Words of a Board Member |
Dear Chamber members, The Chamber is preparing for a very important year-2010. The 50th anniversary of the Chamber will be celebrated with a lot of activities. We are honored and very pleased that Crown princess Victoria of Sweden has accepted an invitation to the anniversary seminar and to a Chamber member dinner in autumn 2010, in connection with the 50th anniversary celebration! 2009 has been a rather difficult year for a number of Chamber companies, but now there seems to be a fundamental solid base for improvement in the economy in 2010.There will most likely still be hard times for a number of companies, but with forecasted GDP growth of 2 to 3 % in 2010 for several EU countries, we are slowly heading for better times. Most likely a U-shaped recovery and back to an economy different from some years ago , with less risk-taking , restrictions of liquidity, real estate market recovering for a number of years, investors and private consumers more reluctant to borrow and invest and consume than before etc . The high unemployment will mainly hit Europe in 2010 and affecting the consumption on a short term basis. The Lehman Brothers default only happened a year ago and that accelerated a unique downturn in most of the economies. While previous economical downturns were often regional and /or with a smaller impact, this dramatic downturn took a lot of companies by surprise on a worldwide basis. However, the basic parameters of real estate bubbles, easy access of credits, global information easy available and dependence between countries/regions and world economies, made the economical crisis spread fast and on a global basis. With an expected negative GDP development of about 4% for EMU countries including Sweden in 2009, almost all companies and financial institutions have made substantial cost cuttings and reorganizations. To phrase Darwin” It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to changes”. Dutch economy and most of Dutch companies have been able to adjust better than most of the EU countries in the recession and there is a good tradition in NL to be cost efficient and not to overspend, which repays at the end of the day. In the company group in which I work, IKEA Group, we continue to make our cost structure more efficient, focus on small and big improvement in the organization and operations and focus on the core business. We have to be mean, lean and simple in order to compete in a good way in the future At the same time there are a lot of good and unique opportunities to acquire assets and companies in the market, which should be exploited. However, it is also very important to stick to and develop the core business in order to be or become “best in class” and focus on taking market shares, when competitors are struggling. There are a number of reasons why a recovery now can be seen. The governments and central banks have forcefully supported the economies, base interest rates are close to 0 %, the emerging markets are very important also as importer etc.However, part of the government support creates long term risks and short term gains. The debt burden, subsidies, employment support, inflation risks etc are worries that have to be handled in next years. China will still have a GDP growth of 9% this year and a lot of e g Chamber companies are highly dependent on the Chinese and other emerging countries domestic markets nowadays. Any growth this year is mainly driven from and in the emerging markets/countries. The expected increase of acquisitions by investors/companies in India, China, Russia etc in brand name companies incl car industry and in raw material companies, have accelerated dramatically in 2009 both in Europe and the U.S. The emerging markets/countries have replaced some of the major industrial countries as a driving force for economical recovery. The Chamber has an important function in order for members to share knowledge, networking, discussions of business ideas etc and particular in economical downturns when the Chamber’s importance even increases .Also an increase of exchange and coordination with Scandinavian and other chambers of commerce is important. An increased focus of the Chamber on environmental and renewable energy business is also of interest for a number of our members. Kerstin and her team in Chambers office in Amsterdam are very active in supporting the Chamber members in a very good way .JCC continues with its impressive program for young professionals. The number of activities, the way to communicate and to get things done by JCC, is appreciated and for Chamber members, it is interesting to have a network of competent young professionals. There are interesting Chamber and JCC events coming up in the next months, which you will find on the improved Chamber web page. Information about anniversary activities will soon be communicated. Hopefully we will meet at the Chamber’s Lucia Dinner in December! No guts, no glory! Krister Mattsson IKEA group of companies, Leiden |
| Dear Members, | ||
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| New Member | ||
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| Member News | ||
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| Up-coming Program | ||
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JCC - Young Professionals
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| Nordic Music at the Concertgebouw | ||
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| Swedish Christmas Fair | ||
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| December 16 Santa Lucia Concert | ||
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Date: Wednesday 16 December 2009| Swedish Cultural Events in the Netherlands | ||
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