researchers to identify trends and patterns.
11
SEPTEMBER 2016 | SWISS-THAI CHAMBER OF COMMERCE | E-NEWSLETTER #74
Would “EtherCIS” be applicable for hospitals in Thailand? In Thailand a hospital is a “busi-ness case” and it has to generate immediate income. Our software platform is useful for the research
community in a greater context and not necessarily for single profit driven hospitals. In these projects the National Health Ser-vice (NHS) is involved too. My col-laborators in England represent many hospitals and make sure
the EHR standard is used in all of them. Our expertise could possi-bly be applicable in Thailand for government hospitals.
Christian, tell us a bit about yourself. The private Christian Chevalley.
Well, not sure there is much to tell but let me try. I grew up in Geneva and went to the Univer-sity of Geneva studying Physics and Computer Science. I really like technology. After gradu-ating I went into the corporate world writing software at HSBC in Hong Kong, UK and Geneva and then from 1996 onwards worked
INTERVIEW
12
SEPTEMBER 2016 | SWISS-THAI CHAMBER OF COMMERCE | E-NEWSLETTER #74
One Stop Business ConsultingStart-up, Registration, Visa & Work permit, VAT, SSF, Bank Accounts
Recruitingall sectors, foreign and Thai Nationals
Accounting Servicesincl. VAT, w/t, mid year & year end, reportings
Project ManagementManagement, Produktion, Marketing, HR
Insurance SolutionsCorporate und Privat, medical, travel, property, car & bike
TRINA Management (Thailand) Co. Ltd. #193/115; Gusto Grand Ramkamhaeng;
Ratpathana Road, Sapansoong, Sapansoong, 10240 BangkokTel: 02 136 7333 Fax: 02 136 7335
N 13.7883 / E100.7097 [email protected] www.trina-thai.com
Member of the Swiss Thai & German Chamber of Commerce
TRINAINTERNATIONAL
ONE STOP
Your reliable Partnerin Thailand
+ Swiss Management +Quality since 1996
Adhesive & Sealant Technologies
MS Hybrid Polymerbest performing
window, doorand facade
sealant.
Southeast Asia Link Co., Ltd.www.seal-ast.com
T: 0 2732 2092
INTERVIEW
for Sun Microsystems as branch manager. In 2003 I had to make the decision to either climb the corporate ladder to become an administrator or take on an new opportunity in Australia as a R&D manager for a small company in the medical electronics industry. I choose to be true to my passion and left for Australia.
Then one day in 2008 I watched TV and saw then Prime Minister Ab-hisit talking about Thailand. I was impressed how he praised Thai-land’s progress and since my wife is Thai we started to seriously con-sider to move to Thailand and start our own business. I knew Thailand from vacation and loved the place. So in 2009 we started our own business writing software for Aus-tralian and Swiss companies. What Khun Abhisit did not tell on TV is that Thailand still has a lot of ad-ministrative hurdles and that find good and creative software engi-neers is a challenge.
The most important components in my private life are our two sons.
Although they are already grown up, living in England and Swit-zerland, they still take the center stage in my life. Having those two boys is the most rewarding expe-rience in my personal life.
How could Thailand improve to give you more opportunities in your software development business?
Two points, One: Education, Two: Greed
Let me explain.
I wish for a pool of talented engi-neers who are passionate about what they’re doing. Committed young people who like the job and see that they can make an impact. With many of the staff we hired over the years the only question raised is the amount of their sal-aries. A few years back I have of-fered a young software engineer the opportunity to go to Switzer-land for a training. He refused be-cause the benefits were too low.It is frustrating to see that lo-
cal engineers are only driven by the monetary benefits. Of course there are notable exceptions but those are hard to find.
To sum it up: Thailand, get more passionate on what you’re doing and focus less on the wallet.
Christian, Thank You very much for this interview. It has been a pleasure conversing with you.
We wish you and ADOC all the best in your future software ven-tures!
The interview was conducted on August 24, 2016 at ADOC’s office by Peter Sprenger
13
SEPTEMBER 2016 | SWISS-THAI CHAMBER OF COMMERCE | E-NEWSLETTER #74
RIS SWISS SECTION DEUTSCHSPRACHIGE SCHULE BANGKOK
CEREMONY MARKING THE BEGINNING OF THE NEW SCHOOL YEAR
On Monday, the 8th of August 2016, at 9:30 AM, RIS Swiss Sec-tion – German speaking School Bangkok arranged a ceremony marking the beginning of the new school year.
Students, teachers, adminis-trative staff, parents and other guests were greeted with wel-coming words from the Principal Simon Dörig, who gave a special welcome to the new teachers.
Mr. Viktor Vavricka, Minister of the Swiss Embassy, and Dr. Peer Gebauer, Minister of the German Embassy, were also in attend-ance and greeted the students
14
SEPTEMBER 2016 | SWISS-THAI CHAMBER OF COMMERCE | E-NEWSLETTER #74
RIS SWISS SECTION DEUTSCHSPRACHIGE SCHULE BANGKOK
From 13 – 24 of June 2016 our students of Grade 11 were ex-periencing their cultural trip to Spain. One exciting leg of their journey was dedicated to the third biggest city, Valencia. They were thoroughly enjoying their Iberian experience while learn-ing about Spanish culture and practicing their language skills.
TRIP TO SPAIN
and wished the school an ongo-ing success for the new school year. They also assured their co-operation and support for the school. From our partner school RIS, Father Yuthana was present.The highlight of the ceremony was the introduction of new stu-dents by Jens Eggert, the Head of Secondary and the Head of Primary, Johanna Vaenskae.Following tradition for the first day of school, Uraiwan Sethakul, Head of Administration, present-ed the school staff to the guests.
Two piano performances by Dominik Voigt, student of Grade 8, enlivened the ceremony.Sanguine Chongkavinit und Evan Hofmann, two members of the Student Council SMV, also wel-comed the school community and encouraged the students to support their tasks.
After the ceremony, the students returned to their lessons and the parents and guests went to the entrance area where drinks and snacks were being served.
15
SEPTEMBER 2016 | SWISS-THAI CHAMBER OF COMMERCE | E-NEWSLETTER #74
RIS SWISS SECTION DEUTSCHSPRACHIGE SCHULE BANGKOK
Important public events in the school year 2015-16:17.09.2016 Open House Info Session (13:00 – 15:00)03.10.2016 German Unity Day (9:20 – 10:55)13.10.2016 Annual General Meeting of SEA26.10.2016 Austrian National Day11.11.2016 Lantern Parade (KG - Grade 3 - evening) 14.11.2016 Loy Krathong – Day 17.11.2016 Open House Day (7.30 – 14.40)14.12.2016 Christmas Party (from 13:00)
Please visit our website - www.ris-swiss-section.org - and get more information about our upcoming events.
Between the 1st and 5th of August 2016, RIS Swiss Section – German speaking school Bangkok teachers took part in various workshops in preparation for the new academ-ic year organized by the steering committee of the school’s educa-tional quality development team. The teachers also attended work-
shops that gave them further in-formation on using learning meth-ods and ended the week with an information session of the school development group where the last school year’s evaluation was inter-preted, general information were given and preparations for the up-coming inspections were done.
PREPARATION WEEK AND EDUCATION WORKSHOPS
16
SEPTEMBER 2016 | SWISS-THAI CHAMBER OF COMMERCE | E-NEWSLETTER #74
Open House Info SessionSaturday, 17 September 2016
Learn about our uniqueSwiss/German approach to education!
1:00 - 3:00 pm @ RIS Swiss Section - German Speaking School Bangkok
Ramkhamhaeng 184 Road
Please inform us about your attendance:[email protected]
17
SEPTEMBER 2016 | SWISS-THAI CHAMBER OF COMMERCE | E-NEWSLETTER #74
MEMBER CONTRIBUTION
WHAT ABOUT THE FRENCH LANGUAGE? This time you need some knowl-edge about the French language. But I am sure that most of you know rather fluently our second national language. In any case I will translate it in English – but the two main words need to be read in French (since the end-ing sounded to me very similar, many years ago). Before I started to work in the insurance business I earned my income in the jewels and watches industry, namely in the famous “Richard Montres et Bi-joux” in Morges. It was a fantas-tic time and I loved all the glitter and glamour and obviously I was good too. The management en-trusted me at the young age of 22 as a replacement for the Gen-eral Managers of most branches in Switzerland. I guess there were about 26 Shops in the most
important cities of Switzerland. Whenever a branch manager was ill or had an accident, or du-tifully served for the Fatherland (Army), the head office sent me to the corresponding city. The only draw-back was sometimes the language; French, English or Italian. “Richard Montres et Bijoux” opened a new branch at the shopping center of Sion – a great occasion as well a huge success for me. On the second day of the opening an older charming couple dropped into the shop and looked at various jewels. He was a doctor and he wished to present a lovely gift to his wife – the anniversary of their 40 years suffering, sorry, 40 years of happy marriage. I showed them various sets of jewellery and at the end they
were interested in a splendid Sapphire-set consisting of a charming bracelet, an elegant ring, a pair of brilliant ear-clips and finally a sparkling necklace. All went very well. The moment “Mrs. Doctor” showed her emo-tion towards this lovely set I suggested that she should put on the jewels. It was always a great moment when the bearer can admire the precious stones directly on her (or his) skin. I helped her put on the ring, the
Premier International Co.,Ltd.
We fabricate P.T.F.E. Coated Glass Fabric Material into different kind of belts for many Industries
We produce textile dryer belts, packanging belts, processing belts, backing sheets,
Contact us: Tel.0-2935-9023 to 5 Fax. 0-2539-1743, 0-2935-9023 E-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.premier-belting.com, www.premier-belts.com
silicone sheets and tapes according to customer specification
18
SEPTEMBER 2016 | SWISS-THAI CHAMBER OF COMMERCE | E-NEWSLETTER #74
· [email protected] · [email protected] · [email protected] · [email protected] · [email protected] · [email protected] · [email protected] · [email protected]
Let us guide you throughout AsiaCOME EXPLORE WITH US.
..
MEMBER CONTRIBUTION
bracelet, the ear-clips and the necklace. She looked fabulous with the sparkling gems and she loved it very much. I was convinced that they would pur-chase it. I reached for the big mirror, placed it in front of Madame, pointed at her necklace and said with a charming smile: “Regar-dez, Madame, comme ce collier est très joli autour de votre cul.” With big eyes she looked at me, her smile turned sour and in a big hurry she almost smashed down, all the jewellry. I was shocked and stared at her hus-band, with big question marks in my eyes – not understanding what had happened. The Doctor asked me politely: “What did you say?” Trembling and with a small voice I told him that I just wanted to give a compliment to his wife, with the words: “Regardez, Madame,
comme ce collier est tres jolie autour de votre cul.”
Meanwhile his wife had already left the shop without saying a word. But he started to cheer up again and told me to give him a few minutes so that he could have a word with his wife. He also assured me with a twinkle of the eye that everything would be fine.
After what seemed like an eter-nity, both came back arm in arm. They sat down again and he asked me to repeat my sentence from before. This done, he said : “Cher Monsieur, il faut dire, « Regardez, Madame, comme ce collier est très joli autour de vo-tre cou! »’ Of course, there was a slight dif-ference in the pronunciation of the last word, which I did not get, yet. But, the Doctor being a man of great education and
experience explained to me the tricky point!
Now in English;
“What you said to my wife was; “That looks very nice around your ass.”
But, I am sure you wished to say; “That looks very nice around your neck.” Yes, they bought those lovely gems and they insisted to pay the sumptuous dinner we en-joyed together.
Friedrich Kuster, Swiss-Sure. Co. Ltd., Hong Kong [email protected]
19
SEPTEMBER 2016 | SWISS-THAI CHAMBER OF COMMERCE | E-NEWSLETTER #74
Companies urged to be aware of updated Stamp Duty requirements
Stamp duty is a tax that is often overlooked in Thailand. It is a tax charged on certain instruments, especially contract documents. However, failing to comply with its require- ments can have severe consequences in some cases. While the duty amount is often relatively small, considerable penalties can arise if stamp duty is not being paid by the due date. The sum can be six times of the amount that was due originally. Furthermore, documents without stamp duty properly paid can be refused to be used for official purposes in Thai-land including court proceedings.
Compliance gets even more im-portant in respect to new rules effective since middle of last year,
which requires the counter pay-ment method for further docu-ments. Tradi- tionally, stamp duty is paid by affixing adhesive value stamps on a document itself or by using a special paper with an impressed stamp. Those are still valid pay- ment methods for some instruments which can practical-ly also be applied in retrospect if the documents are required to be used officially. For some instru-ments however, regu- lations re-quire the stamp duty to be made as a cash pay- ment at the counter of the Revenue Department office within the due date prescribed by law. These documents now also include lease of land or buildings or hire-of-work contracts with a contract volume of one million Baht or more.
Hire-of-work contracts for ex-ample are subject to stamp duty
LEGAL UPDATE
THAI LEGAL NEWS FLASH
20
SEPTEMBER 2016 | SWISS-THAI CHAMBER OF COMMERCE | E-NEWSLETTER #74
LEGAL UPDATE
of 0.1 % of the remuneration agreed. In contrast to this other service agreements, which are not subject to stamp duty.
Thailand’s commercial business laws define hire-of-work con-tracts as an agreement under which one person as a contrac-tor agrees to perform work for another person who agrees as an employer to pay remuneration. According to that definition, al-most any service agreement that is entered into can constitute a hire-of- work contract. There-fore, it is often difficult to draw a clear line between a hire-of-work agreement and other services, which are not taxable.
Companies should be aware of the regulations as concerns the re-quired duty do be paid as well as the appropriate payment meth-od. The Revenue Department has advised that even if the right amount of duty is af- fixed, the duty is still not considered legit-imately paid if the regulations re-quire the counter payment. Those agreements have to be brought to the revenue office to make the cash payments of the taxes. Un-til the payment is properly set-tled, an interest charge of 1.5 % per month applies plus possible surcharges described depending on the specific circumstances. Companies cannot use the value of the stamp already affixed to the instrument to offset the cash payment required. They must pay cash plus any surcharge first and
then request a cash refund for the value of the stamps.
New minimum wages from 340- 550 Baht per day for skilled labor
New minimum wages for skilled labor are effective since 10th of August. The new wages apply with 20 types of jobs in five industrial groups, with minimum wages of some jobs going up to 550 Baht per day. The increased wages are part of Thailand’s strategy to in-directly encourage workers to de-velop their skills.
Thailand’s nationally defined general daily minimum wage, set at 300 Baht with no exceptions in 2013, ceased in its original form at the end of 2015. From that date several new minimum wages, con-nected to the specific work field and cost of living for each prov-ince, were im- plemented, how-ever the 300 Baht per day is still exercised as an overall minimum. Following the latest announce- ment, 55 types of skilled jobs are now subject to specific minimum wages in Thailand.
In order to receive the new wage rates, workers must have passed the national labor skill standard test of their specific jobs. Already over 70,000 workers from 55 types of jobs have passed the tests.
The particular minimum wages depend on the industrial groups and the region an employee
works in: Minimum wage in the electricity and electronics group is between 360 Baht and 460 Baht per day. Wages for the auto and auto parts group is rang-ing from 400 Baht to 480 Baht. In the jewelry group minimum wages are set at 420 Baht to 550 Baht and in the logistics group at 340 Baht to 550 Baht.
New facilitations ahead for non- ASEAN investors
On 22 August the Internation-al Economic Policy Committee, chaired by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, approved a proposal submitted by the BOI to ease cer-tain restrictions on investors not originating in ASEAN. According-ly, investors not based in ASEAN but having already invested in an ASEAN member state shall be entitled to privileges in Thailand which are already received by in-vestors originating in ASEAN. The facilitations which particularly include ease of shareholding ra-tios cover five sectors, i.e. agri-culture, fisheries, forestry, min-ing and industrial production. Other sectors remain subject to the restrictions imposed by the Thai Foreign Business Act.
The Committee further intends to raise topics such as import tariff reductions, good governance, intellectual property, labour, hu-man rights, environmental issues and future strategic partnerships, particularly with China, India, Ja-pan and South Korea.
21
SEPTEMBER 2016 | SWISS-THAI CHAMBER OF COMMERCE | E-NEWSLETTER #74
LEGAL UPDATE
Thailand aims to be a gateway for startups in Southeast Asia
Thailand’s government plans to develop certain areas of the country into a gateway for start-up companies in Southeast Asia. The development is part of the Thailand 4.0 vision. The country wants to become more innova-tive, groom itself for the techni-cal future and embrace innova-tive people. Thailand’s aim is a strong connection plus co-work-ing between startups and es-tablished companies. Especially startup communities in Chiang Mai, Phuket and Khon Kaen shall get expanded. Bangkok’s startup scene is already comparatively strong to other Southeast Asian countries ; nonetheless it shall gain more importance.
It is considered that strong start-up scene can improve Thailand’s economy. The startup community shall become another main pillar next to “classical corporations”. Both economic fields shall benefit from each other.
At present, the government will facilitate several startup districts by cooperating with private oper-ators to have specific areas for a startup co-working environment that connects with venture capi-talists, researchers and academ-ics. Siam Square, Chulalongkorn University and Chiang Mai Univer-sity are named as possible areas in Bangkok. By the end of 2018 a multi-billion Baht digital inno-
vation park will open in Si Racha district, Chon Buri. The facilities of such new working areas will be tailored to the new generation of digital businesses.
Venture Capital fund to expand business of small and medium sized enterprises
A venture capital fund worth 2.3 billion Baht is to be official-ly launched in the third quarter of 2016 to help small and medi-um sized enterprises (SMEs) and startups to enlarge their busi-nesses. The venture fund “SME Private Equity Trust Fund” is a col-laboration between the Krungthai Bank (KTB), the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) and the Nation-al Science and Technology Devel-opment Agency (NSTDA).
The idea about creating a ven-ture capital fund came up after signing a memorandum of under-standing in 2015, aiming to find financial solutions for helping SMEs in Thailand. The trust fund mainly plans to invest in three large categories – high growth start-ups, technology- based SMEs and large sized suppliers which are important for the coun-try’s economic growth. Especially companies that use high technol-ogy to create innovative products will be encouraged.
SET president Kesara Manchus-ree said that he expects finan-cial support for approximately 100 SMEs, which might boost the
trade of SMEs at the stock mar-ket. The fund also plans to invest between 20 and 150 million Baht into SMEs, which are already in a strong position. Mainly, the fund supports companies which create annual revenues between 400 and 600 million Baht.
Finance Minister Apisak Tanti-woravong will seek cabinet ap-proval for two new tax measures including a tax break on expenses that help SMEs and a tax break for investments in social develop-ment projects.
However, SMEs that are interest-ed in getting financial support can send their business plan to the venture fund, which would deliberate the advantages of each company.
Apart from the financial support, the fund will also provide the cho-sen enterprises financial advisory services, investment consultancy and pre-listing management for those companies that plan to list on the stock market in Thailand.
Rödl & Partner Ltd.18th Floor Empire Tower 1 South Sathorn Road, 10120 Bangkok, Thailand
22
SEPTEMBER 2016 | SWISS-THAI CHAMBER OF COMMERCE | E-NEWSLETTER #74
22
