Words of a Board Member |
| Dear fellow members, 2009 is coming to an end, and we can look back on a very active year for the Swedish Chamber. We have had many interesting events with some excellent key-note speakers; some very nice “social” events; a successful trip to Gothenburg and on top of all that an official Swedish State visit and the Swedish EU Presidency in the second half of the year. I always find it amazing how many top speakers the Chamber are able to attract, and my colleagues and I have taken the opportunity to participate as much as possible in these events. With the upcoming 50th anniversary of the Chamber 2010 is going to be another hectic year. Kerstin and her colleagues at the Chamber office are all busy with finalizing the program for the coming year, and I know that it will once again include some very interesting events with top speakers. I can only encourage all members to take active part in these upcoming events. Get something for your membership fee! It’s good value for money. JCC has also been very active in 2009. Unfortunately I’m myself too old to participate in JCC’s events, but I know that my younger colleagues in Handelsbanken are extremely happy to be members. This is an excellent opportunity for young professionals to get a stronger net-work in the Swedish-Dutch business world. Hopefully many of today’s members of JCC will be future members of the Swedish Chamber. In the business world 2009 has been a challenging year, and more or less everyone has felt the impact from the recession and financial crises. The financial sector, which I work within, looks completely different today than just 1.5 year ago. In the Swedish Chamber’s annual review for 2008 I wrote that there were 2 major problems in the financial sector; one being a funding problem and one being a capital problem. Now I know that there is a third and much more fundamental one as well. And that is that many banks blame everyone else than themselves for their problems. When a bank files for bankruptcy, asks for Governmental support or taken over by the State there is only one to blame and that is the bank itself. It can never be the fault of the Central bank, the Government or a particular Minister. The business of a bank is just a mirror of the business in the surrounding society. We know that the global economy goes up and down, and that there historically is 10-15 years between the peaks. This is what we call a business cycle. All banks know this! It is not good enough to have a business model that works well when the business cycle is at its top. You also have to make sure that you can get through when the business cycle is at its bottom or in the event that something unexpected happens. If not the risk that you will end up with a bank guaranteed by the tax payers is imminent. Warren Buffett once said that “in the business world, the rearview mirror is always clearer than the windshield”. Of course it is easy to see things in retrospect, but that doesn’t change the fact that the ultimate goal for a responsible management is that the company they represent can survive even in bad times. I hope and believe that 2010 will be a better year for business than 2009. If the proportion between positive and negative headlines in the newspapers is any good indication then I think we are on the right track. The negative headlines still outperform the positive ones, but at least there is some positive news. The financial crisis has been the favorite discussion topic in 2009. I wonder what the “topic of the year 2010” will be. Maybe we will start discussing the weather again, which by the way has been excellent through most of 2009. December is the month of some of our major celebrations. When you are a Swede living in the Netherlands or working for a Swedish company you get the better of 2 worlds: The Dutch Sinterklaas celebration; the Swedish Lucia tradition and Christmas celebration and the festive Dutch way of celebrating New Year. A really nice cocktail that I hope you will all enjoy. Mikael Sørensen Svenska Handelsbanken |
Dear Members, Let’s do it together! |
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| New Members It is with great pleasure the Swedish Chamber of Commerce welcomes the following new members to the Swedish - Dutch Network platform! |
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| How is business? |
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From now on the Swedish Chamber takes the pulse and ask a Member company how their business is going? First out is Mr. Herman Matthyssen, General Manager, Atlas Copco Nederland B.V. Atlas Copco Nederland B.V.: An exciting but a difficult year Atlas Copco Nederland BV is the customer center for The Netherlands of the Atlas Copco group. We are offering productivity improvement solutions in air compressors for construction and industry, generators, and aftermarket services. We are mainly a business to business supplier. Also our business has been modestly affected by the overall downtrend in industry, but overall we maintained our market position very well. This year we enjoyed the inauguration of our new premises in Zwijndrecht, in presence of H.E. Mr. Hans Magnusson, ambassador of Sweden, and we also celebrated the 60th anniversary of our company in The Netherlands. Next to our own business, our group is also represented in The Netherlands by Atlas Copco Tools and Atlas Copco Industrial Rental, each of them through dedicated sales channels. HERMAN MATTHYSSEN, General Manager,
Atlas Copco Nederland B.V. |
| Member News |
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| Christmas is coming to Sweden - you should too! | ||
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The festive season in Sweden really kicks off in the first week of Advent, when the first of four Advent candles is lit. It doesn't end until Hilarymas, or 'tree plundering', on January 13. Read all about Swedish Christmas and how to celebrate in Sweden in the latest newsletter from VisitSweden. Find it on www.swedishchamber.nl.
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| Holmen 400 years during 2009 | ||
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The history of Holmen goes back 400 years. Only a small number of Swedish companies can match the Group in this respect... Read more Swedish design student wins Electrolux Design Lab 2009 with his concept “Cocoon”... Read more |
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| Passed Events | ||
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Europol Presentation October 26, 2009 About 30 members were present at Europol in the Hague where a very interesting overwiew of Europol's role and activities was presented by Mr Alexander Maass from the Corporate Communications Unit and Mr Göran Görtzen, Head of Crimes against Persons Unit... Read more |
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JCC - Young Professionals
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New Chairman JCC Committee| Upcoming Events | ||
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Passed Events |
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Company Presentation by KesselsKramer
On Thursday November 5, 2009 one of the top Advertising agencies in the Netherlands, KesselsKramer, generously opened their door for JCC, to get a backstage view! Read more and take a look at the photos from the event on our website! |
| Seven amazing women | ||
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| Santa Lucia Concert December 16, 2009 | ||
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| Internship at the Swedish Chamber of Commerce | ||
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| The Swedish Chamber of Commerce would cordially like to thank the following sponsors: | ||
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