BFA 2009, EU-ASEAN Public Diplomacy - Business Networking (Integrated Report)

Business Focus ASEAN Report

Of the visit to Thailand and Malaysia

5th – 20th September 2009

Export-Oriented Management

Hospitality kindly provided by:

II

DISCLAIMER

This study trip report contains information that is based on minutes taken by

the IMC Export fellows and is intended as a summary of what has been

presented and discussed during the meetings in Thailand and Malaysia.

The reader is cautioned that these minutes

may be subject to errors stemming from misunderstandings or

misperceptions on the part of the participants.

Therefore, any quotation from this text is discouraged.

III

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

At this point we would like to acknowledge all the people who made this unique study

trip, which no other university in Austria has ever conducted, possible. First and

foremost, we would like to express our gratitude to Prof. Anis Bajrektarevic,

Chairperson for International Law and Global Political Studies at the IMC University

of Applied Sciences Krems. Besides many in-house visits of speakers from all over the

world, and years of consecutive visits to all relevant organisations in Vienna (UN,

OSCE, OPEC, EC), Geneva (WTO, ECE, UNCTAD, ILO, IRC, WIPO, ITU) and

Paris (WB, UNESCO, OECD, ICC), he initiated, developed and organized this

special event for the 1s time. We do deeply appreciate all the time and effort Prof.

Bajrektarevic invested throughout the past months. Without his personal reputation

and contacts, none of us would have had the chance to benefit from such a diverse,

informative and highly inspiring programme.

Secondly, we would like to thank to our fellow Smajo Pasalic for the BFA logistics

work but also for brokering the sponsorship from the Austrian Students Union. We

send our compliments to Ms. Roza Ovezova our special guest from Turkmenistan

(Kyrgyz-American university of Bishkek) for entrusting us and joining the group as

our special guest.

Due tribute goes likewise to each and every organizer and speaker of all visited Thai

and Malaysian (business, governmental, international or cultural) entities. We are

especially thankful to Univ. Prof. Murray Hunter who together with our professor

masterminded the BFA concept.

We are expressing deepest signs of appreciation for the great in-kind contribution on

the side of State of Perlis, its Royal court as well as of the UniMAP: the generosity

and hospitality of H.R.H. Raja DYMM Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin Jamalullail, H.R.E.

Dato`Seri Diraja Syed Razlan Jamalullail, Excellency Vice Chancellor (and his

UniMAP team of deans, professors and students) deeply touched all of us – full of

warm friendship, days in Malaysia are those rare moments which remain life-long

imprinted in our hearts and minds.

To conclude with, we thank to our four Excellencies; Ambassador Peterlik of Austria,

Ambassador Linnér of Sweden, Ambassador Latha Reddy of India and Ambassador

Pipan of Italy, but also to our great hosts at the UN ESCAP and at the Delegation of

EC in Bangkok.

IV

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. INTRODUCTION 1

2. TIMETABLE 3

3. DESTINATIONS 10

3.1. Thailand 10

3.2. Malaysia – truly Asia? 11

4. MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 7TH 2009 13

4.1. Austrian Embassy to Thailand 14

4.2. Malaysian Embassy to Thailand 17

4.3. University of Oulu 20

4.4. Austrian Embassy to Thailand 24

5. TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8TH 2009 27

5.1. WKO Aussenwirtschaft Österreich, Außenhandelsstelle Bangkok 27

5.2. Swiss Embassy to Thailand 36

6. WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9TH 2009 40

6.1. Thailand Board of Investment 40

6.2. Indonesia Briefing 43

6.3. Thai Anti-Corruption Commission 45

6.4. Malaysian Embassy to Thailand 48

6.5. Japanese Embassy to Thailand 50

6.6. Mahidol University International College Bangkok 52

7. THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 10TH 2009 55

7.1. UN ESCAP Introduction 55

7.2. Macroeconomic policies and development in Asia and the Pacific 59

7.3. Statistical links to ASEAN economies 61

V

7.4. Trade and investment in ASEAN countries 63

7.5. Information & Communication Development 65

7.6. Trans-Asian Railway & Asian Highway Networks 68

8. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 11TH 2009 72

8.1. The Delegation of the European Commission to Thailand 72

8.2. Ambassador of India to Thailand 77

8.3. Ambassador of Italy to Thailand 82

8.4. Minister Counselor of Trade 85

9. MONDAY, 14TH SEPTEMBER 2009: 89

9.1. University Malaysia Perlis 89

9.2. SHORUBBER (Malaysia) DN BHD 94

9.3. Business in Malaysia 98

10. TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 15TH 2009 102

10.1. Reception by the Raja of Perlis 102

10.2. State Councellor for Investment, Trade and Industry, Science and Technology 106

10.3. Food bazaar and cultural evening 109

11. WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16TH 2009 112

11.1. Kulim High Tech Park 112

11.2. AMD 116

12. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 18TH 2009 120

12.1. Mahidol University, College of Management 120

13. DIARIES 124

14. CONCLUSION 146

15. PERSONAL COMMENTS 147

16. CONTACT INFORMATION 149

17. CREDITS 153

VI

FOREWORD – BFA 2009

Recalling the former name of our Study program (which used to be the Export oriented management EU-ASEAN-NAFTA), and following the repeated calls of the Trade Chamber of Austria (WKÖ) in consolidated calls for business offensive in ASEAN and other parts of the world (and extensive talks with the previous and current EXP Directors), and fully understanding the increasing demands of the labor market and contemplating over the difficulties that young people will face in coming years when trying to enter the world of well employed, I have assume that beside due diligence in learning, all of my students already by their respective 4th semester are profiling themselves in professional terms. As one of the three EXP chairpersons (and longest serving one) I knew that such profiling is surely substantive, but should also be a geographic. Therefore, for my recent graduates and senior students who are considering their future professional life in connection with either (Latin) America (NAFTA/MERCOSUR), with Central Asia, or with Asia/ASEAN, I wanted something new.

Just half a year ago, it was still a visionary dream (shared with my friend, inspiring Prof. Murray Hunter and highly encouraging Excellency Arshad, Malaysian ambassador to Vienna).

But this September has changed everything. Out of hundreds evens and study trips which I organized in last decades, I can just say; this is one of the few very best:

Solely financed by the students contribution (with sponsorship of ÖH equal to some 1,500, and generous in-kind contribution of the State of Perlis and UniMAP), I managed (after months of preparations, to concept, than) to conduct the first employability booster, focus seminar (so-called Business Focus ASEAN – BFA) for 30 EXP senior students and recent graduates (of 7 nationalities).

We have experienced 15 remarkable days in two Asian countries residing in the heart of SEA; over 60 hours of in-house lectures and 30 hours of study/cultural outdoor visits, 40 speakers of 19 nationalities (among which 15 field experts of senior level), also 4 ambassadors, one minister, one senator, Sultan of Perlis and late Malaysian king, as well as the King’s brother - the State Secretary of Perlis.

Vision to mobilize, expose and sensitivize my fellows, to link two distant regions of the world for the good of both, to make new friendships and reaffirm old; all together to inspire, envision, encourage, boost and employ generations of young Europeans and Asian have become truth this September. Affiliations and strong personal and professional bonds are created and are here to stay.

Our voyage is to continue eastward (CA, SEA) and westward (NAFTA, MERCOSUR), and I do have a sincere hope that business and governmental entities (on this or other sides of oceans) will recognize that our undertaking is not only about us, but also very much about the societies and business we want to see in near future.

Let’s jointly return to excellence and coin the future which starts now !!

Prof. (FH) Dr. Anis Bajrektarevic, Acting Deputy Director of Studies EXPORT EU–ASEAN–NAFTA

Professor and Chairperson, International Law/Global Political Studies

IMC University of Applied Sciences – Krems, AUSTRIA/Europe

(Principal architect and organizer of the BFA 2009)

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1. Introduction

"The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page."

Saint Augustine

At our university, we think that whoever had the air to say such a sentence couldn’t be

more right in what travelling and discovering the world means. In the following

pages, we will reveal how the IMC University of Applied Sciencies Krems, which as

its own names states, belongs to the lovely and quiet town of Krems an der Donau,

has turned once again another page of this thrilling book.

The “Export-oriented Management” students and graduates regularly attend a series

of study trips to relevant organisations in Geneva and Paris (OECD, WB, WTO,

UNESCO, UNCTAD, ILO,…) and Vienna (UN, OSCE, EC…). Besides, the

University constantly invites many speakers from all over the world and experts from

many fields who cover current topics. Since the students are being educated to

become “Export-Experts” in a world, which is rapidly becoming smaller due to

globalization, those study trips and the lectures of the guest speakers are of very high

interest for us.

On September 5th, 2009, the IMC Export decided to make one step ahead and remain

loyal to its own spirit. For the first time ever, 29 students decided to embark

themselves to a pioneer excursion to the other side of the world, precisely to Thailand

and Malaysia.

Asia is the most dynamic and fastest growing region in the world. It also hosts some

of the world's most distinctive cultures and business systems. Students of international

business need a detailed understanding of these societies and businesses, both for the

opportunities offered and to appreciate the competitive potential from Asian firms.

This program is designed to develop a basic understanding of the variety of business

systems in Asia and the opportunities and pitfalls from operating a business in one or

more of these societies. The business environment of Asia includes the history,

culture, and political systems of these societies and how this affects the operations of

firms.

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Because Asian business systems vary so widely, contrast-and-compare analysis is

essential. The purpose is to identify important differences and similarities and use

these to understand some of the major business issues in ASEAN countries. The main

issues include: government business relations and the problem of corruption and

"crony capitalism," political stability, banking, global and regional production

networks, the rise of “Asian tigers” and economic competition in Asia, global

manufacturing and business process outsourcing (recent China-ASAEAN FTA), Hi-

tech quest in Asia, as well as the development of e-business in Asia.

From the point of view of the social side, the aim was to get to know the Asian

continent, to submerge into the exciting everyday-life of the city of Bangkok and to

actually live the multi-cultural attitude of Malaysian people.

We had the chance to attend conferences held by highly qualified lecturers from the

region, who addressed business related topics as well as intercultural related subjects.

We also had the chance to enjoy some free time: we had crazy TukTuk rides through

the downtown of Bangkok, tastes all kinds of Thai food, visited the Royal Palace and

even had the honor of having a meeting with the Sultan of Perlis.

Obviously, behind the organization of such a special trip, which no other university in

Austria offers, there is also a special person, who has put a lot of effort into making

this event become true. Prof. Dr. Anis Bajrektarevic, Chairperson for International

Law and Global Political Studies at our university, is a kind of professor difficult to

find at other universities. He is passionate for his work and dedicated a lot of his free

time, so we could enjoy a trip, which otherwise would not have been possible. The

whole group of students deeply appreciates such a huge effort and is very grateful for

the possibility Prof. Bajrektarevic provided us with. The following report gives an

insight into the study trip and the various experiences we made during these two great

and unforgettable weeks.

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2. Timetable

Business focus ASEAN

Itinerary, Thailand – Malaysia 05–20 September 2009

(please note that the speakers names and topics might be a subject of change)

Place Programme

Saturday, September 5th 2009

Vienna VIE

Dubai

13:30 (CET) latest! Meeting of the group in front of the Emirates desk (last check of the passports, tickets, baggage)

14:00: Check-in 15:30-22:55: Flight Vienna – Dubai EK 128 22:55-03:15: (CET -3)

Meeting of the EXP Alumni / Shopping / Rest (boarding latest 02.30!)

03:15-12:25: Flight Dubai – Bangkok EK 384 12:45 (CET -5) Meeting at the Gate nr.3

Sunday, September 6th 2009

Bangkok Organized escort to the hotel/conference venue – the agent with the IMC-EXP plate waits for you. 13:45-14:15: Hotel Check-In 15:00-open: Afternoon and Evening Free

Rest and exploring the city lights 16:00-16.20: Welcome word by Prof. Anis & speed orientation

meeting (hotel lobby) 20:30-open: Optionally – joint dinner, city downtown (e.g. orientation

meeting, then taking the group to Khao San road for dinner/drinks or to leave the group there on their own)

Monday, September 7th 2009

Bangkok 09:00: (CET -5) Breakfast at hotel BFA – First session day

10:20: Registration of participants (conference kit) 10:30-11:00: Opening and welcome speech/note:

H.E. Johannes Peterlik, Ambassador to Thailand & H.E. Andrea Wicke, Ambassador to Malaysia

11:00-11:30: Welcome note Mr. Syed Bakri Syed Abdul Rahman, Deputy Chief of the Mission on behalf of H.E. Amb. Dato’ Husni Zai bin Yaacob, Malaysian Ambassador to Thailand

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11:30-12:00: Tour de Table Introduction of participants and the BFA expectations

12:00-12:30: Light snack & coffee break 12:30- 14:15: Intercultural Management

Topic: Essential ASEAN’s Intercultural aspects Workshops: Anna-Kaisa Pudas, University of Oulu, Findland,

14:30-15:30: Tour-de-table Topic: Thai- Austrian relations (Economic, political and cultural/scientific field) – role of Embassy Speaker: Arnold Obermayr, Councillor, Deputy Head of the Austrian Embassy

15:30-18:45: Afternoon Free 19:30-open: Networking diner (budget, organized)

Tuesday, 8th September 2009

Bangkok 09:00: (CET -5) Breakfast at hotel BFA – Second session day

10:00- 11:30: Austro-briefing (Presentation + Q&A) Topic: Business, investments and job opportunities in Thailand and Indochina (Vietnam/ASEAN) Speaker: Dr. Gustav Gressel, the Commercial Counsellor

11:30-13:15: Swiss-briefing (Presentation + Q&A) Topic: Switzerland's partnership with Thailand and ASEAN Speaker: Mr. Lukas Gasser, Minister, Chargé d’affaires of the Swiss embassy in Thailand

13:30-14:00: Light snack & coffee break 14:00-15:15: ASEAN-CHINA FTA

Topic: Reflections to the inter-Asian business opportunities Speaker: H.E. Guan Mu, Ambassador of PR China to Thailand

15:30-17:00: Intercultural management Topic: Traveling Jerusalem Café - workshop Presenter: Azriel Cohen, Israel (canceled)

17:00-open: Afternoon and Evening Free (Optionally, going to the Night Market)

Wednesday, September 9th 2009

Bangkok 09:00: (CET -5) Breakfast at hotel BFA – Third session day Specifics of the ASEAN economies

10:00 – 11:00: Thai briefing Topic: Tasks of and challenges for the Thai National Board of Investments Speaker: Mr. Winyoo Laopoonpittaya, Senior Investment Promotion Officer

11:00 – 12:00: Indonesian briefing Topic: Overview of the Indonesian economy, trade affairs, and investment policy and opportunities Speaker: Mr. Syafrudin Yahya (Commercial Attaché)

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Ms. Nana Yuliana (1st Sec.for Economic Affairs) and Mr. Dozi Adeson, 3rd Secretary for Political Affairs)

12:00 – 12:45: Thai Anti-Corruption Commission Topic: Intro to Anti-corruption measures in Thailand Speaker: Mrs. Sirirat Vasuavat, Director of Resource Centre of Thai National Counter Corruption Commission (NCCC), and Ms. Sairinya Tankaew, Project Coordinator of the XIV Intl. Anti-Corruption Conference (IACC), the Thai NCCC

12:45 – 13:00: Coffee break 13:00 – 14:00: Malaysian briefing

Topic: Malaysian -Thai Chamber of Commerce – role and ongoing activities Speaker: Mr. Mohd Iqbal Mohd Noor, Economic Counsellor and Alternate Permanent Representative to UN ESCAP, Trade Office, Embassy of Malaysia

14:00 – 15:00: Japan’s briefing Topic: Japan-Thai/Japan-Mekong region state of art in trade & investments and the future perspectives Speaker: Mr. Masato Ohtaka, Minister, Embassy of Japan

15:00 – 15:15: Light snack & coffee break 15:15 – 17:00: Expert’s view

Topic: Impact of the China-ASEAN FTA on these economies and impact of this FTA on EU/European exporters (challenges/obstacles/opportunities) Speaker: Prof. A. Dale Rorex, Social Sciences Division, Mahidol University Intl. College – Bangkok

17:00 – 18:15: Philippines/Vietnam briefing Topic: Philippines/Vietnam ASEAN position and role Speaker: Commercial Counselor, Nguyen Thanh Hung (Vietnam) or Philippine’s E. Thailand (tba)

18:15 – on: Free evening

Thursday, September 10th 2009

Bangkok 08:00: (CET -5) Breakfast at hotel BFA – Fourth session day Intl. FORAs at work in Asia and Pacific

08:30: Meeting in the lobby, departure for the UNESCAP 09:15: Arrival of the group (don’t forget your IDs) 09:30-10:00 ESCAP in general (mandate & scope)

Topic: Welcome remarks and introduction to ESCAP Speaker: Mr. Mitchell Hsieh, Public Inform. Officer

10:05-10:50: ESCAP (specifics) Topic: Macroeconomic policies and development in Asia and Pacific Speaker: Mr. Shuvojit Benerjee, Econ. Aff. Officer

10:50 – 11:00: Coffee break 11:00-11:45: ESCAP (specifics)

Topic: Statistical links to ASEAN economies

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Speaker: Mr. Clovis Freire, Economic Affairs Officer 11:45-12:30: ESCAP (specifics)

Topic: Trade and Investments in ASEAN countires Speaker: Ms. Mia Mikic, Economic Affairs Officer

12:35-13:55: Lunch (ESCAP premises) 14:00-14:45: ESCAP (specifics)

Topic: Information and Communication Development in the Asia-Pacific region Speaker: Mr. Jorge Martinez-Navarette, Associate Economic Affairs Officer

14:45-15:30: ESCAP (specifics) Topic: Trans-Asian Railway & Asian Highway Networks Speaker: Mr. Pierre Chartier, Economic Aff. Officer

15:30: Family photo & departure of the group 16:00-19.00: Free afternoon 19:30-22.00: Tuk-tuk ride (budgeted) Temples & King’s Palace,

etc. – exploring the residential part of BKK

Friday, September 11th 2009

Bangkok 08:30: (CET -5) Breakfast at hotel BFA – Fifth session day EU/G-8/Europe in Asia

09:00: Departure to the Delegation of the EC 10:00-16:30: Speed dating – Mission briefings 10:00-11:30: EU–ASEAN (China-ASEAN FTA)

Topic: The Swedish EU Presidency: Ongoing activities & forthcoming challenges (incl. Q&A) Speaker: H.E. Mr. Lennart Linnér, Ambassador of Sweden to Thailand

11:30-12:15: Lunch break 12:15-13:30: India/SAARC–ASEAN (ASEAN+3+3)

Topic: India – ASEAN – challenges and opportunities (including the tour-de-table Q&A) Speaker: H.E. Ms. Latha Reddy, Ambassador of India to Thailand

13:30-14:45: G-8 – ASEAN – EU Topic: The Italian G-8 Presidency – between challenges and opportunities in the ASEAN theatre Speaker: H.E. Dr. Michelangelo Pipan, Ambassador of Italy to Thailand

15:00-16:30: Cross regional Free-trade agreements Topic: General aspects & the current state of the EU – ASEAN FTA (including the tour-de-table Q&A) Speaker: Mr. Jean-Jacques BOUFLET, Minister Counselor for Trade (on behalf of the Head of the EC Delegation to Thailand, Ambassador David Lipman)

16:30-16:40: Family photo and departure 16:40-19:00: Free afternoon

(recommended: Food Court supper/late lunch snacks on the way

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to the Niramit, avoid cabs due to heavy jams) 19:30-21.50 Siam Niramit Show (pro bono, organized for the group)

http://www.siamniramit.com/


Bangkok 06:00: (CET -5) Breakfast at hotel 06:30–19.30: Day-long excursion (extra budgeted) 06:30-08:30: Drive (organized pickup at hotel)

WWII Cemetery, WWII Museum, River Kwai Bridge, Kwai Railroad ride, Floating-house Lunch, Bamboo rafting, Elephant trekking/riding, Waterfalls

17.50 – 19:30: Return to the hotel (organized transfer to hotel), rest and free evening


Bangkok

Malaysia

05:00: (CET -5) Breakfast at hotel 05:20-05:30: Check Out & Meeting in the lobby,

joint transfer to the airport 07:25: Flight FD 3543 BKK-PEN 0725-1005 10.05: Arrival to Penang (light snack & refreshments)

(CET -6; BKK time – 1) 11:30-13:30: Organized transfer

(Highway Stop, Gurun Rest & Relax spot) 14:00-20:30: Hotel Check in & free time

(Beach promenade walk & Ramadan market) 20:30-21:30: Dinner 22:00: Rest for the day


Perlis 09:00-09:30: (CET -6) Breakfast at hotel 09:30–04:50: Transfer 10:00–11:00: Meeting the UniMAP Faculty members and tour-de-

table with the UniMAP Faculties’ Deans 11:00–12:00: UniMAP and Perlis

Topic: Perlis vision 2015 (Excellency & Distinction) Speaker: Mrs. Fauziah bt Hashim, Director of Perlis State Economic Planning Unit

12:00–13:00: Visit – Cleanroom lab and other labs in Kuala Perlis/Jejawi

13.15-14.15: Lunch (Chinese restaurant) 14:30-16:30: Visit to Shorubber factory in Jejawi/

Kilang Gula Sdn. Bhd 16:30-17:30: Ramadan market – Jewawi 17:30-19:45: Return to hotel & short rest 20:00-22.00: Meeting with UniMAP business program students

(regular & exchange students)

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22:00-23.00: Speed dating & tour-de-table Speaker: Senator Mr. Ahmad Bin Hussin, Member of the House Senate, Federal Parliament Malaysia Speaker: Saffie Bakar, Director of Dallab Cryptotech

23:00-23.45: Dinner with all participants 00:10: Return to hotel and rest for the day (parallel) 23:00-23.45: Official welcome dinner for Prof. Anis hosted by the

UniMAP Vice-Rector and faculty members (including the speed dating with Dato`Seri Diraja Syed Razlan Jamalullail, State Secretary)

Tuesday, September 15th 2009

Perlis 08:00-08:30: (CET -6) Breakfast at hotel 08:30-09:00: Royal protocol Exercise (hotel lobby) 09:15-09.45: Escort to the Royal Palace 10:00-11:30: Reception by His Highness’ Sultan DYMM Tuanku

Syed Sirajuddin Jamalullail and the Perlis governmental officials (presenting the group, tour-de-table, family photo, press-conference)

11:30-12:30: Visit to the Private Collection of Raja of Perlis (upper floor of the Palace)

12:30-13:30: Lunch at the Palace – Royal courtesy 13:30-14:00: Escort to the Governmental Palace of the State of Perlis 14:00-15:30: Perlis and Malaysia – state of arts & tour-de-table

Host & speaker: Dato Seri Diraja Syed Razlan Jamalullail, State Secretary of Perlis

15:30-19:00: Return to hotel & short rest 19:30-20:30: Kangar down-town supper 21:00-00:30: Special Cultural Evening (with dinner) exclusively

organized for the IMC EXP fellows, hosted by the UniMAP Vice-Rector

01:00: Return to hotel and rest for the day


Perlis 09:00-09:30: (CET -6) Breakfast at hotel 09:45-10:45: Depart to Kulim Hi-Tech Park 11:00 -13:30: Visit few Industries (Silterra & Altera, Asian

association of business incubation, Tech management centre), tour-de-facility & tour-de-table

13:30-14:00: Snack lunch 14:15 -16:30: AMD Processors – tour-de-facility & tour-de-table 16:30 -18:00: Visiting Cave of Darkness, sightseeing and the

shopping in Padang Besar 18:30-22:00: Visiting Pulau Pinang (Penang) – sightseeing 20:00-22:00: Dinner & free time/shopping in Penang 22:00-24:00: Departure to Perlis 00:00-on: Return to hotel & rest for the day

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Perlis

Bangkok

06:30: (CET -6) Check out, Breakfast at hotel 07:30: Organized transfer to the airport 10:35: Flight FD3542 PEN-BKK 10.35-11.15 11.15: Arrival to BKK & joint transfer to the hotel 12:30: (CET -5) Hotel Check-In 13:15-on: free afternoon and evening

Optionally: Joint dinner – to be agreed at the spot


Bangkok 09:00: (CET -5) breakfast at hotel 09:30-15:30: Free morning & early afternoon 15:30: meeting in the hotel’s coffee lounge 15:45-17:45: Final WS on intercultural managm.

Speaker: Dr Astrid Kainzbauer, Mahidol College of Management & Mr. Till Morstadt, Lorenz & Partners Bangkok (presentations & tour-de-table)

18:15: Meeting in the lobby & organized escort to Chao Phraya (River boat cruse & dinner)

19:00-21:30: Chao Phraya river Closing dinner (Debriefing) Dinner/Reception by the IMC EXP Fellows – for the Malaysian & Austrian diplomats and professors of MAHIDOL university


Bangkok Free morning 12:30: (CET - 5) Hotel Check-out latest! 22:30: Departure time!! latest!

Hotel lobby – meeting of the group, joint transfer to the airport (last check: passports, tickets, baggage)

23:30: Airport – Passport control (mind that the BKK IA control may last long !!)


Bangkok

Dubai

Vienna

00:45:-app. Boarding 01:25-04:30: Flight Bangkok – Dubai EK 385 04:30-09:55: (CET -3) Shopping / Rest

(boarding latest 09.20!) 09:55-13:45: Flight Dubai – Vienna EK 127 14:00 (CET) Transfer to the Vienna city Not-organized

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3. Destinations

3.1. Thailand

Thailand is often referred to as “The Golden Land”, not

because there is precious metal buried underground but

because the country gives off a certain glance, be it the

fertile rice fields of the central plains, white sandy

beaches or the warm hospitality of its citizenry.

Thailand, “The Land Of Smile", counts more than 65

million inhabitants. The capital city is Bangkok. Thai

refer to their country homeland as „Prathet Thai“ or

„Muang Thai“, which means „Land of the free”, due to

the fact that Thailand, former Siam, neither has been

annexed nor colonized by a European power throughout

history. The country consists of 26 provinces that make

up Central and Eastern Thailand. Kingdom Thailand

(Ratcha Anachak Thai) is situated in South-East Asia.

The population is predominantly Thai, with significant

Chinese, Khmer, and Malay minorities. The official language is Thai and official

religions are Buddhism and Islam.

With a well-developed infrastructure, a

GDP of 547.4 billion, a free-enterprise

economy and in general a pro-investment

policy, Thailand was one of East Asia’s

best performers from 2002 to 2004 (CIA –

The World Fact Book, est. 2008). Its

market economy is based largely on

services, notably trade and light industries. Thailand is a major producer of tungsten

and tin. Among its main agricultural products are rice, corn, rubber, soybeans, and

pineapples; manufactures include clothing, canned goods, electronic equipment and

cement. Moreover, tourism of all kind plays an important role for the economy.

Subsequently, political crises have harmed growth, which eroded investor and

consumer confidence and damaged the international image. Export was considered as

the key economic driver as foreign investment and consumer demand stalled. As for

now, the economy horizon darkened a bit, not only due to the financial crisis, but also

due to still present political uncertainty.

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3.2. Malaysia – truly Asia?

Malaysia is a vibrant and thriving nation in the very heart of South-East Asia. It is a

country of two landmasses – Peninsular Malaysia and Malaysian Borneo, which are

640 km apart, separated by the South China Sea. The country comprises 14 states

including the three Federal Territories – Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and Labuan, which

collectively form the 14th "state". The capital city is Kuala Lumpur, while Putrajaya

is the seat of the Federal Government.

Malaysia is considered as a middle-income country that transformed from a producer

of raw materials into an emerging multi-sector economy meanwhile generating a GDP

of $ 384.3 billion (CIA- Factbook, est. 2008). Prime Minister Abdullah, who came

into office in 2003, is eager to attract investments in high technology industries,

medical technology and pharmaceuticals.

It is a multi-racial and multi-religious

country with a population of over 25

million. The “bumiputras” (or "sons of

the soil") which comprise the Malays,

the indigenous people of Sabah and

Sarawak, and the aboriginal groups of

Peninsular Malaysia (the Orang Asli)

form the majority of 61.4 %, with the

Chinese at 23.7 %, the Indians at 7.1%, and other ethnic groups (amongst others

Eurasians, Europeans) accounting for the rest. (cf CIA - The World Fact Book, 2009,

par. 3) Malaysia is literally a young country, reflected in the age structure, as over 1/3

of the population is younger than 15 years. After founded in 1957 and freed of the

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British in the post-colonial situation, Malaysia is seeking for an identity. Given the

cultural mix the concept is for the New Malaysia, to have citizens, whose loyalty is

given to the nation, not to a federal state or an ethnic group. The milestone is to create

a “Single Malaysian identity”. This aim is also reflected in former Prime Minister

Mahathir’s Vision (Wawasan) 2020 for Malaysia to be fully developed country by

2020, economically as well as politically, socially, spiritually, psychologically and

culturally. Given the rich ethnic mix, it is hardly surprising that there is a great variety

of faiths in Malaysia. Official religions are Islam, as well as Buddhism, Christianity,

Hinduism and some local religions. Malaysia reflects “Asia - Truly Asia”, a slogan

that turned into reality.

13

4. Monday, September 7th 2009

Thanks to the great ambition of Prof. Dr. Anis Bajrektarevic, who was organizing the

study trip “Business Focus ASEAN” for the first time in September 2009, Export

students and graduates had the unique opportunity to be introduced to the ASEAN

region by highly qualified and experienced personalities, namely H.E.Ambassador Dr.

Johannes Peterlik, Ambassador of Austria to Thailand and Mr. Syed Bakri Syed

Abdul Rahman, Deputy Chief of the Mission on behalf of H.E. Ambassador Dato’

Husni Zai bin Yaacob, Malaysian Ambassador to Thailand. This very warm welcome

to a fascinating area was definitely a magnificent event to remember for everybody

due to the fact that most of the Export students and graduates haven’t had the

possibility to get to know this region beforehand. Most probably no one of the

students would have expected at the beginning of the studies to visit two of the most

prosperous countries of the ASEAN region.

Staying in Bangkok, the capital and most important city of Thailand, was a new and

impressive experience not only because of the numerous meetings and conferences,

which were organized by Prof. Dr. Anis Bajrektarevic but also in terms of cultural

characteristics. Thanks to the introductory remarks of Mr. Syed Bakri Syed Abdul

Rahman, Export students and graduates got to know about Malaysia in general and

also more precisely about Perlis, the smallest of the federal states, located in the north

of the country, bordering Thailand.

Furthermore we would like to take this opportunity to express our gratitude to the

speakers, who took their valuable time and Prof. Dr. Anis Bajrektarevic for the

organization of the first “Business Focus ASEAN” study trip. Sincere thanks are

given to all.

14

4.1. Austrian Embassy to Thailand

H.E. Dr. Johannes Peterlik, newly

accredited Ambassador of Austria to

Thailand and also in charge of Myanmar,

Cambodia and Laos and former

Ambassador to Vietnam, held the

welcoming speech at the first conference

day of the two-week program of

“Business Focus ASEAN” of the IMC,

University of Applied Sciences, Krems.

His Excellency provided an interesting introduction to our study trip and opened up

the floor for lively discussions about historical happenings, the current situation in the

ASEAN region and expected future developments from different points of view.

GAINING FOOTHOLD

First and foremost, His Excellency underlined the importance of the Asian region in

economic but also in geographical and political terms, not only for Europe but far

more for the global economy as the Asian market will be growing even further in the

future. Despite rapid growth in recent years, the coming expansion is expected to be

even more impressive. Therefore it is crucial, especially for the EU market, to further

show presence and gain a foothold there, not only in order to let the market grow, but

far more to make sure that the European market will continue to exist and have

influence on the world’s economy. This step needs to be taken by European

companies in order to ensure their position in world trade, hence in world economy.

In His Excellency’s point of view, Austrians are, however, not willing enough to take

risks to access a market they only have limited knowledge about. For sure, to some

extend this behavior is considered Austrian mentality but the general fear of the

unknown plays an important role as well. Therefore, a market where security,

sustainability and credibility cannot be taken for granted seems often unattractive but

Date: Monday, September 7th 2009

Time: 10:30 – 11:00

Topic: Welcoming speech & introduction to the ASEAN region focusing on Thailand

Speaker: H.E. Ambassador Dr. Johannes Peterlik, Ambassador of Austria to Thailand

Moderator : Prof. Anis Bajrektarevic

15

frequently turns out to be a diamond in the rough. However, and not without reason, a

wise man once said that “wherever you see a successful business, someone once made

a courageous decision” (Drucker, P.F.)

THE GLOBAL ECONOMIC CRISIS

Furthermore, in order to underline the significance of his words with facts, H.E. Dr.

Peterlik explained that in the Asian region/market one can already see recovery from

the economic and financial crisis whereas the European market still suffers heavily.

Asia should not solely be seen as a market where investing and gaining high profits is

the focus. It should be seen as a role model to be learned from by looking at its

culture, trade techniques and strategies. It is crucial that the European Union stops its

mainly inward-focus, shortsighted policy, which hems its development and excludes

it from the rest of global economy.

BECOMING RISK TAKERS

In His Excellency Peterlik’s opinion, it is of utmost importance that the European

Union looks more beyond its borders and focuses more on its foreign policy to be able

to compete better in world economy. His Excellency even sees high potential for

Austrian companies in the Asian market as their products are well known for

exceptionally good quality and high standards. It remains within the European hands

whether it takes advantage of the great opportunity that lies in front or let it pass and

let someone else profit from it instead and only then furiously try to find plausible

reasons why it did not step in but avoided the risk.

16

Contact Information H.E. Ambassador Dr. Johannes Peterlik Ambassador of Austria Austrian Embassy Bangkok 14, Soi Nandha, off Soi 1 Sathorn Tai Road Bangkok 10120/ Thailand

www.aussenministerium.at/bangkok Tel.: (+66/2) 679 88 83 Fax: (+66/2) 287 39 25 Email: [email protected]

17

4.2. Malaysian Embassy to Thailand

As second speaker we had the great opportunity to welcome Mr. Syed Bakri Syed

Abdul Rahman, Deputy Chief of the Mission on behalf of H.E. Ambassador Dato’

Husni Zai bin Yaacob, Malaysian Ambassador to Thailand.

BACKGROUND & HISTORY

Mr. Syed Bakri Syed Abdul Rahman served in Rome from 1999 to 2002 before

coming to Thailand. Due to this fact, he is already quite familiar not only with the

European market but also with its peoples, cultures, traditions and backgrounds. His

speech focused on the relations between Thailand and Malaysia. He explained that the

bilateral relations between the two countries started 52 years ago, when Malaysia

became independent from Great Britain.

EXPORT & INVESTMENTS

Until today Thailand remains within the top five of Malaysia’s trading partners and in

2008 Thailand was the fourth largest investor in Malaysia (after Japan, Netherlands

and Singapore). Concerning investments, Malaysian companies are investing heavily

in Thailand; 2007 a total of 350 Mio USD was invested whereas in 2008 figures

more than doubled compared to the investments made in 2007. Thailand, in

comparison, with a population of about 70 Mio people, does not invest such amounts

abroad simply because its internal market is already of substantial size and therefore,

there is no compelling need for them to invest in foreign countries as it is the case for

Malaysia. Here he established a connection to Europe and explained that this

phenomenon was comparable to the situation in Italy. Italy is also not importing

heavily. Firstly, due to the reason that the region is already quite autonomous in terms

of natural resources and secondly, because of the modesty of the people, who are

completely satisfied with what they have.


Time: 11:00 – 11:30

Topic: Relations between Thailand and Malaysia

Speaker: Mr. Syed Bakri Syed Abdul Rahman, Deputy Chief of the Mission on behalf of H.E. Ambassador Dato’ Husni Zai bin Yaacob, Malaysian Ambassador to Thailand


18

Thailand and Malaysia are not only strongly interlinked and closely cooperating in

terms of trade but also by considering holiday destinations, Thailand is often the

preferred destination of Malay people. In the years to come, the two countries even

aim at intensifying their relations in order to strengthen solidarity and cooperation for

mutual benefit.

CULTURE

Regarding culture the ambassador explained that Asia is a very diverse region in

terms of religion, languages and cultural background. Europe, on the other hand,

although it comprises many languages, is mainly based on one religion, namely

Christianity. Therefore, Europe seems more “monocultural” and uniformly thinking to

him than the Asian world. Furthermore, Mr. Syed Bakri Syed Abdul Rahman stated

that Malaysia, with its great number of different ethnic origins, (Malays, Chinese and

those with Indian decent) was an open-minded country; cultural and also business

wise.

EUROPE’S TRADING OPPORTUNITIES

Malaysia, he said, welcomes trade with foreign countries, especially with Europe as

its products enjoy an enormously high reputation due to their good quality and high

standards. In particular products from the automotive, airplane and pharmaceutical

sector are strongly demanded. Furthermore, Mr. Syed Bakri Syed Abdul Rahman

pointed out that, agreeing with H.E. Ambassador Peterlik, Europe had to become

more willing to take risks when it comes to trade with Malaysia. Now, at a time of

growing inner-Asian trade, it is of utmost importance for Europe to react fast and gain

foothold in the market to ensure a successful future. Until now, Europe has put a

stronger focus on China and Japan, firstly due to historical reasons and secondly due

to higher security of investments. But the time has come to take further steps towards

a more outward bound European market, looking beyond European borders, raising

the foreign affairs budget and building close cooperation with prosperous regions. As

communication and the overcoming of barriers play an important role when it comes

to trade, one should take into consideration, that in Malaysia, due to the fact that

Malaysia was a British colony, the English language is very well known and

therefore, the use of it helps eradicating occasional barriers.

19

PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT BETWEEN ASIA & EU

A Partnership Cooperation Agreement (PCA) between Asia and the EU is currently

being negotiated and an outcome is expected to be announced at the end of this year.

Contact Information H.E. Ambassador Dato’ Husni Zai bin Yaacob, Ambassador of Malaysia Malaysian Emassy to Thailand 35 South Sathorn Road, Bangkok 10120, THAILAND

www.kln.gov.my/perwakilan/bangkok Tel.: +66-2-629 6800 Fax: +66-2-679 2208 Mr. Syed Bakri Syed Abdul Rahman, Deputy Chief of the Mission Email: [email protected]

20

4.3. University of Oulu

Prof. Anna-Kaisa Pudas is originally from Finland but has been living in Thailand for

12 years now. With her speech she made the characteristics of the Asian culture

accessible to us, demonstrated the differences in culture, manners and behaviors in

Asia compared to Europe based on the results of the world’s famous Hofstede’s

surveys.

HOFSTEDES’ RESULTS

Culture, a collective mental programming

of the mind, is either inherited or learned.

Thailand is a strongly hierarchical country.

People need to know their position in

society in order to behave correctly and

appropriately. It is also rarely the case that

Thais in lower positions make decisions on

their own. They rather wait and ask their

supervisor to tell them what to do. That must not be misinterpreted and classified as

uncreative or dependent behavior but rather as an acceptance of their own position

and respect towards the decision makers. This strong sentiment towards hierarchy can

also be experienced in daily life routines. Age plays an important role for the

hierarchical order. Small girls, for example, call themselves “little mice” in order to

clearly state their position in the hierarchy. This behavior is also shown in the circle

they call “Bun-Khun” which will be explained later.

In Austria it is rather common that, although we have a hierarchical order as well,

people work on a rather equal level, knowing their tasks, but, in case of absence of the

supervisor are even expected to make independent decisions and work on their own. It

is highly appreciated and often remunerated if people bring in creative ideas or

concepts that might improve the companies’ strategies and processes.


Time: 12:15 – 14:15

Topic: Intercultural Management – Essential ASEAN’s Intercultural Aspects

Speaker: Mrs. Prof. Anna-Kaisa Pudas, University of Oulu, Finland


21

When taking a look at the Thai Social Pyramid, one can see that the King with its

Royal Family is on the very top, followed by the A-B-C Club; that is Army, Bankers

and Civil Servants. This small elite group, which has money and power through birth,

mainly rules the country. The rest of the population, including the middle class, is

rather poor regarding money, influence and rights. The hierarchical position of a

person is heavily influenced by power, wealth, professional rank, age, merit and birth.

Furthermore, the survey shows as well that Thailand has a strong collective culture, so

people have an intense feeling of belonging together and the wish of working

together, whereas the USA followed by Australia are the countries with the highest

individualism where people preferably work on their own.

BUN-KHUN, KRENGJA, NAM-RUAM & NAMJAI

When looking at the social circle and cycle of relations of the Thais, one can see that

the family, representing the innermost circle, is of highest importance, followed by

the cautious and then the selfish circle. The selfish circle, translated as “taking

advantage”, represents the relations to people one only meets once in life. The

relationship between Thais is highly influenced by their age. The “Bun- Khun”, a

psychological bond, representing a rotating circle, tells the young ones to show

gratitude and ineptness and the elders to be merciful and kind in return. Closely linked

to the Bun-Khun circle are the words “Krengjai, Nam-ruam and Namjai” representing

strong values, so to say the cornerstones of Thai culture. “Jai”1, meaning “heart” in

Thai language, is quite frequently used in normal Thai conversations, showing

relationship and humanity. For business managers, understanding, respecting and

following those principles is a prerequisite for doing business successfully.

“Namjai”2, meaning “the water from the heart” (“nam”=water), constitutes the

generosity of a person. It also expresses genuine kindness without expecting anything

in return.3 As “Namjai” represents a strong value for the Thais, they often judge a

person by that. “Krengjai”4, often translated as “awe heart” or “deferential heart”,

expresses the empathy, but also the politeness, respect and consideration someone

shows towards other people. The term “Nam-ruam” refers to moderation in

expressions and conduct which is based on the Buddhist teaching on equanimity and

appreciative gladness. When a person is “Nam-ruam”, he restrains his emotions,

whether being elated or in grief or in anger, to avoid embarrassment and discomfort to

others.5 A Thai would never make someone lose his/her face. Even in the case of a

1 http://www.apmforum.com/columns/thai46.htm 2 http://www.apmforum.com/columns/thai46.htm 3 http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/gi_0198-353443/Privacy-rights-and-protection-foreign.html

4 http://www.thaizer.com/culture-shock/kreng-jai/ 5 http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/gi_0198-353443/Privacy-rights-and-protection-foreign.html

22

mistake of someone else they would refrain from showing anger but instead they

would laugh to ensure that this person will not lose his/her face. They would even

prefer lying than making someone lose their face.

Another reason for the Thais’ smiling

faces is that they try to attract good spirits

through laughing and smiling in critical

situations. The Thais’ inner calm can

already be seen when going to the city

center by taxi rush hour. A Thai would

never hoot, shout or make vulgar gestures

in situations an Austrian would most likely

lose his temper. And why? This can be described best by the Thai saying: “There are

fish in the sea and rice plants growing – so why care?” And it is basically like this.

The Thais are rather modest and content people. They do not complain as long as they

have enough for life.

DOING BUSINESS WITH THAIS

Concerning business, it is advisable not to misinterpret a “yes” or a smile of a Thai,

because translated it just means “I hear you” but not “I will do it”. When doing

business with a Thai it is of highest importance to show empathy and care for

colleagues, to control one’s emotions and be respectful and aware of Thai traditions

and culture. A Thai does not do business with a company but with the responsible

person, so it is mainly the business partner’s behavior that decides whether

cooperation is successful or not.

Concerning culture, it is an absolute “don’t” to talk about the Royal family and the

King, or politics and religion. For the Thais the head is the most important part of

body and the feet the dirtiest one. When entering a temple one must take off his shoes

because otherwise bad spirits are carried from the shoes into the holiest place. Also,

when dropping a coin, one must not step on the coin, as the King’s face is printed on

one side.

When starting work in Thailand, adaptation time is expected to be around six to nine

months. But soon one will find that Thais will try to socialize. Close contact to their

working colleagues is very important, no matter where you are in the hierarchy. It is

even expected from the supervisor to go for lunch with his workers or to attend some

of their family ceremonies, such as the wedding of the daughter or the graduation of

their son.

23

As one can see, the differences between European and Asian culture are of enormous

magnitude, however, not so big that they could not be overcome. But be it for doing

business or going on holidays, it is of vital importance to become aware of and show

respect towards their culture and try to adapt. As much as we want our culture to be

respected one has to guarantee the opposite as well.

Contact Information Prof. Anna-Kaisa Pudas University of Oulu, Finland Email: [email protected]

24

4.4. Austrian Embassy to Thailand

For our last speaker of the day we were highly pleased to welcome Arnold Obermayr,

Counselor and Deputy Head of the Austrian Embassy. He put the focus of his speech

on Thai-Austrian relations. Having lived in Thailand for already two years now, he

has been able to gain substantial insight and comprehensive knowledge of both, the

Thai and the Austrian side.

Background & History

Since 1954, when the first Austrian

Embassy was established in Thailand there

have been no major frictions between the

countries. Until today, Austria has always

been active and also successful in this

region. In 2008, exports amounted to

approximately 200 Mio Euro. Especially

in the areas of machinery and jewelry

Austrian companies have been settling

successfully in Thailand and have gained substantial growth there. Two of the biggest

Austrian companies present there are “Swarovski” and “Siemens”. Siemens,

producing the railway carriages for the sky train in Thailand, has become an

important trader in that field. Also Austria, he stressed, is quite a favorable destination

for Thai students, mainly due to the high reputation Austria enjoys in the field of

music, dance, and drama.

Connected with Myanmar, Mr. Obermayr highlighted the sanctions Europe has put on

jewelry and timber. In April this year the foreign ministers of the EU-27 countries

agreed to further extend the sanction period by another year.6 Nonetheless, he

stressed that the EU should think twice when putting sanctions on the country. In the

6 http://www.europeanvoice.com/article/2009/04/eu-extends-sanctions-on-myanmar-until-2010/64716.aspx


Time: 14:15 – 15:00

Topic: Thai- Austrian relations (Economic, political and cultural perspective) – Role of the Embassy

Speaker: Mr. Arnold Obermayr, Councillor and Deputy Head of the Austrian Embassy to Thailand


25

end, one must not forget that Myanmar holds quite a substantial amount of gas

reserves.

Doing business in Thailand

When it comes to doing business in Thailand, one has to know that most of

Thailand’s labor force is highly educated but still cheap. Corruption and ownership

however might pose problems to Austrian entrepreneurs. Ownership might pose

immense obstacles insofar as Thai law demands a 51% ownership by a Thai person,

not only with an enterprise but also with

housing. Therefore only 49% can be held

by a foreigner. Also the language might

pose quite some problems, even more so

as workers are mostly Thais and in order

to talk and negotiate properly with an

employer, supplier or client, there will

most probably have to be a lawyer and

interpreter to support foreigners. However, Thailand, with Bangkok’s great advantage

of its geographic location, in the center of ASEAN, still remains a favorable location

for investors. The highly developed infrastructure in Thailand plays an important role

in that respect. Furthermore, one can see that Thailand, besides Indonesia is the most

proactive country within ASEAN. However, one must not forget that Thailand cannot

yet be called an industrialized country as two thirds of the country is still dominated

by agriculture.

When looking at Laos, one has to take into consideration that over the last 30 years

the country has experienced civil war, which formally ended in 1973 but will still

have its repercussions for some time to come. Nonetheless, he stressed that Laos is a

very stable, well-developed but often forgotten country.

Internship/Employment Opportunities

Last but not least, we were keen on knowing whether there was a possibility for an

internship in the Austrian Embassy in Thailand. An unpaid internship, he said, would

be possible with a minimum of two months and a maximum of four months. The

earliest date for one person would be in 2011.

Contact Information Mr. Arnold Obermayr Councillor and Deputy Head of Mission Austrian Embassy 14 Soi Nantha, Sathorn Tai Soi 1, Bangkok 10120

Tel.: (+66)/(0)2 303 60 57-9 Ext. 30 E-mail: [email protected]

27

5. Tuesday, September 8th 2009

5.1. WKO Aussenwirtschaft Österreich, Außenhandelsstelle Bangkok

General Information

The Austrian Embassy’s Commercial

Section, located in Thailand, is also

accountable for Thailand’s surrounding

countries, namely, Laos, Cambodia,

Vietnam and Burma which resemble few

business opportunities. However, main focus is held on Thailand. The team comprises

the commercial section Bangkok of the Austrian Embassy, the Marketing Office

Hanoi and a consultant in Ho Chi Minh City as well as in Phnom Penh. The

responsibilities of the specialists at the Commercial Section in Bangkok are a

comprehensive support for Austrian companies penetrating these South East Asian

markets. This service includes support in market entries, day- to- day businesses, as

well as support in coherent supply chain, investment and debt collection.

Thailand

Thailand covers an area of about 514,000 km², has a population of 65.9 million

people, the capital is Bangkok, the governmental form holds a constitutional

monarchy with a head of state: King Bhumipol Adulyadej and a head of government:

Abhisit Vejjajiva. Thailand can be divided into three main economic areas: 16 % of

the GDP comes from Bangkok respectively the Eastern Seaboard, which is the main

industrial region. In one private industrial park alone with some 600 companies in two

locations about 16% of Thailand’s GDP are produced. The second area is located

around Chang Mai and the third area is situated in the South with Hat Yai as centre of

Date: Tuesday, September 8th 2009

Time: 10:00 – 11:30

Topic: Business, investments and job opportunities in Thailand and Indochina (Vietnam/ASEAN)

Speaker: Dr. Gustav Gressel, the Commercial Counsellor


28

the rubber industry. Further main cities are Nakhon Ratchasima, Khon Kaen, Udon

Thani, Chonburi and Pattaya.

Thailand is a member of the WTO, ASEAN, APEC, World Bank and ADB. A double

taxation agreement between Austria and

Thailand exists since 1986. Whereas the flow of

commodities in 2008 was characterized by a

growth of +6.3% of exports toward Thailand and

+4% of imports from Thailand, a downturn due

to the economic crisis can be seen in the first

half of 2009. Compared to the first six months in

2008, where export trade relations could be

marked with EUR 94.5 millions, a massive

reduction of -10.66% resulted in a figure of EUR

84.5 millions in the first half of 2009. The same

picture can be drawn for the import side, even

though the imports were only reduced from EUR

198.7 millions in the first half of 2008 to EUR

187.7 millions in the same period of 2009 which

reflects a minus of 5.5%.

The total flow of commodities of EUR 198 millions of exports, a plus of 6.3%

compared to 2007, was mainly composed by the following sectors:

• Electric Appliances (EUR 37,1 Mio.)

• Jewellery (EUR 31,9 Mio.)

• Chemical Products (EUR 30 Mio.)

• Mechanical Machinery (EUR 26,7 Mio.)

• Glass and Glass Products (EUR 13,1 Mio.)

The increase of +4% (EUR 393 millions) in the imports were mainly driven by the

following sectors:

• Jewellery (EUR 94 Mio.)

• Electric Appliances (EUR 53,5 Mio.)

• Clothing (EUR 34 Mio.)

• Vehicles and Components (EUR 33,7 Mio.)

• Mechanical Machinery (22,5 Mio EUR)

29

The overlapping branches are due to semi-finished products and the fact that

Swarovski owns six plants in Thailand.

A few hundred companies are active in Thailand whereas 70 direct investments took

place – 33 of those in production factories like Swarovski, Tyrolit, Semperit, PPC and

Agru (to name just a few). In 2008 five total new investments and a sum of EUR 6

Mio. was achieved. An investment concentration in Bangkok area, Rayong (Central

Thailand) and Hat Yai (South) can be detected.

Austrian companies focus on the following sectors:

• Trading in machinery and equipment

• Production and sales of jewellery

• Pharmacy

• Trading in chemicals

• Trading in plastics

• Production of natural rubber products

• Textile production

Beside the already established branches,

future key sectors for Austrian investors

are the expansion of the transportation

system in Bangkok as well as the port in

Pak Para and Songkhla. Big opportunities

concerning the four major projects of

expansion of means of mass transportation

in the next seven years could be used by

Austrian companies. Furthermore

hydropower and biomass energy plants are seminal. In addition environmental

engineering like water preparation as well as waste management and the upgrade of

healthcare infrastructure would be advisable.

Beside the positive geographical location of Thailand, a stable economic

performance, an excellent infrastructure, a well developed supply industry, a well

educated but affordable labour force, affordable real estate prices embedded in a

stable regulatory framework accompanied by economic incentives bring Thailand

forward as a country for future FDI.

30

Even though the governmental structure was influenced by a series of changes (four

governments in one year), the investment framework in Thailand is stable and every

government forced and still forces the increase of the purchasing power as well as a

stable investment environment.

Due to the dramatic downturn of FDI, mega- projects are processing slow and

domestic investment is promoted.

FTAs have been signed with seven countries such as Japan, India, Australia, New

Zealand and the US. ASEAN has FTAs with China and Korea. The FTA with the US

has been discontinued. The planned FTA ASEAN-EU does not make sufficient

progress. Therefore bilateral agreements are more probable.

Thailand, as well as the whole South East Asian

region suffers from the economic crisis, which

weakens tourism and exports. In the short run

no new FDI wave is expected. The country will

focus on expansion of transportation ways,

healthcare systems and logistics. However, in

the long run the ASEAN influence in the world

trade will significantly increase. Due to a lack

of consensus a FTA between EU and ASEAN

will rather be supplemented by bilateral

agreements whereas Thailand will have the

important role of a gate to South East Asia.

Macroeconomic Data of Thailand 2008 2009 (projection)

GDP (in bn EUR) 220 213,4 – 212,3 GDP - growth (%) 2,6 -3,0 - -3,5 Foreign Reserves (in bn EUR)

87,7 n/a

Inflation (%) 5,8 -1,0 Unemployment Rate (%)

1,4 3,4

Exports (in bn EUR) 122,8 (+16,8%) 102,7 (-16,3%) Imports (in bn EUR) 122,6 (+26,4%) 92,9 (-24,2) Austrian Exports to Thailand (in million EUR)

197,8 (+4%) 191,8 (-3,5%)

Austrian Imports from Thailand (in million EUR)

392,9 (+6%) 369,3 (-6%)

31

Economic growth from 2001 to 2004 was constantly 6%, dropped in 2005 as a result

of the increase of the world market price for crude oil. Since 2006 the growth could

not exceed the 5% level. In the second decade of 2008 Thailand was also hit by the

economic crisis and due to a decrease in exports the economy grew only by 2.6%. The

initial forecast for 2009 was zero growth but was revised to a decrease of 3 to 4%.

Main risks in 2009 can be seen in the worldwide economic slowdown of Thailand’s

main export sectors like automobile, electronic and computer industry.

The main export partners for Thailand are the ASEAN region (20%), the EU (14%),

USA (12.6%) and Japan (12%). Nearly 55% of the imports are from the Asian region,

namely Japan, the ASEAN region and China, followed by the EU and the US.

Even though the same amount of projects were signed the FDI inflow in 2008

decreased by 30%. 10% of the FDI investment was based in the EU region, 30% in

Japan, followed by the Netherlands, Singapore, Malaysia, India, South Korea, Great

Britain and USA.

Over 250 Austrian companies are constantly active in Thailand. In 2008 five new

companies were established. By March 2009 68 Austrian FDIs (thereof 33 production

sites) can be reflected. The Austrian presence is mainly focusing on machinery,

jewellery, chemical industry, infrastructure and production of rubber products (nearly

60% of 13 Mio. imports in 2008 are rubber gloves).

Most important trade partners 2008 Exports Imports

ASEAN 23% 16,80% thereof Singapore 5,70% 4% Malaysia 5,60% 5,40% Indonesia 3,60% 2,90% Vietnam 2,82% 0,80% USA 11,40% 6,40% EU thereof UK 2,40% 1,80% The Netherlands 2,50% 0,60% Germany 1,80% 2,50% France 1,90% 0,90% Italy 1,20% 1% Belgium 1,10% 0,50% Austria 0,20% 0,20% Japan 11,30% 18,70% China 9,20% 11,20% AWO, Außenhandelsstelle Bangkok

32

Foreign Commerce with Austria (Mio. EUR)

2006 2007 2008

Austrian imports 338,1 379,9 392,9 Austrian exports 153,1 186,1 197,8 shift compared to proceeding year +22,1% +21,6% +6,3% Statistik Austria

How to use these opportunities

AWO needs detailed explanation of the USP with special

focus on the South East Asian region. Beside detailed

product information, an insight into the company structure

and already existing and successful product

implementations in several countries should be delivered.

Any personal contact and site visits facilitate the

cooperation of the Austrian company and the AWO.

SME have best experience with waterfall strategy in SEA.

Furthermore business in SEA should always be done on a

pre-payment base. Involvement in law cases should

strictly be avoided. Bureaucratic hurdles should be

handled with the support of the AWO and a big portion of

patience.

Vietnam

Vietnam covers an area of about 330.000 km², has a population of 86.1 Mio. million

people, the capital is Hanoi, the governmental form is a Socialist Republic with a

head of state: Nguyen Minh Triet and a head of government: Nguyen Tan Dung.

Vietnam can be divided into three different areas: Hanoi/Haiphong in the North is

more for government projects, while Ho Chi Minh City in the South with its

surrounding areas is more the hub of the private industry. The centre Danang is more

and more developing. In the course of Dr. Gressel’s explicit and experienced

explanations, he moaned about Vietnam’s bad infrastructure, which partly allows

driving 30 km/h on highways only. It was quite surprisingly when Dr. Gressel told

that Vietnam the third largest coffee producer in the world.

Austrian exports to Vietnam in the first half of the year 2009 (EUR 44,1 Mio.) were

almost 40 % less than in the first half of 2008 (EUR 27,1 Mio.).

Austrian imports from Vietnam also decreased and fell by approximately 20 % by

comparing the same period (Jan-June 2008: EUR 135.9 Mio.; Jan-June 2009: EUR

111,8 Mio.).

33

The total flow of commodities of EUR 87 millions of exports, a plus of 26.8%

compared to 2007, was mainly composed by the following sectors: • Mechanical machinery (28,5 Mio. EUR)

• Medical devices (27,5 Mio. EUR)

• Pharmaceuticals (6,3 Mio. EUR)

• Electrical machinery (3,9 Mio. EUR)

• Fertilizer (2,3 Mio. EUR)

The increase of +16.5% (EUR 261 millions) in the imports from 2007 to 2008 was

mainly driven by the following sectors: • Shoes (100,1 Mio. EUR)

• Textiles and clothing (44,9 Mio. EUR)

• Coffee (35,2 Mio. EUR)

• Furniture (8,0 Mio. EUR)

• Mechanical machinery (5,4 Mio. EUR)

About 20 Austrian companies invest directly in Vietnam, where most of them devote

in tourism. Moreover, there are four investments in production facilities, such as

Tigerlacke (colours and paints) and BIOMIN (animal feed). Austrian companies

mainly concentrate their activities around Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

Macroeconomic Data of Vietnam 2008 2009 (projection)

GDP (in bn EUR) 60.4 62.7 GDP - growth (%) 6.2 4 Foreign Reserves (in bn EUR)

17.7 n/a

Inflation (%) 23.0 5.6 Unemployment Rate (%)

4.9 5.4

Exports (in bn EUR) 42.8 (+21.2%) 41.5 (-3%) Imports (in bn EUR) 54.3 (+22,3%) 44.3 (-18.4%) Austrian Exports to Thailand (in million EUR)

86.5 (+26,8%) 74.5 (-13.9%)

Austrian Imports from Thailand (in million EUR)

261.2 (+16,5%) 233.5 (-10.9%)

AWO, Außenhandelsstelle Bangkok

Austrian companies focus on the following sectors:

34

• Trading in machinery and equipment

• Trading in pharmaceutical and chemical products

• Healthcare

• Industrial plant construction

• Railway infrastructure

• Special purpose vehicles

• Communication equipment

• Technologies for education

Beside the already established branches, future key sectors for Austrian investors are

seen in infrastructure projects, such as the expansion of railway system, construction

of new power plants and the construction of bridges. Another market niche is

observed in the healthcare sector with the construction and upgrades of hospitals. Dr.

Gressel emphasized that Vietnam is in high demand of vocational training when it

comes to education. He also explained the importance of the German language in

Vietnam as in the time of the Comecon, Vietnamese were sent to Eastern German to

study engineering there. Furthermore, Dr. Gressel stated that is doing a good step in

coming up with China.

Also waste water treatment and water preparation is a big issue and thus, industrial

plant production may be a business opportunity there. Another future key sector is

noticed in the public security sector as there is a high demand in communication

equipment as well as special purpose vehicles. Also the plastics and packaging

industry expects promising figures.

Later in Dr. Gressel’s insightful presentation, Vietnam was introduced as an

interesting investment location. This is caused by its good geographical situation, well

educated/skilled people, higher quality awareness than in other Asian countries, stable

regulatory framework and its low cost of labour force. Nonetheless, Dr. Gressel

warned against Vietnam’s deficits in infrastructure, the little development of the local

supplier industry, bureaucracy, lack of work force in certain regions and sectors, lack

of legal protection (e.g. no constitutional court).

It was also mentioned that companies doing business with Vietnam must be extremely

aware of with witch bank a L/C is opened. It should be never shipped on open account

even in a long-standing business relationship with a Vietnamese company.

Since Vietnam became the WTO's 150th member on 11 January 2007, reforms are

encouraged (but slowly). In 2008 there was a new record in foreign investments while

Vietnam has to bear a sharp decrease in foreign investments in 2009. Vietnam is

considered as an alternative to China and India for low-cost production of electrical

35

and electronical products. In the long term there is encouraged a further integration in

the free trade area of ASEAN: Vietnam as the gate to China. Also expansion of the

capacity for the production of electronics and machinery is supported. In the long run

Vietnamese companies are striving for a development of new export markets – also,

the country’s infrastructure is boosted with the construction of roads, railways and

public transportation systems, to name only a few.

In the end of the Dr. Gressel’s interesting and informative presentation, potentials and

challenges for Austrian companies in South-East Asia were given. It was underlined

that Thailand and Vietnam grant access to ASEAN/AFTA and that this market,

hosting more than 500 million people, should kept clearly in mind and cannot

abstracted away. This region will gain percentage of the world economy even though

it will be not 100% stable – however, it will get a big part of the cake.

Challenges for European companies are first, the increase of competition from Asian

suppliers, second, the estimation of additional costs of an investment, third,

bureaucracy and also, cultural barriers. In addition, corruption is a big issue both in

the private and public sector. The worst corruption of this region was watched in

Cambodia.

As a result of this great speech we hope to share these impressions with our fellow

students and herewith invite Mr. Gressel once more to the IMC Krems in the course

of the AWO’s Tour d’Autriche.

Contact Information

WKO Aussenwirtschaft Österreich Außenhandelsstelle Bangkok Austrian Embassy- Commercial Section Wko.at/awo/th 14 F Chartered Square Building- 152 North Sathorn Road Bangkok 10500 Thailand Tel.: +66 2 268 2222 Fax: +66 2 200 0222

Dr. Gustav Gressel,

Der Handelsdelegierte für Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Kambodscha, Myanmar

[email protected]

36

5.2. Swiss Embassy to Thailand

In the beginning of Mr. Gasser’s presentation, he provided the audience with some

main facts. Switzerland has a population of 7.7 Mio. inhabitants. Its major trade

partners are: Germany 20%, USA 10%, Italy 9%, France 9%, UK 5% and Japan 3%

(Asia 19%). Switzerland is very export-oriented (36’000 of 300’000 companies, 38 %

of GDP in 2008). The country’s exports are structured as follows: Chemical and

Pharmacy 35%, Machines 21%, Instruments and Watches 18%.

Next, Mr. Gasser enlightened its “bilateral

integration” with the EU and mentioned

that the FTA “EU-Switzerland” exists

already since 1972. Subsequently, Mr.

Gasser addressed his speech to

Switzerland’s membership in the EFTA.

EFTA is an acronym and stands for the

European Free Trade Association where

Switzerland is a member from, beside

Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. The EFTA is an intergovernmental organisation

set up for the promotion of free trade and economic integration to the benefit of its

four member states. The EFTA was founded in 1960 by the Stockholm Convention. It

maintains the management of the EFTA Convention (intra-EFTA trade), the EEA

(European Economic Area) Agreement (EFTA-EU relations), and the EFTA Free

Trade Agreements (third country relations).

Furthermore Mr. Gasser explained that the EFTA has no attempt of common foreign

or trade policies. There are FTAs with Canada, USA, Mexico, Colombia, Chile,

SACU, Morocco, Egypt, GCC, Turkey, Macedonia, Croatia, Korea and EU, but also

joint declarations with Mercosur and Mongolia. Currently, there are still ongoing

negotiations with Thailand, India, Ukraine, Serbia, Algeria and Peru. EFTA is

conducting dialogues in view of possible future free trade negotiations with the

following countries: Indonesia, Malaysia and Russia.


Time: 11:30 am – 13:15 pm

Topic: Switzerland's partnership with Thailand and ASEAN

Speaker: Mr. Lukas Gasser, Minister, Chargé d’affaires of the Swiss Embassy in Thailand


37

Switzerland‘s FTAs with ASEAN are jointly derived with EFTA. The EFTA’s Free

Trade Agreements are done country by country, were signed in Singapore in 2003. In

2005 negotiations started with Thailand, and pre-negotiations with Indonesia and

Vietnam are in progress. The negotiations between EFTA and Thailand on a Free

Trade Agreement are currently on hold. During the second round of free trade

negotiations between EFTA and Thailand in January 2006, a considerable progress in

a number of areas was made. At that time a 15 % boost in bilateral trade through a

possible Free Trade Agreement was estimated by Thai officials.

The graph as follows illustrates the EFTA’s Free Trade Agreements and its statuses:

Mr. Gasser emphasised that a main issue in the partnership between Switzerland and

Thailand is to revive the EFTA-FTA and to overcome its current block. The new

government voiced preference for FTAs in the region. Mr. Gasser stated the case

India shows proportions and potentials as trade between India and Thailand counts for

USD 6 bn, while trade between Switzerland and Thailand counts for USD 2 bn.

Source: EFTA

38

The following chart shows the EFTA States’ trade with Thailand in 2008:

As another programme point, Mr. Gasser, dwelled on Switzerland’s partnership with

ASEAN that is seen as very heterogeneous: Singapore – Myanmar. It was pointed out

that external trade still outweighs internal exchange, it is unrivalled for integration in

Asia and that there occur perception problems in the West. Switzerland’s big interest

in ASEAN is motivated by the region’s huge potential and the figures as follows:

• combined GDP: 1,5 tn USD

• exports 2008: 4,7 bn CHF (China

2008: 5,4 bn CHF)

• exports 2008: 67% to Singapore and

Thailand

• exports 2008: 5,4% to Cambodia,

Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam

Mr. Gasser also contemplates ASEAN in the crisis and scrutinized whether the region

fortified the crisis. In the end of Mr. Gasser’s interesting and absorbing presentation,

he critically reminds that Thailand must be careful as other countries in the regions

are cheaper in labour – thus, Thailand is forced to move up the ladder.

Contact Information

Embassy of Switzerland Diplomatic Affairs Department of Foreign Affairs www.eda.admin.ch/bangkok 35 North Wireless Road, Bangkok 10330 Tel.: +66 2 253 01 ext. 113 Fax: +66 2 255 44 81

Mr. Lukas Gasser, Minister [email protected] [email protected]

Source: EFTA

40

6. Wednesday, September 9th 2009

6.1. Thailand Board of Investment

First, Mr. Laopoonpittaya gave a concise introduction into Thai culture and values.

He explained the importance of the Thai King who is the supreme leader and idol of

Thai people as he is the one constant figure in the turbulent political environment of

Thailand. The day of this lecture happened to be on September 9th, 2009 which is due

to the special lucky meaning of the number 9 in the Thai culture, a day on which Thai

traditionally honor the King with stopping work for a moment at nine o’clock to step

out to the street and signify dignity and trust.

Thai economy

Mr. Laopoonpittaya presented an overview

of economic figures of the Thai economy,

which is forecast to contract by 1.5 to 3.5

percent in 2009 influenced by the

worldwide financial crisis and due to a

sharp fall in exports of goods and services.

This is resulting from the struggle of

Thailand’s trading partners’ economies.

The country’s exports are forecast to

shrink also considerably, falling by around 14.8 percent for the year 2009. At the

same time, imports are forecast to decline by 25.2 percent in 2009. Imports will

decline at a faster rate than exports. All those facts and numbers underline the

importance of strong trading partners for Thailand.

The traditional strong sector in the Thai economy is agriculture with the production of

rice, sugar, palm oil and fruit, car manufacturing, electronic goods and tourism.

Generally speaking, Thailand is in the midrange of economic size worldwide.

Thailand is also the number one processor of seafood, which is mainly exported to

Date: Wednesday, September 9th 2009

Time: 10:00 – 11:00

Topic: Thai Briefing: Investment Environment in Thailand

Speaker: Mr. Winzoo Laopoonpittaya, Senior Investment Promotion Officer, Thailand


41

Europe. The rice production for a long time has been an important and rather stable

source of revenue.

Exports make up a large part of the Thai economy. The total value of exports in 2008

was Bt 5,853 billion, increasing 10.40% compared to 2007. It is crucial for the Thai

economy and adds 60% to the country’s GDP. The Top 3 of Thai exports in 2008

were machinery, car manufacturing and jewelry. Further important exports of

Thailand’s economy are refined fuels, electronic goods, rubber, rice and iron.

BOI & Investment incentives

Thailand has an extensive investor service body called the Thailand Board of

Investment (BOI), which is providing tax incentives and duty exemptions for

investors and supports them in administrative work such as visas and work permits as

well as estate search. The BOI especially supports investments in the sectors of

alternative energy, the automobile and automotive parts industry, in machinery and

agriculture. Mr. Laopoonpittaya explained the BOI privileges, which are granted to

investors. The tax incentives for investors are mainly in the form of corporate income

tax holidays, which can be lasting for a maximum of 8 years (100% of investment

excluding land coast and working capital). After the tax holiday, the corporate income

tax can be reduced by 50% over a period of 5 years. The actual length of the tax

holiday is also related to the location of the investment in Thailand. There are three

different zones of different development priority. The BOI intends to attract more

investment in the North and South of Thailand, where the tax holiday is longer to

support areas that have not yet reached the highly developed level of the greater

Bangkok area. Further tax incentives for investors are import duty reductions and

better conditions for importing machinery and raw material. In addition to the

competitive package of fiscal incentives, non-tax incentives are offered such as far

reaching land ownership rights for foreign investors. Concerning foreign labor issues,

the Thai government gives the permission to the investors to move foreign experts

and technicians to Thailand and grants work permits. Permits and visas are issued

remarkably fast within 3 hours.

Mr. Laopoonpittaya explained that when investments are done with over 500 million

Baht, a feasibility study has to be done which includes information as the status of the

overall industry, appropriateness of the project, and impacts on the greater economy.

For such projects government assistance is needed.

For further information regarding investment in Thailand and regarding the activities

and roles of the BOI, the official website: www.boi.go.th.

Mr. Winzoo Laopoonpittaya provided the participants with a most comprehensive and

in-depth presentation on the far reaching foreign investment incentives that the Thai

Board of Investment has to offer as well as the many investment opportunities for

42

foreign investors. Impressed with the dynamics of the Thai economy, participants

were eager to learn what other major ASEAN countries had to offer.

Contact Information

Mr. Winyoo Laopoonpittaya Director, Services & Consulting Division Investment Services Center Office of the Board of Investment 555 Vibhavadi-Rangsit Road, Chatuchak Bangkok 10900 Thailand

43

6.2. Indonesia Briefing

After the comprehensive presentation on investment opportunities in Thailand by Mr.

Winyoo Laopoonpittaya, Mr. Syafrudin Yahya and Ms. Nana Yuliana gave a wide-

ranging presentation on Indonesia. Specifically, the presentation covered a general

overview of the Indonesian economy, trade affairs, and investment policy and

opportunities.

Indonesia is the largest economy in South-East Asia,

having an estimated GDP of 433 billion USD in 2007

(511 billion USD 2008 estimate by CIA). The key

sectors of the economy are manufacturing (27% of

GDP), trade / hotel / restaurant sector (14.9% of

GDP), and agriculture / livestock / forestry / fisheries

(13.8% of GDP). Indonesia has experienced resilient

economic growth over the last five years despite increases in domestic fuel prices, and

growth for 2008 is estimated at 6.1 %. This growth has, apart from consumption and

investment, been also mainly driven by exports, especially commodity exports. Since

2003 oil and gas exports have increased significantly with total exports rising to

118.01 billion USD in 2007 as volumes and prices of major commodities such as

crude palm oil, nickel, paper, and chemicals spiked. Moreover, the dependency on the

US market has declined as the share of exports to the U.S. has steadily fallen from

13.3% in 2002 to 9.8% in 2007. The robust foreign investment and the significant

foreign portfolio investment inflows demonstrate Indonesia’s resilience against the

effects from the U.S. financial crisis. The 41% growth in net foreign direct

investment inflow in 2007 was supported by an increase in reinvested earnings, the

establishment of the Batam, Bintan and Karimun special economic zones, as well as

the creation of tax incentives.

In regard to Indonesia’s trade policy, the republic has a multi-track strategy in

international trade negotiations consisting of multilateral (WTO, Doha development

Agenda), regional (ASEAN, ASEAN-China Free Trade Agreement for goods and

beginning in services, ASEAN-Korea free trade agreement for goods, negotiations for


Time: 11:00 – 12:00

Topic: Indonesian Briefing

Speaker: Mr. Syafrudin Yahya (Commercial Attaché) and Ms. Nana Yuliana (1st Sec.for Economic Affairs)


44

an ASEAN-India, an ASEAN-Japan, and an ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand), and

bilateral (Indonesia-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement) free trade agreements.

Furthermore, special free trade zones have been established on the islands of Batam,

Bintan, and Karimun where exclusive land ownership right, VAT exemption on raw

materials, and import duty exemptions on machineries and equipment provide for

attractive investment opportunities.

Contact Information

Ms. Nana Yuliana (1st Sec.for Economic Affairs), [email protected]; [email protected] Ministry of Trade of the Republic of Indonesia: http://www.depdag.go.id/

Indonesia Investment Coordination Board: http://www.bkpm.go.id/ National Agency for Export Development: http://www.nafed.go.id/

45

6.3. Thai Anti-Corruption Commission

After a very informative morning, we

received the information that we would

have the pleasure to welcome two

additional speakers. Jennifer Kartner who is

a graduate of the Export-oriented

Management degree program and is

working now at the Austrian Anti-

Corruption office, had arranged a session on

Thai Anti-Corruption bodies and measures.

After a short introduction of the Speakers, Mrs. Sirirat Vasuavat and Ms. Sairinya

Tankaew, a video of the National Anti-Corruption Commission was played, giving an

overview about the scope of the Commission. After the video, Ms. Vasuavat

explained in detail the scope of work of the National Anti-Corruption Commission

and the session was finalized by Ms. Tankaew giving an introduction to the 14th

International Anti-Corruption Conference, which will be held in Bangkok in

November 2010.

The NCCC and its duties

The National Counter Corruption Commission has nine members including the

President who are appointed by the Thai King. The power of the NCCC is to inquire

facts and inspect State officials including persons holding a political position who are

suspected to be involved in any matter of malfeasance, corruption or unusual wealth.

The duties of the NCCC are to carry out the process from investigating until the

possible removing of the alleged culprit from office, which would have to be done by

the Senate via a passed resolution. When a criminal offense is the case, the NCCC


Time: 12:00 – 12:45

Topic: Introduction to Anti-Corruption measures in Thailand

Speakers: Mrs. Sirirat Vasuavat, Director of Resource Centre of NCCC, Thai National Counter Corruption Commission and

Ms. Sairinya Tankaew, Project Coordinator of the 14th International Anti-Corruption Conference (IACC), Thai Anti-Corruption Commission


46

refers the matters to the Prosecutor-General for criminal investigation. Another duty

of the NCCC is to assess which institution has the power to appoint or remove the

alleged culprit and whether a disciplinary penalty and/or a criminal investigation

should be applied to the case. When a suspicion is given, the NCCC investigates the

asset and liabilities of the alleged culprit for possible devolving the property from the

state. The whole scope of the work of the NCCC is limited to corruption of State

Officials and an allegation matter needs to show signs of unusual wealth, corruption

or malfeasance to be investigated. One of the main focuses of the NCCC is to create

an awareness of the harm that corruption does to the Thai nation and intends to

prevent corruption through educating people.

International Anti-Corruption Conference (IACC)

In the second part of the session on Anti-

Corruption, Ms. Sa introduced the

International Anti-Corruption Conference

(IACC) to the group. This conference is

known as the most important international

anti-corruption event and is attended by

over 1,500 anti-corruption specialists from

civil society, private and public sector. In

November 2010, the Office of the

National Anti-Corruption Commission will host the event in Bangkok following the

conference of 2008, which took place in Athens, Greece. The conference is held every

two years since the first IACC in Washington DC, USA in 1983. Ms. Tankaew

explained that this particular conference in Bangkok will be an opportunity to change

the global perception of Thailand being inactive against corruption. The theme of the

event in Bangkok will be “Restoring trust. Global action for transparency”. The

purpose of the conference is to be a fruitful base to make cross-fertilization and

networking between the ant-corruption experts possible.

Ms. Tankaew referred for further detailed information to the homepage of the 14th

IACC, which will soon be available (http://14iacc.org) or the email address

[email protected]

The session was finalized with a vivid discussion on the definition of corruption,

which unfortunately had to be aborted due to our tight schedule. This discussion

would have easily occupied on its own several hours of talks. Although time was very

limited, a wide-ranging introduction to the way the Thai nation is fighting corruption

was given during this session.

47

Contact Information

Ms. Sairinya Tankaew Project Coordinator of the 14th International Anti-Corruption Concerence (IACC) Thai Anti-Corruption Commisson : [email protected]

http://nccc.thaigov.net

Mrs. Sirirat Vasuavat Director of Resource Centre of NCCC Thai National Counter Corruption Commission: [email protected]

48

6.4. Malaysian Embassy to Thailand

After visiting our event already for the second time, Mr. Mohd Iqbal Mohd Noor

commenced his comprehensive presentation by charming the group with a welcome

note in flawless German. The main focus of the presentation was the Malaysian-Thai

Chamber of Commerce. Firstly some background information about the chamber was

presented, after which Mr. Noor went on to explain the objective and role of the

Chamber, to finally shed light on the ongoing activities after which participants had

the opportunity to engage in a dialogue with Mr. Noor.

The Malaysian-Thai Chamber of Commerce (MTCC) was

established in June of 2002 as an association composed

primarily of Malaysian and Thai companies and

individuals having business ties to promote and develop

economic relations and has been officially recognized by

the Malaysian Ministry of Foreign Trade. The MTCC is

incorporated in Thailand and it has worked closely with

the Embassy to further promote and strengthen economic

relations between Thailand and Malaysia. Moreover, the

objectives of the MTCC are to promote cooperation and

business relations, foster cooperation between the nations’

authorities and to provide advice, ideas, and suggestions

for Malaysian business interests in Thailand. The

Chamber engages in information dissemination about

Malaysia to Thai investors and also sets out to promote activities that are benevolent

for the greater society. Events and seminars are organized on a regular basis

throughout the year and a quarterly newsletter and an annual handbook are published

in order to provide advice and information helping the MTCC’s members to have a

better understanding and more effective business endeavors in the Malaysian and Thai


Time: 13:00 – 14:00

Topic: Malaysian briefing: Malaysian-Thai Chamber of Commerce – role and ongoing activities

Speaker: Mr. Mohd Iqbal Mohd Noor, Economic Counsellor and Alternate Permanent Representative to UN ESCAP, Trade Office, Embassy of Malaysia


49

environment. The MTCC has also assisted and facilitated the visits of Malaysian

Ministers and officials, it has been involved in organizing an address by the Prime

Minister of Malaysia to the Thai business community in 2002, and has also been

active in organizing business meetings with visiting Malaysian business delegations,

networking dinners and gatherings. Presently, the volume of Thai investment in

Malaysia is considered to be low, and the MTCC encourages Thai companies to

invest in Malaysia.

Contact Information

Mr. Mohd Iqbal Mohd Noor, Economic Counsellor and Alternate Permanent Representative to UN ESCAP, Malaysian Trade Office, Embassy of Malaysia, [email protected] http://www.mtcc.or.th/

50

6.5. Japanese Embassy to Thailand

For the Japan briefing, the Business Focus ASEAN participants

are especially grateful that two representatives from the

Embassy of Japan managed to participate in the program,

although they had a very tight schedule on that very day. Mr.

Masato Ohtaka, Economic Minister, supported by Mr. Takashi

Kohama, third secretary, took the time to deliver a

comprehensive and in-depth presentation on the economic

relationship between Japan and Thailand.

Firstly, the overall relationship between Japan and Thailand in

terms of residents and visitors was presented and it has to be

noted that this year the 120 years anniversary of diplomatic

relations was celebrated. The presentation continued with an

overview of major overseas Japanese Chambers of Commerce

of which the chamber in Bangkok enjoys by far the greatest

number of member companies (1,303 in 2009). The foreign

investment by country was presented, as were trade volumes,

with Japan being Thailand’s major foreign investor and major trade partner. An

overview of the bilateral Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) then followed

whereby Japan’s EPA’s consist of cooperation, expanding people exchanges,

abolishing of regulations on foreign investment or improving investment regulation,

and intellectual property or harmonization of competition policy agreements as well

as others.

The Japan-Mekong Region Partnership Program was also presented, this year being

the “Mekong Japan Exchange Year.” This program has three goals: enhanced Japan-

Mekong region partnership, sustainable economic growth of the Mekong Region, and

life with dignity for the people in the Mekong Region and fulfillment of their

potential. This is to be achieved by integrating economies of the region and beyond,


Time: 14:00 – 15:00

Topic: Japan’s briefing: Japan-Thai/Japan-Mekong region state of art in trade & investments and the future perspectives

Speaker: Mr. Masato Ohtaka, Minister, Embassy of Japan


51

expanding trade and investment between Japan and the region, and by pursuing

universal values and common goals of the region.

Once more, on behalf of the BFA participants: Domo arigato gozaimashita Ohtaka-

san!

Contact Information

Masato Otaka Economic Minister Embassy of Japan 177 Witthayu Road Lumphini, Pathum Wan, Bangkok 10330, Thailand [email protected]

52

6.6. Mahidol University International College Bangkok

Mr. Rorex, professor at Mahidol University was the final speaker of this very

intensive program day. He grabbed the group’s attention with a very lively and

interesting speech. Prof. Rorex came to Bangkok rather by coincidence, as he is

originally from Alaska where he was working for a company, which sent him to

South-East Asia for business. This initial trip to this region of the world caught his

deep interest, which moved him finally to stay already for seven years. Thanks to

good coordination of Prof. Anis, Prof. Rorex joined us for the final dinner at the end

of the Business Focus ASEAN.

Beginning with the background of the ASEAN, which has been founded in 1967 Prof.

Rorex expressed the cornerstones of creating this union to prevent intrusion of foreign

cultures in South East Asia and the protection of the indigenous cultures. The natural

resources as oil, gold and minerals should be exploited and efficiently used. Another

cornerstone was to invest in education and support peace in the region, as there were

some difficulties after the independence.

China and the ASEAN

The relationship between China and the

ASEAN countries bears both increased

export competition and new opportunities.

China is ASEANS fifth largest trading

partner after the US, Japan, the EU and

Hong Kong. The ASEAN exports are

mainly based on resources and agriculture-

based products like minerals, vegetable, oil,

rice and sugar. Nevertheless, the export of

machinery and electrical components to China are rising. The problems that ASEAN

countries face when trading with China are often weakness in law enforcement,

inconsistent legislation, uncertain product standards, weak legal infrastructure and


Time: 15:15 – 16:45

Topic: Expert’s View: Impact of China-ASEAN FTA on these economies and impact of this FTA on EU/European exporters (challenges/obstacles/opportunities)

Speaker: Prof. A. Dale Rorex, Social Sciences Division, Mahidol University Intl. College - Bangkok


53

low quality of work. Intellectual property is poorly protected and the financial market

is restricted. Tourism is one of the most important factors in the ASEAN region as is

China’s relationship concerning exchange of services. In 2000, 2.2 million Chinese

visited ASEAN countries and since then with the growth of the Chinese economy and

wealth of citizens, the eagerness to travel rises. However, lately Chinese domestic

travel is on the rise, which is negatively supported by political instability in e.g.

Thailand and the discriminatory treatment of ethnic Chinese minorities in some

ASEAN countries.

Strengths & Weaknesses of ASEAN

Mr. Rorex underlined that the ASEAN countries have one major weakness, which he

called the “Policy of Non-intervention”. ASEAN countries have no common force,

when there is unrest in one country the neighbors do not react openly because there is

traditionally hardly any involvement or official reaction. However, this “Policy of

Non-Intervention” can also be seen as a strength, as the region has shown rather little

unrest and good stability since the 1960s. The order and stability over a longer period

of time delivers a good base for incoming investment.

S.E.A countries are trying to increase economic efficiency and competitiveness rather

than to reach economic integration similar to the EU. The ASEAN members focus

very much on their national good than developing regionalism. There have been

movements towards a common currency with the Chiang Mai Initiative. However,

those movements are still rather focusing on stabilizing the currencies than a common

economic policy.

The lack of common leadership in the

ASEAN region based on the national

focus of the members is when one looks at

the ASEAN region as a whole union an

internal weakness that might have a strong

impact in the future on the ability to react

quickly to economic developments and

strong competitors, according to Prof.

Rorex. Furthermore, the possibility was

discussed of the ASEAN region to develop into a similar union like e.g. the EU but

although there is the motivation to create such a construct, several factors neglect the

possibilities. The vast differences between states in the ASEAN region in terms of

political and economical system hinder this process. Additionally, there is a huge

variety of cultures and religions in a relatively small area which is another factor why

it is difficult to create a unified leadership strategy.

54

One of the problems of S.E.A. countries is that the allocation of money is centered on

the elites who are not open for bringing equal distribution of wealth through taxes and

social security. It is important to the economy of ASEAN countries to be able to

deliver low cost labour as this is a competitive advantage of the region, according to

Prof. Rorex.

Concluding is to say that the ASEAN countries have a great source of power, which is

started to be used more efficiently with each step that the countries take towards

common policies, free trade agreements and unified leadership. Power has shifted in

the last centuries throughout the regions of the world and to quote Prof. Rorex

“Nothing stays the same.”

7.

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7.1. UN ESCAP Introduction

On Thursday, our fourth official day, we

visited the UN Economic and Social

Commission for Asia and Pacific at the

UN building in Bangkok. From our hotel

it was a ten-minute taxi ride to get to the

UN premises. After a brief security check

we were warmly welcomed in one of the

inviting conference rooms. In fact we

quite felt like UN delegates as one can

really feel the international atmosphere of the location. UNESCAP is a part of

regional economic bodies of th e UN system. Other comparable bodies are: The

United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), the United Nations

Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (UNECLAC), the

United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (UNESCWA)

and the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE)

(www.unece.org).

Mr. Mitchell Hsieh, Public Information Officer, had some welcoming words for our

group and later gave us a short introduction to ESCAP. With his words, the United

Nations “is a unique organization of independent countries that have voluntarily

joined together to work for world peace and social progress.” Currently, the United

Nations Organization consists of 192 countries. Its objectives are the following:

Maintaining international peace and security, developing friendly relations among

nations, solving international problems and harmonizing the actions of nations. The

United Nations, headquartered in New York City since 1950, have three subsidiary,

regional headquarters in Geneva (Switzerland), Vienna (Austria), and Nairobi

(Kenya) that help to represent UN interests. Only the headquarters in New York

contains the UN’s principal organs, which are:

Date: Thursday, September 10th 2009

Time: 09:30 – 10:00

Topic: Welcome remarks & introduction to ESCAP

Speaker: Mr. Mitchell Hsieh, Public Information Officer

Moderator : Prof. Anis Bajrektarevic (Georg Schön on behalf of)

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1. The General Assembly

2. The Security Council

3. The Economic and Social Council

4. The Trusteeship Council

5. The International Court of Justice

6. The Secretariat

ESCAP

The Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP or

ESCAP) is a regional arm of the United Nations and moreover the only

intergovernmental forum for countries of the Asian and Pacific region. It is also the

largest regional commission of the UN with respect to area covered, people served

and membership. Including 53 members and nine associate members, ESCAP

represents 60 percent of the world’s population. Its existence enhances cooperation

among member states, thusly facilitating sustainable economic integration. As a Pan

Asian intergovernmental body, ESCAP is concerned with the process of development

human rights, especially those of women.

History

Established 1947 in Shanghai, China as the Economic Commission for Asia and the

Far East (ECAFE), its name was changed to ESCAP in 1974 to reflect social

development aspect in its activities and its geographical scope. The founding nations

were Australia, France, Netherlands, UK, USA, Soviet Union, China, India,

Philippines, and Thailand. Since January 1949 ESCAP is located in Bangkok,

Thailand.

ESCAP’s main legislative organ is the commission that meets annually at a

ministerial level. It is composed of all members’ and associate members’

governments.

57

According to Mr. Hsieh, ESCAP provides 4 types of services:

1) Research and studies

2) A unique forum for member governments to discuss and adopt a common

approach to regional challenges. Sometimes it is known as “Parliament of

Asia”

3) Catalyst of regional cooperation

4) Clearing house for information by collecting information, analyses and

redisseminates them for the benefit of member countries

ESCAP Secretariat Structure (Effective as of 1 January 2009 )

There are seven Substantives Divisions, two Program Support divisions and one

centre.

58

ESCAP accomplishments

• Asian Highway: 141,000 Km of roads crisscrossing 32 countries

– The Intergovernmental Agreement on the Asian Highway Network

entered into force on 4 July 2005 with the aim to promote international

road transport

• Trans-Asian Railway 81,000 Km of tracks in 26 countries. Entered into force

on June 11, 2009, it shortens the distances and travel time between countries

and regions. Additionally, it is a tool for trade expansions, economic growth

and cultural exchanges.

• The Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement (Bangladesh, China, India, Rep. of Korea,

Lao PDR, Sri Lanka) “[…] is a preferential tariff arrangement that aims at

promoting intra-regional trade” (http://www.unescap.org/tid/apta.asp)

ESCAP activities

• Establishment of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in 1966

• Establishment of the Mekong Committee in 1957, which was later renamed

the Mekong River Commission in 1995

• Annual Economic and Social Survey

• MDG regional reports, Statistical Year Book, etc.

59

7.2. Macroeconomic policies and development in Asia and the Pacific

Subsequent to Mr. Hsieh’s briefing on ESCAP, Mr. Shuvojit Banerjee, Economic

Affairs Officer, spoke about macroeconomic policies and development in Asia and

the Pacific. According to Mr. Banerjee, Trading systems, human health and

environmental well-being are likely to be disrupted in the near future. This is because

the world’s attention is focused on the financial crisis that overshadows other critical

problems like food and energy security as well as the climate change. As economic

growth turns negative in many parts of the world, it is expected that the global

economy will stall at -1.7 negative growth, a record since WWII. The picture as it is

shows declining growth across all regions. Since ESCAP’s performance is positive, it

is likely that this region is going to be the locus of global growth in 2009. Worth

mentioning is, that according to Mr. Banerjee, “developing countries have shown a

greater resilience to the financial crises than developed”. However, since the Asia

Pacific region is more integrated with the rest of the world than with itself, ESCAP, as

a trade dependent region, has been hit hard. Consequently, economies with a larger

proportion of local demand may be more resilient as those relying on export. Be that

as it may, fact is, that expansionary fiscal and monetary policies can be used as a tool

to peg economic growth. The drawback is that these measures get fiscal balances

under pressure, which is of particular concern (e.g. Japan’s debts amount to 170% of

the GDP). China for example had a positive fiscal balance in 2008, which allows for

expansionary fiscal policies. Thus, not surprisingly, China has the largest stimulus

package of Asia.

Connected to the financial crisis, of course, is the problem of rising unemployment

rates. It is estimated that upon the crisis’ impact as many as 24.8 million people, could

lose their jobs. In particular, this concerns young women employed in the

manufacturing sector. In the region, only 30% of elderly receive pensions and just

20% of the people have access to health assistance. Moreover, out-of-pocket

expenditure on health in the Asian Pacific region is very high and access to basic

services, even though improving, remains poor. This obviously triggers an acute need

for social protection system.


Time: 10:00 – 10:45

Topic: Macroeconomic policies and development in Asia and the Pacific

Speaker: Mr. Shuvojit Banerjee, Economic Affairs Officer


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Another threat is the increase in food and crude oil prices. Rice for example, the

region’s staple, has increased by 150% in just four month. Soaring oil prices that can

be traced back to the increased demand and increasing extraction costs also hamper

growth.

A third threat is the vulnerability of people to natural disasters. Looking at statistics,

Asia experiences 42% of the world’s natural disasters. Disturbingly, 65% of the

victims are poor and vulnerable. This background shows that amending the region’s

“grow first, clean up later” attitude should be a top priority.

ESCAP addresses, what is called a triple threat, by a reorientation of the development

paradigm, centered on three pillars that Mr. Banerjee identified as the following:

• Resume economic growth and preserve macroeconomic stability.

• Strengthen the social foundation for inclusive development

• Promote environmentally sustainable development

As a result, ESCAP developed the

following recommendations: Until

developed countries recover, there will not

be an export demand from which ASEAN

countries can benefit. Small nations that

lack a solid domestic demand can try to

diversify their exports, thus building on

interregional trade. “Whenever a region

comes out of a crisis there is a temptation to compete in an exchange rate or beggar

thy neighbor competition”. Therefore ESCAP tries to offer regional policies in order

to bring the region to an EU like framework which would stabilize the situation in the

future. Additionally, ESCAP recommends “strengthening income security and

bolstering domestic demand”. This can be achieved by having a social protection

system in place that leaves more money in the pockets of the poorest. This action

indirectly increases people’s salary, resulting in a higher domestic demand. Finally, a

way to rebalance the energy demand and supply needs to be found by reducing the

dependency of the region’s GDPs on crude oil.

61

7.3. Statistical links to ASEAN economies

After a short coffee break we were joined by Mr. Clovis Freire, Economic Affairs

Officer, from the Statistics Division who was kind enough to explain to us the

importance of statistics for the process of development, ESCAP tries to promote. The

goal, so Mr. Freire, is to have ten nations and one community. On the way there,

integration of the countries needs to be achieved. The question here is, which

countries are behind and why. Statistics can provide answers to these sorts of

questions. It is important to have objective and independent statistics since they are

vital for democracy and national development. For that reason, ESCAP works to

improve official statistics and advocate their use in the developing countries of the

Asia Pacific region. The statistic division collects and analyses regional data on which

they build their analytical publications. Statistic capacity (SC) is a term that is used to

describe the availability and quality of statistical output. Thus, ESCAP seeks to

expand SC. The World Bank developed a statistics capacity indicator that gives an

overall assessment on a regional level. To get an idea of the statistics division’s work,

Mr. Feire prepared a short quiz:

• Higher proportion of the population living below $1.25 a day

– Thailand or Indonesia

– Cambodia or Viet Nam

– Malaysia or Philippines

• Higher chances to survive to see their 5th birthday

– Viet Nam or Myanmar

– Indonesia or Brunei Darussalam

– Philippines or Lao PDR

The Statistics Division has played a key role in monitoring Millennium Development

Goals (MDGs) and also has produced the region’s first MDG report in 2005. The

Millennium Summit in 2008, held at the UN headquarters, resulted in the Millennium

Declaration in which world leaders agreed on the Millennium Development Goals


Time: 11:00 – 11:45

Topic: Statistical links to ASEAN economies

Speaker: Mr. Clovis Freire, Economic Affairs Officer


62

(MDGs). The MDGs aim to achieve social and economic condition in the world’s

poorest countries by 2015. Mr. Freire outlined the MDGs as follows:

• Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger

• Achieve universal primary education

• Promote gender equality and empower women

• Reduce child mortality

• Improve maternal health

• Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases

• Ensure environmental sustainability

• Develop a global partnership for development

Concluding, we saw some MDG statistics, which gave us a good idea of what the

statistic division is doing.

63

7.4. Trade and investment in ASEAN countries

Ms. Mia Mikic, Economic Affairs Officer, started off by giving a concise introduction

to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). ASEAN is based on three

pillars: Security Community (ASC), Economic Community (ASC) and Socio-cultural

Community (ASCC) whereby most efforts are put into driving economic integration.

Mentionable milestones in this area are: ASEAN Vision 2010 (1997), Proposal for

ASEAN Economic Community (2003), Adoption of AEC Blueprint (2007), and

Economic Community (2015). In the course of forming an Economic Community

ASEAN wants to become a single market, a production base and a competitive

economic region. Fu rther goals are creation of equitable economic development and

integration into the global economy.

ASEAN Trade

Compared to other trade blocs like the EU

and NAFTA, internal trade is quite poor in

ASEAN. In contrast to NAFTA and EU

15 where intra-regional trade accounted

for 40% up to 55% in 2006, ASEAN’s

intra-regional trade performance stalls at

25%. Taking a closer look at the trade

statistics of respective ASEAN members,

one can see substantive differences among

the countries’ trade structure. Unlike Vietnam, some countries like Lao export and

import chiefly to ASEAN countries. This is partly due to different geographic

locations but also to divergence of diplomatic positions and some variances in

economic development. This disparity is also visible when comparing the intra-

regional trade figures of 1992 and 2008. Whereas the proportion of intraregional trade

has increased in countries like Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines, it

decreased in Vietnam and Cambodia.

During the last decades, tariffs have been continuously lowered. In 2008 ASEAN had

an average common external preferential tariff of 3.69%. Within ASEAN the average


Time: 11:45 – 12:30

Topic: Trade and investment in ASEAN countries

Speaker: Ms. Mia Mikic, Economic Affairs Officer


64

tariff rate was 1.95%. However, intra ASEAN tariffs were agreed to be abolished

totally. In response to the crisis, ASEAN countries utilized different means. From

October 2008 to July 2009 Indonesia implemented ten protectionist and two

liberalizing measures. In the same time period, Malaysia tried to counter the crisis

with two protectionist and five liberalizing measures.

The statistics on trading environment again, show the heterogeneity of the ASEAN

region. Singapore even tops the World Bank’s “ease of doing business ranking”. On

the other hand, countries like Cambodia and Lao rank 145th and 164th respectively,

while Myanmar is not even included in the ranking.

The ASEAN Framework Agreement on Services (AFAS) aims to abolish all

restrictions to trade in services. Since 1997 seven AFAS packages have been agreed

on. In addition to trade easing measures, there are several ASEAN Mutual

Recognition Arrangements (MRA) to ensure workforce mobility in sectors like

engineering, nursing, etc. within the ASEAN region.

International Relations

ASEAN initiated a partnership with China, Japan and South Korea in 1997. The so-

called ASEAN +3 is a collective voice for East Asian countries. In 2005 the

partnership was enlarged to ASEAN +6 by including Australia, India and New

Zealand. As a switch point of the six associates, ASEAN also acts as the centre of the

hub-and-spoke network. This is because except for New Zealand and Australia there

are no strong bilateral economic linkages between the countries.

There is a multitude of FTAs around ASEAN. That is why it is also called ASEAN

“noodle ball”. However, these trade coalitions are inconsistent with the WTO

approach.

Challenges in and beyond the crisis

There are measures taken to strengthen resilience. States have agreed upon regional

coordination and cooperation in several areas like the Chiang Mai Initiative; Asian

Bond Markets Initiative; Food security; Energy, just to name a few. Furthermore,

ASEAN continues to expand ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) including

structural and regulatory reforms, improving infrastructure, supporting SMEs and

utilizing a SCORE card.

65

7.5. Information & Communication Development

After the lunch break, which we spent in the canteen of the UN, Mr. Jorge Martinez-

Navarette, Associate Economic Affairs Officer, IT Officer had the word. The

Department for “Information and Communications Technology and Disaster Risk

Reduction” is one of the seven substantive divisions of UNESCAP. It is subdivided

into the sections Disaster Risk Reduction; CT & Development and Space

Applications.

Challenges

The main challenge of the division is to

contain the digital divide. The outcome of

this digital divide is a gap in productivity.

Consequently, this has a negative impact

on the country’s development process,

which harms the population in return.

According to UNESCAP the digital divide

and its consequences should be combated

by supporting the development of

infrastructure. The first step is to provide access to computers, mobile phones,

Internet, etc. Programs for the provision of systems, applications and software have to

be designed and implemented.

Another focus is on societal changes. This factor involves awareness raising and the

establishment of a social safety net. Furthermore stakeholder participation from outset

to end is encouraged. Applying participatory mechanisms is highly beneficial to the

projects and a major part of UNESCAP’s policy.Funding is another crucial point in

the course of action against the digital divide. Providing venture capital is absolutely

necessary since some countries simply cannot afford to realize projects on their own

expenses.


Time: 14:00 – 11:40

Topic: Information & Communication Development in the Asia-Pacific Region

Speaker: Mr. Jorge Martinez-Navarette, Associate Economic Affairs Officer


66

The last policy focus area is capacity building. Investments in education ensure that

the population is able to benefit from the infrastructure provided. Only this way

productivity effectively rises.

According to Mr. Martinez-Navarette technology per se does not solve social

problems. However, the availability and use of ICT tools are prerequisites for

economic and social development in our world. Econometric studies revealed a close

statistical relationship between diffusion of IT, productivity and competitiveness for

countries, regions, industries and firms. Current statistics show that there is still a long

way to go. As of 24 August 2009 only some 25% of world population has access to

the Internet. Asia is clearly an underperformer in this score. 700.863.930 or 18.3% out

of the total Asian Population of 3.822.428.903 are Internet users.

Although the digital divide between developed and developing countries is shrinking,

the digital divide within many developing countries continues to expand. This

especially applies for Sub-Saharan African countries, which still have a high

percentage of rural population. Then Mr. Martinez-Navarette tackled the 2002 World

Telecommunication Development Conference, which identified the following

important factors in bridging the digital divide:

• Awareness — The state and individuals should be fully aware of the

importance of digital technologies and their applications.

• Accessibility — Infrastructure should be expanded and improved in order to

provide the necessary connectivity for the effective use of ICTs.

• Affordability — Means should be found to provide low-cost services to users,

low-cost equipment and training on the effective use of ICTs for national and

individual development.

According to the lecturer these factors need to be expanded by another ’A’ if we are

to succeed in this objective—APPLICATIONS.

Access to Internet and mobile phones enables people to use various applications like

e-commerce/business, E-health, E-learning, E-government and ICST usage in

agriculture, natural resource management, disaster risk management, preservation of

culture and languages etc

Activities of UNESCAP

The Information and communication technologies strategy of UNESCAP focuses on

assisting its member States in Asia and the Pacific by narrowing the digital divide and

achieving knowledge-based society. This strategy is realized by promoting regional

67

cooperative mechanisms for sharing information, communication and space-based

resources, including emergency communications. Furthermore, it develops a

methodology for evaluating the level of disaster preparedness and national ICT

infrastructure, identifying good practices and producing guidelines for member States

on how to increase the resilience of this critical infrastructure.

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7.6. Trans-Asian Railway & Asian Highway Networks

The final speaker, Mr. Pierre Chartier, Economic Affairs Officer, from Transport

Division, reflected upon the changing role of transportation. Nowadays trade and

transportation find themselves in a new context in various aspects. Transport itself

moved from a segmented sector with sovereign transport modes as centerpieces to a

production tool responding to the needs of market strategists.

From the socio-economic point of view, one has to say that the there is a tendency to

urban-based societies all around the world. Masses of people living in hinterland

areas, untouched by mainstream economic development, are tempted by city lights.

This comes along with a life-style based on instant and ‘round-the-clock’

accessibility.

Furthermore, due to globalization some countries are becoming outsourcing hubs and

efficient transport and logistics are an important location factor to attract Foreign

Direct Investment.

Environmental concerns play an important part in transport these days. Worldwide in

2005, transport accounted for 23.3% of CO2 emissions from fuel combustion (73.3%

from road transport). This goes hand in hand with energy dependency. Transportation

is a major consumer of oil.

Transport in UNESCAP Region

Production, trade and consumption are

rising in the UNESCAP region. For this

reason transport will inevitably increase as

well. 2008 world container handling

activity surpassed the half-billion TEU

mark. Ports in Asia-Pacific are among the

biggest worldwide. In 2008, 20 of world’s

top 30 container ports were located in the

ESCAP region.

Today’s market place is characterized by a diversity of demand and a multiplicity of

sourcing and trading patterns. Manufacturers are looking for innovative solutions to


Time: 14:40 – 15:30

Topic: Trans-Asian Railway & Asian Highway Networks

Speaker: Mr. Pierre Chartier, Economic Affairs Officer


69

remain competitive. The concept of supply-chain management has integrated

transport into the production process of industry. The acceleration of trade and in

consequence transport, has been mainly visible in coastal areas, landlocked countries

and hinterland areas of coastal countries have been left behind due to excessive

transport and logistics costs.

The “Busan Declaration on Transport Development in Asia and the Pacific”

recommends developing an international, integrated and intermodal transport system

that contributes to long-term objectives of regional cooperation by supporting

international trade. Furthermore, priority shall be given to investments in the Asian

highway and the Trans-Asian railway networks, including intermodal interfaces to

link them with water and air transport networks. The participants also agreed on

promoting the development of economic and logistical activities at intermodal

interfaces, particularly at production and consumption centres and around seaports

and dry ports.

Intermodal Transport

According to Mr. Chartier Logistics

Management is about getting the right

product to the right place in the right

quantity at the right time in the best

condition, all this at acceptable cost. The

benefits of proper Logistics Management

are improved access to international

markets and increased foreign trade. In the

long run this results in higher income,

enhanced employment opportunities and poverty reduction. A promising possibility to

higher efficiency is Intermodal Transport. The expected benefits of the

implementation of intermodal transport are better infrastructure management, better

infrastructure utilization, mode integration, reduced congestion and reduced transit

times. Mr. Chartier estimates that one per cent reduction in logistics costs will result

in a 5% to 8% increase in market share in East Asia. In South Asia, a reduction of one

percent in logistics costs would lead to a 5% expansion in trade.

Intergovernmental Agreements

There are two mentionable intergovernmental agree ments. The first one is about the

Asian Highway Network, which covers about 141,000 km. The agreement was put

into force on July 4, 2005 and involves 29 signatories and 24 parties.

The second agreement is related to a Trans-Asian Railway Network of about 114,000

km. It entered into force on June 11, 2009 and involves 22 signatories and 10 parties.

70

After spending a day at the UN premises we gained a profound insight into the

operations of UNESCAP. It was also quite interesting to get a rough picture of the

international working environment. The final family picture was unfortunately

disturbed by heavy rain, which was also the reason for our late departure to the hotel.

Internship Opportunities

Concluding talks with the ESCAP

speakers revealed that there is a constant

intake of interns. Students who are

enrolled in graduate programs are

encouraged to apply via the ESCAP online

job platform to be reached at

www.unescap.org/jobs/internships.

Current interns we have spoken with said

that their work is quite diversified and

interesting. Also, there is a large international community in Bangkok, which

facilitates the socialization process. However, potential interns should be aware of the

fact that ESCAP does not offer any compensation. All speakers kindly consented to

answer any questions that may come up via e-mail. Therefore, find the contact details

below:

Contact Information

Mr. Mitchell Hsieh, Public Information Officer: [email protected] Mr. Shuvojit Banerjee, Economic Affairs Officer: [email protected] Mr. Clovis Freire, Economic Affairs Officer: [email protected] Ms. Mia Mikic, Economic Affairs Officer: [email protected] Mr. Jorge Martinez-Navarrete, Associate Economic Affairs Officer: [email protected] Mr. Pierre Chartier, Economic Affairs Officer:[email protected]

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8. Friday, September 11th 2009

8.1. The Delegation of the European Commission to Thailand

Introduction and General Information

Friday, September 11th 2009 promised to become an especially interesting and

informative day for our group as we were invited to the Delegation of the European

Commission to Thailand.

Relations between the EU and Thailand are long-standing, however the Delegation

was first opened in 1979 with the goal to exchange views as well as strengthen and

enhance cooperation and collaboration in various fields including trade. Currently,

climate change, trade facilitation and the development of a mutually beneficial

partnership agreement are on top of the agenda and of special interest to both sides.

Its premises being located in Kian Gwan House II in Wireless Road, Bangkok, the

Delegation takes an active role in promoting favorable relationships with the countries

of concern as well as in developing a suitable operating framework. Thereby, the

Delegation represents European interests, engages in analysis of country policies,

conducts negotiations on different matters and provides assistance to Thailand, but

also to EU institutions and Member States.

We are very grateful that we were given the excellent opportunity to listen to the

following experts and high-ranking officials who took the time to inform us about

facts, but also presented their countries’ and personal views concerning the EU-

ASEAN ties, and the general aspects and state-of-play of the EU-ASEAN FTA, the

Swedish EU Presidency, the Italian G-8 Presidency, challenges and opportunities in

the Southeast-Asian region in general and in Thailand, EU business opportunities in

Southeast-Asia as well as relations between India and ASEAN: H.E. Mr. Lennart

Linnér, Ambassador of Sweden to Thailand, H.E. Dr. Michelangelo Pipan,

Ambassador of Italy to Thailand, H.E. Ms. Latha Reddy, Ambassador of India to

Thailand and Mr. Jean-Jacques Bouflet, Minister Counselor for Trade on behalf of the

Head of the EC Delegation to Thailand – Ambassador David Lipman.

73

At the arrival of our group to the impressive high-rise office building in Wireless

Road, we had a warm welcome by Mr. Jean-Jacques Bouflet and Udomdech who

were our host on behalf of the Delegation of the EC.

We were allocated in a meeting room on

the 17th floor where the mission briefings

were to take place. By receiving a visitor’s

pass at the entrance, Export students and

graduates were recognized as official

guests and mission briefings could get

started. As our first speaker for this day,

H.E. Mr. Lennart Linnér, Ambassador of

Sweden to Thailand, presented to us his

highly interesting speech about the challenging tasks as regards the Swedish EU

Presidency. The first part was concerned with an overview of the Southeast-Asian

region and the characteristics of this very sensitive operating environment. As a

second component, H.E. Linnér pointed out the difficulties and opportunities of the

Swedish EU Presidency, which resulted in a vivid question and answer session in the

end.

Operating in a challenging environment – Sweden’s EU-Presidency

Based on the principle of a rotating EU Presidency, every six months one of the 27

European Union member states takes over the lead in EU matters and is thereby the

driving force in influencing important EU issues by focusing on three main tasks:

• leading the work in the Council of the EU and moving important issues

forward (incl. scheduling meetings, producing agendas, chairing meetings)

• brokering compromises between member states and acting in their interests

• handling contacts between the Council and the other EU institutions

Date: Friday, September 11th 2009

Time: 10:00 – 11:00

Topic: EU-ASEAN, the Swedish EU-Presidency – Ongoing Activities and Forthcoming Challenges

Speaker: H.E. Mr. Lennart Linnér, Ambassador of Sweden to Thailand


74

• representing the Council vis-à-vis other EU institutions as well as vis-à-vis

other countries and international organizations.

Since 1 July 2009 it has been Sweden’s mission to assume this demanding and

ambitious function for the second half of the year, during which the country had to

and will have to deal with many political challenges. Therefore, the Swedish

government aims at conducting an active Presidency with result-orientation, wants to

advance EU common issues and Sweden’s priority issues and tighten Sweden’s role

in the EU.

In this respect His Excellency Linnér emphasized during his speech the overwhelming

importance of staying realistic as far as the objectives for the Swedish Presidency

term are concerned. As regards politics in Southeast-Asia Mr. Linnér sees operating

in this different environment as a very sensitive task, which requires objectivity,

knowledge and great efforts in order to build up good relationships and achieve

successful dialogues.

Challenges, goals and opportunities for Sweden as regards Southeast-Asia

Starting with a brief overview of some of

the Southeast-Asian countries, His

Excellency explained the diverse

problems that Sweden is concerned with

in this region but also mentioned the

opportunities and the very positive aspects

of gaining a foothold in the area.

Be it the border disputes between

Cambodia and Thailand, war and conflict between Buddhists and Muslims in the

South of Thailand, the case of large amounts of refugees coming from Burma to

Thailand – all these are issues that constitute major challenges for Sweden and its EU

Presidency. The South-East Asian region is thriving in economic terms – however,

there are still a number of political troubles and complexities, which need to be

overcome. For this reason Sweden would like to play an active role in influencing

politics in the area so as to contribute to stability and peace in the long run.

Relating to Thailand, H.E. Linnér pointed out the country’s strategic relations with the

EU, as it is not only an important trading partner but also a favoured tourist

destination by many Europeans. In addition, a number of companies have made

investments to the kingdom, which indicates the EU’s strong commercial and

economic interest, which, however, exists also on the bilateral level. Despite these

positive linkages, H.E. Linnér emphasized that the country is characterized by

political instability, a circumstance, which needs to be followed closely. As an

75

example the Swedish Ambassador mentioned the coup d’état of the year 2006,

leading to Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra being ousted. The happening was

considered by Thaksin-supporters as a major setback for the democratic system and

resulted in heavy protests.

H.E. Linnér also talked about problems

and opportunities with respect to Burma

(Myanmar). Currently, only minor trade is

going on between the EU and the country

west to Thailand amongst others because

of unfavorable political conditions and a

very strong-headed regime, which is not

easily affected by pressure from abroad.

Several sanctions have already been implied against the Southeast Asian country,

which renders progress in trade and investment even more complicated. In this regard,

His Excellency noted that Burma is a rather special case for the EU for which reason

every little hope for change needs to be closely monitored. Whether it will be possible

to open the door for further engagement in the country will depend on a variety of

factors and is uncertain.

Talking about Cambodia, Mr. Linnér stressed the tremendous progress that the

country has made as regards infrastructure development. We were told that some

years ago, Cambodia’s infrastructure facilities were everything but up-to-date. Until

today, however, banking facilities, hotels and other establishments have been set up.

Cambodia was hit hard by the financial crisis and is still a developing country that

needs reforms to catch up with others. The Swedish Ambassador regretted that the

political situation has not improved so far, which would be an important component

for Cambodia to stabilize.

Laos (Lao People’s Democratic Republic), as a one-party state with a relatively

conservative government, was mentioned by H.E. Mr. Linnér because of its huge

prospects for the hydroelectric power market, which could become very interesting

for the EU as well. However, being still a communist state Laos suffers from

underdevelopment and is in need of FDI in order for its economy to prosper. Political

conditions are difficult, which constitutes a major challenge for potential investors

from outside.

In order to deal with the challenges and problems associated with the Southeast-Asian

economies, Mr. Linnér highlighted the importance of taking into account the

particularities of the individual nations because of traditions and societal values

playing an overwhelmingly important role. Promoting friendly relationships with the

governments constitutes one of the major objectives of Sweden as personal ties are of

utmost importance in the region.

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Sweden wants to continuously look at the above mentioned items during the

Presidency term and try to influence economic, trade and political issues in a positive

way. As has been highlighted by H.E. Mr. Linnér, the EU is already involved in

projects that are designed to promote stability in the region. It has assisted in the

border issue between Cambodia and Thailand and also established policies to reduce

fighting in southern border provinces. Another program involves the management of

and support in refugee camps, which is a major issue due to lots of refugees coming

from Burma to Thailand.

Question and Answer Session

During the Q&A session Mr. Linnér was

asked about Sweden’s goals for the

Presidency term, for example. The

Ambassador emphasized that Sweden

wants to take a practical approach to the

matters of concern, involving an effective

coordination with the Commission as well

as discussions in regular meetings and

working groups. He also accentuated,

however, that one must not forget that every EU country also has its own bilateral

view on Southeast-Asia and that it is important to detect areas of common interest.

Following the question of prospects for Southeast-Asia in general, H.E. Linnér gave a

summary of country profiles and alluded also to the differences in living standards,

between Singapore and the Philippines, for instance. Additionally, he brought up

China’s influence in ASEAN, which must not be overlooked. In every case, His

Excellency sees big potential in the region and definitely further EU involvement.

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8.2. Ambassador of India to Thailand

Introduction

After having gained valuable insights into Southeast-Asian affairs and the Swedish

EU Presidency we had the pleasure to get informed about India and its relations with

the Association of Southeast-Asian Nations (ASEAN) by H.E. Ms. Latha Reddy,

Ambassador of India to Thailand. Ms. Reddy has already served as an Ambassador in

Bangkok for three years and during this tenure a great deal of her work was dedicated

to the India-ASEAN partnership.

His Excellency prepared a fascinating speech in the

form of an interactive dialogue in which Export

students and graduates had the chance to actively

participate by asking questions and presenting their

views as well. The Indian Ambassador made the

lecture especially interesting by telling exciting stories

about what currently happens in Southeast-Asia. We

really appreciated Ms. Reddy taking the time to brief the Export students and

graduates on India-ASEAN affairs and would like to thank her very much for her

lively presentation.

General Information INDIA

Being located in Southern Asia, India’s state territory covers a total of approx.

3.3 m km² and is home to nearly 1.17 billion people. The Republic of India constitutes

a neighbouring country to Bangladesh, Bhutan, Burma, China, Nepal and Pakistan

and benefits from its strategic location near important Indian Ocean trade routes. The

Indo-Aryan ethnic group makes up about 72% of the population while the rest

belongs to either the Dravidian (25%), Mongoloid or others (3%). Hinduism is the

religion to which most of the people commit themselves – however, also the Islam

and Christianity are common denominations.


Time: 12:00 – 13:00

Topic: India – ASEAN Challenges and Opportunities

Speaker: H.E. Ms Latha Reddy, Ambassador of India to Thailand


78

India gained independence from the

British in 1947, explaining also why its

legal system is based on English common

law. The country’s government is headed

by Prime Minister Manmohan SINGH,

while President Pratibha PATIL has been

the head of state since 2007. The Republic

participates in a number of international

organizations and in recent years it

emerged as an important player in international trade, with the service sector having

the most potential for economic growth. Figures show that GDP growth reached 6.6%

in 2008. However, there is still 25% of the population living below the poverty line.

On an international level, India is concerned with border problems with China, the

territorial disputes relating to the Kashmir region involving Pakistan and a range of

unsolved issues with Bangladesh, for instance.

ASEAN

Having been established in 1967, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations

comprises Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei

Darussalam, Vietnam, Lao PDR, Myanmar and Cambodia. With a total population of

about 560 million the region has become a major focus for many international

companies as trade within and with ASEAN countries is steadily increasing.

Basically, the main objectives of ASEAN can be summarized as follows:

o boosting economic growth, social and cultural development

o promoting peace and stability in the region and

o acting in compliance with the UN Charter.

As part of the ASEAN Vision 2020, the establishment of an ASEAN Security

Community, ASEAN Economic Community and ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community

is intended to result in permanent peaceful relations, economic integration and a

common regional identity.

ASEAN attempts to further deepen relations with China, Japan and the Republic of

Korea (ASEAN+3), but also with India, Australia and New Zealand (ASEAN+6). To

this end it has already entered into many bilateral trade agreements. In addition,

dialogues are ongoing with numerous other countries including the EU. Being the

major objective of ASEAN the countries strive to reach full economic integration

with the ASEAN Economic Community by 2015.

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India-ASEAN relations

“The India-ASEAN relationship is a very dynamic one that has been evolving

rapidly.” (H.E. Ms. Latha Reddy, Ambassador of India to Thailand)

H. E. Ms. Latha Reddy started her speech by explaining in detail how India and

ASEAN built up their cooperative relationship and thereby gave us a very good

overview of the historical developments as well as the political framework. Following

this first part we were given a profound insight into the current state of affairs and the

new initiatives to bolster up trade whereby FTAs play an overwhelmingly important

role. In addition, we received a lot of information as regards other areas of

cooperation between India and ASEAN and finally closed the meeting with an active

question and answer session.

To start off H.E. Ms. Reddy stressed that India (and China) historically has had a

strong political, strategic and cultural impact in Southeast Asia already at times where

the region was comprised of many different kingdoms and sultanates. Culture and

commerce were only two strong links between India and the Southeast Asian region

with Indian traders having influenced language, customs and religion. Additionally,

many western powers arrived to Southeast Asia through the Indian Ocean. Before

migration from India to the region accelerated during the colonial era, economic and

cultural connections even intensified during pre-colonial times. Following the

complications and changes in Southeast Asia during the 1940s to 1960s (Cold War,

independences,…), the foundation of ASEAN in 1967 shaped the political and

economic landscape, tying the individual Southeast-Asian countries stronger together

and opening the door for further engagement also with India. The Indian Ambassador

explained that India was likewise concerned with economic reforms during this

period, especially when it became aware of the globalization trends, which resulted in

its “Look-East-Policy”.

The students and graduates were very enthusiastic about how things developed further

and we were told by Ms. Reddy that India soon became a full dialogue partner of the

ASEAN members before it joined the ASEAN Regional Forum in 1996 whose goal is

amongst others to foster dialogue and discussion. When Myanmar joined ASEAN in

1997 India became an immediate neighbour of the grouping. During the following

years several programs were undertaken by ASEAN to strengthen collaboration and

economic cooperation, such as investment programs, the initiation of the “Common

Effective Preferential Tariff (CEPT) Scheme for ASEAN FTA” in 1992, the signing

of an ASEAN Framework Agreement on Services (AFAS) in 1995 and finally the

conclusion of the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement. The member countries

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widened their focus by establishing the ASEAN+3 process, which made the

international community even more aware of the Association’s growing prominence.

When India and ASEAN finally started to enforce dialogue during the East Asia

Summits (ASEAN+6) their relations reinforced. With India’s support in the

BIMSTEC (Bangladesh India Myanmar Sri Lanka Thailand Economic Cooperation)

process and the set up of the Mekong Ganga Cooperation Framework the partners

entered into a wider range of cooperation areas. Today, these include primarily:

o Trade

o Investment

o Tourism

o Science and technology.

In this context H.E. Ms. Reddy also

mentioned the progress that has been

made between ASEAN and India as

regards liberalization of air services and

connectivity. However, she also pointed

to the challenges that must be overcome

in order to improve multimodal transport

possibilities. Furthermore, Ms. Reddy

highlighted the climate change issue as an

important threat, which has been made another area of cooperation as were health

care, entrepreneurship development and student exchange programs.

First and foremost, His Excellency Latha Reddy emphasized the huge potential for

trade that exists for both India and the Southeast-Asian nations with respect to one

another. Economic opportunities are wide-ranging – India-ASEAN trade amounted to

some US$ 40 billion last year and is intended to increase further – a goal, which will

be favoured by the India-ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement as a result of tariff

liberalization. The Indian Ambassador elucidated that the agreement shall now be

extended to services and investments so as to move a step forward towards even

closer integration.

Lastly, H.E. Latha Reddy accentuated the importance of expanding relationships also

with other countries in Asia, such as China, Japan, Korea or Singapore as well as with

New Zealand and Australia. With all of them, cooperative measures are already in

place. The Ambassador concluded by underlining the tremendous opportunities in

Southeast-Asia, which involves the potential for an even larger integrated market

ranging from the Himalayas to the Pacific Ocean – AN ASIAN ARC OF

ADVANTAGE!

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During the question and answer session H.E. Ms. Latha Reddy emphasized the

enormous advantages of FTAs and India’s openness to become actively involved in

further agreements. However, she also pointed to the complexities that such FTAs

bring with them for which reason dialogues and high-level talks need to continue.

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8.3. Ambassador of Italy to Thailand

After having had the very informative meeting with H.E. Ms. Latha Reddy, we got

the opportunity to talk to another high ranking diplomat, namely the Italian

Ambassador to Thailand, H.E. Dr. Michelangelo Pipan.

As H.E. arrived to Bangkok only one month ago we were honoured to get to know

that his meeting and discussion with us was actually his first “outing” in public.

Within the timeframe of about 1½ hours H.E. Dr. Pipan gave us unique insights into

the important topics of free trade agreements and the current G8-presidency.

FTA’s

Free trade agreements are treaties between two or more countries. They establish a

free trade area where commerce with goods and services can be conducted across the

national boarders without tariffs or other barriers. Nowadays, FTAs are an important

tool in order to boost international trade between economies.

H.E. Pipan informed us that there have many FTAs been concluded in Asia due to

their economic importance and the great number of local and global competitors.

Currently, the priority for the countries of the ASEAN lies in the recovery from the

world financial crisis. The decrease in global demand, especially on the US, European

and Japanese markets have harmed many countries in Southeast Asia. This situation

puts China with its huge domestic demand in raw materials and commodities into a

strong position as it is perceived as the new economic booster for many ASEAN

countries. A framework agreement for the planned FTA between ASEAN and China

was signed in 2002, which aims at a zero-tariff market. It is targeted to come into

force in 2020 for the six original ASEAN members.

With respect to the crisis, ASEAN has difficulties in moving towards the recovery

collectively. The main problem is that the countries in the ASEAN region are all

operating from different starting points. The much lower GDP of Thailand compared

to Malaysia provides an example to these differences. Hence, each country has its

own needs and goals depending on its current economic and political situation. These


Time: 13:00 – 14:30

Topic: G8-ASEAN-EU, The Italian G-8 Presidency – Between Challenges and Opporunities in the ASEAN theatre

Speaker: H.E. Mr. Michelangelo Pipan, Ambassador of Italy to Thailand


83

economic and cultural differences altogether make it so difficult for ASEAN to move

unified.

The current economic crisis defines new goals for the European Union in ASEAN as

well. The EU has to avoid losing influence in South East Asia and therefore the

economic ties to ASEAN must be strengthened. Therefore, H.E. informed us about

the start of bilateral FTA negotiations between the EU and single ASEAN members.

Here it was pointed out that these negotiations couldn’t be conducted with the

ASEAN group as a whole because of countries like Myanmar not acting in

conformity with the International Bill of Human Rights, for instance.

G8 and the Italian Presidency

The next topic of H.E. Pipan concerned the Italian G8-Presidency. The G8 is a group

of countries, which consists of the most industrialized nations. Their leaders are

meeting once a year in the G8 summit in order to discuss major world issues. In fact,

however, ministerial level meetings are going on during the whole year. It is

important to mention that the G8 is no international organization.

The following countries pertain to the G8:

- Canada

- Italy

- United Kingdom

- France

- -Russia

- United States

- Germany

- Japan

Italy is holding the G8 Presidency at the moment. The central issues that are on the

country’s agenda include responding to the financial crisis, encouraging permanent

growth, boosting employment, providing assistance to less developed countries,

promoting trade liberalization and tackling climate change.

It was somehow surprising to learn that nowadays the G8 is actually no real

diplomatic tool anymore. The G8 is supposed to become a G8+5, meaning that it shall

also involve Brazil, China, India, Mexico and South Africa as emerging economies.

In addition it will be essential to take the new global players like Egypt and Indonesia

into account. This addition of new members should transform the G8+5 into a tool for

global governance, which will be of essential importance during crisis affecting the

whole world (e.g. current world financial crisis).

84

Question and Answer session

The very informative meeting with H.E. Pipan was concluded with a Q&A round.

Firstly, Prof. Bajrektarevic addressed the issue of major differences between Asia and

Europe.

H.E. mentioned that life in Asia is pulsating while Europe on the other hand seems to

be getting old. Young people are getting less due to a low birth rate and continual

emigration of highly skilled workers. H.E. Pipan however expressed clearly that

Europe must not become the country of the elderly. He therefore referred to the new

Bologna process, which he actively participated in drafting. This new educational

system, which we as students are currently enrolled in, has the purpose to increase the

mobility of young students across Europe. This system should strengthen freedom of

movement and foster the mix of Europeans from different nations. A stronger link

between the universities and industries is also a very important step.

Another question concerned the possibility of future conflicts within East Asia. Upon

that, H.E. answered that conflicts in this part of the world are generally unlikely as

cooperation through FTAs should help to keep the region stable. However, H.E.

thinks that there will be a competitive struggle for market access, recourses and

general economic growth within the ASEAN region and on a worldwide basis.

85

8.4. Minister Counselor of Trade

Introduction

Our next high-ranking speaker was H.E. Mr. Jean-Jacques

Bouflet, Minister Counselor of Trade on behalf of the Head of the

European Commission Delegation to Thailand. Mr. Bouflet gave

us an overview about the economic relations between the EU and

ASEAN.

EU-ASEAN & EU-Thailand

First of all, it was explained that the EU is the second largest trading partner for

ASEAN and 27 % of FDIs (Foreign Direct Investment) in ASEAN come from

Europe. Moreover, ASEAN is a big beneficiary of EU’s General System of

Preference (GSP) and the Everything But Arms arrangement (EBA). The general GSP

scheme grants unilateral access to the EU market to developing countries in form of

reduced tariffson imported goods. The EBA goes even further and provides duty-free

access for all products for the 50 least developed countries (LDC). Notably, GSP is a

unilateral arrangement and therefore non-reciprocal.

As far as trade between the EU and Thailand is concerned there exists a great

imbalance largely in favor of Thailand. This is shown by the significant trade surplus

for Thailand with the EU in the past years. However, protectionist regulations in the

service and industry sector in Thailand make it difficult for European companies to

enter the Thai market. For Thailand on the other hand the nearby ASEAN region is

the most important export destination. However, it is important to note that ASEAN

is not a Customs Union, unlike the EU which is Thailand's second largest export

destination after ASEAN in value terms. As a strategy to overcome the current global

economic crisis, the Thai government tries to diversify and to find new markets for its

exports. Another risky fact is that 70% of the GDP in Thailand is comes from export


Time: 15:00– 16:00

Topic: General aspects & the current state of the EU – ASEAN FTA

Speaker: Mr. Jean-Jacques Bouflet, Minister Counselor for Trade (on behalf of the Head of the EC Delegation to Thailand, Ambassador David Lipman)


86

incomes. Worldwide economic slowdowns are therefore real challenges for countries

which depend heavily on exports like Thailand.

H.E. also called our attention to the interesting employment structure in Thailand.

35% of Thais are farmers and , on top of this, it has been estimated that 20-25% of the

working people have no real working contract and thus are not accounted for in the

country's fiscal circulation. The result is that 2/3 of the population are not working in

the real modern economy. A significant amount of the population is receiving less

than $100 per month.

Once more the Counselor highlighted the economic imbalance between the individual

ASEAN countries. Like H.E. Pipan Counsellor Bouflet likewise pointed out that

ASEAN has no common speaker compared to the EU. This makes a unified approach

towards FTAs difficult for ASEAN. For this reason, the EU had to initiate a parallel-

track approach where bilateral FTA negotiations with individual ASEAN 'front-

runner' countries (currently include Singapore, Vietnam, and Thailand) are pursued as

a building block towards the overall regional FTA which remains the ultimate

objective in the longer term.


After this informative introduction into the economic situation within ASEAN we

ended our last session for this day with another Q&A round. The first question was if

there would be a monetary union within the ASEAN. The Counselor of trade upon

that replied that a monetary union will be unlikely but stated that because of the

continuous decline of the American dollar a new leading currency is likely to emerge

(e.g. Chinese Renminbi).

The second question addressed the issue of education in Thailand. Tertiary education

in Thailand as in many other countries is only for the middle class and wealthy

families. The majority of the people cannot afford it. Furthermore, H.E. pointed out

that the higher education in Thailand is internationally not competitive enough.

Internship Opportunities

We ended our informative session with the question about internship possibilities

within the European Commission for students. The European Commission regularly

takes students for the timeframe from 1-3 months. The short periods are due to the

enormous demand in internship placements at EU institutions. Mostly, the application

process takes up to one year and it is usually a very competitive procedure. All the

information concerning internships at EU institutions can be sourced online on the

87

homepage of the European commission and European Union

(http://europa.eu/index_de.htm).

This question concluded our unique and informative day at the beautiful office at the

European Commission in Thailand. Tired from a long day in the meeting room but

with smoking heads full of new impressions, ideas and opinions we left the European

soil in Thailand for dinner and another night in Bangkok.

Contact Information

H.E. Mr. Lennart Linnér, Ambassador of Sweden 20th floor, One Pacific Place 140 Sukhumvit Road (between Soi 4-6) Bangkok 10110 Tel.: +66 (0) 2 263-7201 Fax: +66 (0) 2 263-7260/70 [email protected] Delegation of the European Commission to Thailand Kian Gwan House II, 19th Floor 140/1 Wireless Road Bangkok 10330 Thailand Tel: + 66-2-3052600 Fax: +66-2-2559113 [email protected] [email protected]

Embassy of Italy in Bangkok 399, Nang Linchee Road, Yannawa 10120 Bangkok Tel.: +66-2-2854090 Fax: +66-2-2854739 (Chancellery) [email protected] H.E. Ms. Latha Reddy, Ambassador of India 46, Soi 23 – Sukhumvit Road Bangkok 10110, Thailand Tel.: (02) 2584198, Fax: (02) 2594870 [email protected]

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9. Monday, 14th September 2009:

9.1. University Malaysia Perlis

Our first day in Perlis, Malaysia started

with a brief first meeting with some

UniMAP students in our bus as we picked

them up at their dormitory place in order

to get in touch with some local students

with whom we spent our das in Perlis.

Arriving at the University facilities, we

received a warm welcome and brief overview of the famous University of Perlis.

General Information about the University „The vision of our soul“

The University Malaysia Perlis (UNIMAP) is located in

the very northern part of Malaysia, only 35 km away

from the borders of Thailand. A very nice team from

UNIMAP received us extraordinary friendly and

introduced us to some local students and professors.

First of all, we got a nice and very informative

introduction video to get a comprehensive overview of

the university as well as the State of Perlis.

The university first intake comprised 116 engineering students, who started classes in

June 2002. It now has about 4000 students, and a workforce of more than 800 people

comprising academic and non-academic staff. There are all in all 19 programmes

Date: Monday, 14th September 2009

Time: 10:30 – 15:00

Topic: UNIMAP reception

Speaker: Madam Fauziah bt Hashim, Director of Perlis State Economic Planning Unit


90

offered through eight engineering schools with some numerous postgraduate degree

programmes as well.

UniMAP defines itself as a true-blue technical university which fulfils the interest of

students who are inclined towards practical-based engineering education. UniMAP

graduates are mostly successful engineers who strongly convince to be competent and

confident enough to explore entrepreneurial possibilities after graduation.

UNIMAP students are expected to possess excellence knowledge and skills directly

related to their engineering fields of study as well as they are proficient in

communication and ICT skills and dispose at the same time the right amount of

professionalism and patriotism. UNIMAP’s education has been excellent for years

and is one of the most important and famous universities in this area.

In order to achieve maximum benefit for

the country in terms of long time

objectives, the areas of focus of public

technical universities are determined by

the government. In the case of UniMAP, it

was decided that electronic-based

engineering should be the focus. However,

this does not mean that there is no room for other disciplines of engineering to be

developed there because all related fields of engineering and technology that can

support the advancement of electronic-based engineering, can be offered.

The university’s mission is to produce a holistic human capital that contributes to the

nation’s development and industrial competitiveness agenda as an internationally

competitive academic and research institution.

We students and graduates were all really impressed by the ambitions and quality of

the university and the high input from students as well as lecturers.

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The State of Perlis

“TO BE A DEVELOPED, EXCELLENT, OF DISTINCTION AND

EXTRAORDINARY STATE BY 2015”

The introduction video about UniMAP was directly

followed by a presentation of the State Perlis, held by

Ms. Fauziah bt Hashim, Director of Perlis State

Economic Planning Unit. The very enthusiastic vision

of the State of Perlis impressed every one of us

students and graduates as Malaysia is the heart of

South-East Asia, with its amazing and unique

vegetation and nature, its cultural background and

different nationalities who are living together in such

a harmony as it is not known in Europe for example.

Originally, Perlis was part of the older Kingdom of Kedah which was conquered by

Thailand in the 18th century. Later in 1909, the sovereignty of Perlis was transformed

from Thailand to Britain through the Anglo-Siamese Treaty and during the Second

World War (WWII) the Japanese forces

handed Perlis back to Thailand. After

World War II, the Federation of Malaya

got independent and an official State was

formatted in 1967. The King of Perlis is

the State Constitution Head. This position

is hereditary and can only be held by a

member of Perlis’s royal family. Under

the State Constitution, the legislation authority is controlled by the Legislative

Assembly (Government Executive Council – EXCO). More details about the Sultan

and his functions will be discussed later in this report, as we also had the honour of a

personal reception of the sultan of Perlis.

The state is divided into 3 parliaments, namely: Kangar, Arau and Padang Besar. Its

population of 231,100, most of them Bumiputera, Chinese and Indians comprises a

total area of 810 sq.km. The climate is mostly warm and dry with highest temperature

of 32°. The Economic Structure (GDP Contribution) is subdivided into the following

parts:

92

→ Agriculture - 34.4 %

→ Services - 48.0 %

→ Manufacturing - 13.5 %

→ Construction - 3.4 %

→ Mining - 0.7 %

The most important industries in Malaysia, also in terms of future economic

development for the country, are Agriculture, Trade & Service Industry, Tourism,

Knowledge State, Biotechnology and Area Development. As Malaysia’s production is

mainly based on agricultural products, crops like Paddy, Coconut, Rubber, Sugar &

Cane, Tobacco and Mangoes are very famous and attracts the main focus in terms of

investment and research. Especially Perlis, which has a distinct dry and wet season, is

very suitable for fruits (mangoes & testing site for robustness of seeds) as well as for

the famous Paddy farming. Other existing industries in Perlis are:

→ Plastic Manufacturing

→ Electronic Manufacturing

→ Herbs Manufacturing

→ Cement Manufacturing

→ Industrial Alcohol Manufacturing

→ Fertilizer Manufacturing

As the State of Perlis is nowadays also very focused in promoting Biotechnology

industries, the Biotech Centre is based in Perlis in the Technology Park Malaysia

(TPM). The Park provides a variety of business and office services for all clients.

With its advanced infrastructure and services the Park tries to accelerate the

development of science, technology and innovation that will facilitate knowledge-

based enterprises to grow and compete in the global marketplace.

In order to receive a practical insight into UniMAP’s education concept we straightly

went to a teaching factory and a microfabrication Cleanroom. All in all we had a one-

hour tour through all the facilities during which we gained valuable and practical

information. In the factory, products which are made out of plastic are designed and

fabricated by UniMAP students. Furthermore, also the programming of the machines

is done by them. Samples of produced designes would be the proto-type of the

lighning cover for motorcycles or protective creditcard holders. Generally, three

93

different product mehods are applied at this factory: Rapid Prototyping Product,

E.D.M. Wirecut Products and Injection Moulding Products.

Additionally, UniMAP has their own

research facilieties which are all equiped

with high-tech instruments and machines.

The facilieties comprise four different

laboratories out of which we visited the

microfabrication Cleaningroom. These

laboratories should provide the students

with own research possibilities, an

involvement into testing, device design or fabrication in order to gain a competitive

possition in the modern labour market. Out of hygenic reasons we had to adapt to

their rules and before entering the microfabrication cleanroom, we took off our shoes

and put over a protective plastic.

Concluding to deepen our new gained friendships and relations we had a short

networking lunch at a local small, but delicious cantine in which we were served

national specialities such as noodle soup with vegetables and noodles with soya-

sauce.

Contact Information Director of Perlis State Economic Planning Unit Madam Fauziah bt Hashim Tel : +604-9702160 E-Mail: [email protected] Web : www.perlis.gov.my Fax : +604-9762951 Web : www.perlis.gov.my

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9.2. SHORUBBER (Malaysia) DN BHD

After a warm welcoming by our host UniMAP and a joint lunch at a local restaurant

in Perlis, we students and graduates, thanks to a good Management and contacts of

our Prof. Anis Bajrektarevic, had the great possibility to visit SHORUBBER

(Malaysia) SDN BHD production facilities in the Jejawi Industrial Estate in Perlis.

The company is known for its high quality glove production and social awareness

programmes for its employees in Perlis.

The visitation started with a brief introduction of

SHORUBBER (Malaysia) SDN BHD, its range of

gloves and the production flow at the factory by Ms.

Salbiah Hashim, HR Manager at SHORUBBER.

Following, a round tour through the facility has been

arranged during various process steps could have been

closely observed by our group. Concluding, a Question & Answer session took place

in order to discuss different issues such as environmental awareness or employment

circumstances at SHORUBBER (M).

General Information

Ms. Salbiah Hashim started her presentation by giving us a brief introduction about

SHORUBBER in Perlis, Malaysia. SHORUBBER (Malaysia) SDN BHD is one of the

production facilities of the Japanese glove producing corporation ShowaGloves

Group.

ShowaGloves Co. has been established in October 1954 and is today’s world leading

Rubber glove producer. Its Headquarters are situated in Himeji/Tokyo, Japan and


Time: 02:00 – 04:00

Topic: SHORUBBER (Malaysia) SDN BHD – Glove Production Facility in Arau, Perlis (Malaysia)

Speaker: Ms. Salbiah Hashim, HR Manager of SHORUBBER (Malaysia) SDN BHD


95

production facilities are in Japan, Malaysia and Vietnam. Moreover, two overseas

sales subsidiaries in France and the US have been established in order to serve not

only the Asian market but also on a worldwide basis. ShowaGloves total workforce

accounts for about 3500 employees worldwide.

SHORUBBER (M) SDN BHD, located in the industrial area of Perlis (Arau), was

founded in 1989 and started producing four years later in 1993. Currently about 2.000

employees are working at the production, whereby the majority of the labour force are

women. Furthermore, out of the total workers about 300 are of Vietnamese origin.

The manufactured household and industrial gloves are made out of NR7, NBR8, PVC9

and PU10 and are used in order to protect users and workers from harm, such as

chemicals, heat or sharp instruments. Furthermore, SHORUBBER (M) SDN BHD

also produces gloves for the Kevlar® brand fibre from DuPont wherefore the

company has to import and process the special produced yarns from Kevlar®.

Generally, the annual production accounts for about 800 million gloves from which

100% of the production is then shipped and exported to Japan, the US or Europe.

During the company presentation, Ms. Hashim very much focused on the social

awareness and responsibility of the factory. Workers have to work 6 days per week

whereby every working day is divided into three shifts. Generally 27 holidays are

granted out of which 12 can be assigned by each employee personally and

individually. The remaining 15 days are set by the company. The average wage at

SHORUBBER (Malaysia) SDN BHD is between 600-800 Ringgits. Furthermore, the

factory offers food, hostility, medical service from a company nurse and financial

support for doctor visits to its workers, additionally a Kindergarten-service to mothers

is available. As a special reward to some employees trainings in Japan are admitted.

7 NR = Natural Rubber 8 NBR = Nitrile Butadiene Rubber 9 PVC = Polyvinyl Chloride 10 PU = Polyurethane

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Production flow process

Before our factory tour, Ms. Salbiah Hashim briefly explained various production

steps beginning from the processing of the raw materials until the packaging and

shipping to various destinations.

Currently, SHORUBBER produces 7

different kinds of gloves either made only

out of rubber or yarn or a combination out

of both materials. Yarns are purchased

locally and overseas, which are then

processed in order to knit the gloves.

SHORUBBER has a property of about

2.800 knitting units and produces daily

40.000 gloves per day. Next, the knitted gloves are washed and scoured after dying in

order to become antibacterial and antifungal.

Simultaneously the rubber is compounded and mixed in with which the knitted gloves

are coated or different hand models are dipped. SHORUBBER has about 1.300 model

hands in use. After the drying of the rubber layer, gloves are again washed and

leached in order to prevent any skin irritations while using them which is followed by

the curing process. Finally, gloves are inspected on their quality and graded

afterwards they are packed depending on their destination country or their purpose.

Packages send to the US mostly contain 70

or 100 pieces per package whereas

packages for Asia and Europe comprise

120 gloves per packages. Furthermore,

depending on the customers demand,

smaller packages are prepared, e.g. for

marketing campaigns.

Question & Answer Session

Our visit at the SHORUBBER production was closed by a Question & Answer

session during which students and graduates could raise their questions. The topics on

which we focused on were environmental issues and legal regulations, the

employment of Vietnamese workers at SHORUBBER in Malaysia and about

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SHORUBBERS future perspectives. Regarding environmental aspects,

SHORUBBER has to follow Malaysian law and regulations and they are regularly

controlled by local powers. Moreover, there is a strict distinction between chemical

waste and scheduled waste. Therefore, chemical waste has to be disposed by waste

management companies or used for other productions, although it cannot be

processed for further glove productions. As stated earlier, SHORUBBER currently

employs about 300 different workers, but not for cheap-labour reasons instead

because they are willing to fulfill tasks which Malay employees refuse to carry out.

The minimum wage for these employees is fixed by the Malay and Vietnamese

governments in order to prevent an exploitation of Vietnamese workers in Malaysia.

The last question was referring to whether the SHORUBBER (Malaysia) SDN BHD

production is planning to expand their facilities in Perlis or think about a reduction in

the benefit of enlarging their production in Vietnam due to lower labour costs. Both

possibilities have been rejected by Ms. Salbiah Hashim because further enlargements

are not possible due to the bordering river banks and a reduction either because of the

high quality level achieved in Perlis, Malaysia.

Contact Information SHORUBBER (Malaysia) SDN. BHD. Ms. Salbiah Hashim HR Manager Email: [email protected]

During our stay in Malaysia, the famous

Islamic fasting month Ramadan took place

during which people are not allowed to eat

and drink from 5.00 am to 7.00 pm.

Therefore we had the great pleasure to

visit the most famous food market only

held during Ramadan where people buy

their products for the late evening dinner.

For this exploration we were divided into smaller groups in which locals students and

professors gave us a small tour through the market during which we could buy and

taste various national specialities prepared by Malaysian families.

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9.3. Business in Malaysia

Our evening programme started off with a speech of

Mr. Murray Hunter, a very dear friend of Prof. Anis

Bajrektarevic, who has been involved into Asian

business since 1975. He came into touch with Asia

through his father who has been selling Japanese

products after WW II, which was very difficult during

then. After dropping out of Law school, Mr. Hunter

himself started dealing with a company located in

Bangkok, which turned out to be very complicated as Asian companies were very

protective and in-ward bound. Furthermore, relationships between Western

managements and the Asian business culture were about to fail in most cases due to

culture clashes and the lack of understanding from both sides. Therefore, Mr. Hunter

went for a different approach in order to enter the Asian market: some kind of Joint

Venture with l ocal companies, which also turned out to be little satisfying. Finally

the decision to set up an own business and factory in Indonesia and serve the local

markets directly was taken. Nevertheless the expected success was still missing due to

the absence of contacts in Indonesia and Mr. Hunter sold the company, got out of

business and solely maintained a supplier contract which emerged to be the most

successful business deal.

Back in Australia, Mr. Hunter finished University with a MBA, re-entered the

business family and again the Asian market in Malaysia very successfully until the

big Asian crisis in the late 1990’ies. Due to high losses, he adapted a Malay thinking:

as long as you can afford your life you are doing well.


Time: 08:00 – 11:00

Topic: Business in Malaysia

Speakers: Mr. Murray Hunter, Associate Professor at the School of Business Engineering UniMAP; Mr. Saffie Bakar, Advisor to SHORUBBER (Malaysia) SDN BHD + Director of Dallab Cryptotech and Senator Ahmad Bin Hussin, Member of House Senate Malaysia


99

Currently, Mr. Hunter is involved into

Malaysian plantation development and

harvesting in which he himself is

supporting alternative methods and

application of different practices in order

to enhance Malaysian agriculture for a

higher competitiveness on the world

market. The most important thing Mr. Hunter was telling us with his own eventful life

story and approach was in order to be successful we have to belief in ourselves, trust

our own ideas, benefit and learn from failures and never give up. Furthermore,

breakdowns are always possible and nobody is spared from it, standing up is always

your own responsibility and risking is the most important in order to achieve your

goals.

At the end of his touching and honest words Mr. Hunter motivated as to get together

in groups with the local students, in order to exchange perspectives, receive useful

insights and different point of views. This was a very good opportunity to get a brief

idea how student life is in Malaysia. Also we discovered that although we might life

thousands of kilometres from each other and despite of any cultural differences, our

future expectations and hopes are very much the same. The evening closed with two

speakers, Mr. Saffie Bakar and Senator Ahmad Bin Hussin, friends of Mr. Murray

Hunter and highly active players in the political and business life in Malaysia who

both were very pleased to give us a brief speech about their current involvements.

During his highly diverted professional career, Mr. Bakar served as a government

officer and acted as an advisor to various companies striving for an IPO listing.

Currently, Mr. Saffie Bakar is engaged as an a counsellor to the glove producing

company which we visited earlier this day SHORUBBER (Malaysia) SDN BHD.

Unfortunately, due to a shortage in time Mr. Bakar was not able to share his full

professional experience with us but only briefly introduce us with two of his current

business projects. As being the Director of “Dallap cryptotech” his main focus was on

their project of offering encrypted mobile phones to government officials; a project in

close collaboration with a Russian company. Messages send to these mobile phones

are deleted automatically after a while, thus they are not traceable. In order to receive

100

more information, Mr. Bakar asked us to visit the company’s webpage under

www.dallab.net.

Our final speaker was Senator Ahmad Bin Hussin, highly respected member of the

Malaysian Parliament, who granted us few minutes of his time despite of his high

occupation and the Muslim fasting month Ramadan. Although acting as a politician

and diplomat ever since, Senator Hussin never served abroad but instead focusing on

the home sector in Malaysia. During his passionate speech, Senator Ahmad Bin

Hussin clearly indicated the importance of the Malaysian Constitution and very much

highlighted its achievements. The evening ended with a friendly invitation from our

hosts to a traditional, joint Malay dinner with our very much appreciated speakers and

new gained friends from UniMAP at the university. The dinner was a great

opportunity to have smaller and more open talks with both, UniMAP students and our

guest speakers, which was highly welcomed by us. For us students and graduates it

was a unique and amazing opportunity to get in touch with real life in South-East

Asia, gaining a deeper insight into South-East Asian relations which enhanced us with

new information and thanks to the great team of UniMAP and great coordination of

Prof. Anis Bajrektarevic we had some wonderful days in Perlis and gained rich

experience for life.

Contact Information Murray Hunter Associate Professor at the School of Business Engineering UniMAP E-Mail: [email protected]

Saffie Bakar Advisor to SHORUBBER (Malaysia) SDN BHD and Director of Dallab Cryptotech E-Mail: [email protected]; [email protected] Web page : www.dallab.net

Senator Ahmad Bin Hussin Member of House Senate Malaysia Tel.: 04-9769813

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10. Tuesday, September 15th 2009

10.1. Reception by the Raja of Perlis

His Royal Highness, Duli Yang Maha Mulia Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin Ibni Almarhum

Tuanku Syed Putra Jamalullail

General Information

The students and graduates of the IMC University of

Applied Sciences Krems, participating in the Business

Focus ASEAN, were given the unique opportunity of a

reception by His Royal Highness, the Raja of Perlis,

Malaysia. This is the reason why this very Tuesday

definitely was and will be recalled as the highlight of this

biweekly stay in Malaysia and Thailand.

The Raja of Perlis

The Raja of Perlis, Duli Yang Maha Mulia Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin Ibni Almarhum

Tuanku Syed Putra Jamalullail, is the ruler of the smallest of nine states of Malaysia,

which lies at the northwestern extremity of the Malay Peninsula. Perlis has a

population of approximately 200,000, being comprised out of three major ethnic

groups, the Malay (80%), Chinese (10%), Indian (1%) and others (9). Kangar is the

state capital, whereas Arau is the royal capital.

Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin is the firstborn to the late Tuanku Syed Putra Ibni Al-

Marhum Syed Hassan Jamalullail and Tuanku Budriah binti Al-Marahum Tengku

Ismail. The governing raja was born on the 17 of May 1943 at the Istana Hijau in the

royal town of Arau.

As far as His Highnesses` educational background is concerned Tuanku Syed

Sirajuddin studied in the best schools and institutions at home as well as abroad. The

early exposure to sound educational values and traditions had an indelible influence


Time: 09:30 – 13:30

Topic: Reception of IMC students and graduates by the Raja of Perlis, including question and answer session

Speakers: The Raja of Perlis, Duli Yang Maha Mulia Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin Ibni Almarhum Tuanku Syed Putra Jamalullail

Moderator : Prof. Anis Bajrektarevic and Yang Berbahagia Brigadier General Dato´ Professor Dr Kamarudin Hussin

103

on the character and personality of the young prince, and has colored his outlook on

life as well as his relationships with people.

Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin ascended the throne as the seventh Ruler, the Raja of Perlis

in December 2001. He was elected as the twelfth Yang di-Pertuan Agong, meaning

the King of the entire country Malaysia, eight months later and stayed in office until

2006. As the Head of State, His Majesty has functions in the three branches of

government, the Executive, the Legislative as well as the Judiciary.

The office of the King of Malaysia is not hereditary, but the power to elect and

appoint the Yang di-Pertuan Agong remains with the Conference of Rulers. It acts as

a council serving as a forum for the Rulers and Governors of the several states.

Malaysia practices a system of government based on Constitutional Monarchy and

Parliamentary Democracy at two levels, Federal as well as State levels. At the Federal

level the head of State is the King and the head of government is the Prime Minister.

At the state level the head of State is either the Sultan, Raja or Yang di-Pertuan Besar.

The reception

After a short briefing on the etiquette and

diplomatic do´s and don´ts towards royals

provided by Prof. Anis Bajrektarevic we

arrived at the premises of Tuanku, the

Istana Arau. One could feel the tension

and excitement in the conference room

before the audience finally started at 10

am with an introduction by the Raja´s

assistants. The two pre-selected speakers

Mr. Vincent Krämer and Ms. Sandra Gitau introduced the group of Export students

and graduates as well as the purpose of this respective study trip and their personal

ties to Asia to the Raja, Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin Putra Jamalullail. After this

introductory phase His Royal Highness opened the floor for questions.


Mr. Erwin Ulreich, who has previously already been living and working in Southeast

Asia, mentioned that he is impressed with the unique Malaysia concept as its

harmonious multi-racial society is unique. His Majesty shared his experiences on this

issue also based on a former visit to Italy and coming together of diverse religions.

This was followed by a statement from Ms. Kerstin Dunzinger. She referred to the

results of her recently written bachelor paper on water issues, based on the bi-lateral

relations between Malaysia and Singapore. During the process she received cordial

support by the Malaysian Ambassador to Austria, Dato' M. H. Arshad. Tuanku Syed

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Sirajuddin Putra Jamalullail kindly commented on the dependence of Singapore from

the Malaysian supply of water, as well as territorial issues when it comes to water.

Furthermore, Ms. Alexandra Wohlesser expressed her expectations on her master

studies, which she will undertake at the Diplomatic Academy in Kuala Lumpur

starting in April 2010.

Ms. Roza Ovezova who has joined the study trip as a guest student from Tajikistan

presented her home country briefly. His Majesty replied that he would travel to the

Central Asian region, namely Kyrgyzstan in the upcoming autumn. Prof. Anis

Bajrektarevic expressed his deep gratitude for hosting the IMC Export students and

graduates to His Royal Highness, even during the fasting month, where the

participating Muslims refrain from drinking or eating from dawn until sunset and

therefore any additional physical effort. He also introduced Mr. Antoni Guiu Terreu

to His Majesty, as he is an exchange student from Spain, the only student from a

country with a constitutional monarchy. Mr. Terreu was not yet given the opportunity

to meet his King but was exceptionally impressed by his first audience by His

Majesty, the Raja of Perlis.

The Raja, Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin Putra

Jamalullail concluded the reception with a

few words on his impressions about the

group of Export students and graduates.

As a sign of appreciation Mr. Smajo

Pasalic handed over the students’ present

for His Majesty, a collection of famous

classical Austrian music. The audience

lasted for about 90 minutes and ended

with the obligatory „family-photo“. After His Majesty had left we were given the

opportunity to visit the Royal gallery, an exhibition of selected gifts the father of His

Majesty was given by several guests.

While this guided tour took place some of the Export students and graduates gave

interviews to representatives of the local media who accompanied the event. They

were mainly interested in our perception of the region and its peculiarities.

Enriched by the previous extraordinary unique and fascinating experience the students

and graduates were invited for delicious lunch at the “working palace”, the former

residence of the Raja.

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10.2. State Councellor for Investment, Trade and Industry, Science and

Technology

General information

At the parliament of the local government the IMC

students and graduates have been received at 2 pm

by Dato´ Seri Diraja Syed Razlan Jamalullail. He is

the brother of the King and has also served as a

Member of Parliament in the National Assembly in

Kuala Lumpur. He is a graduate in agriculture,

therefore a nutrition-specialist and has previously

also been working as a businessman. Dato´ Syed

Razlan Jamalullail returned to Perlis to take on the

position of the Executive State Councilor on

Investment, Trade and Industry as well as Science

and Technology.

Perlis economy

Mr. Dato´Syed Razlan Jamalullail provided us with information and an overview of

the activities in the different economical sectors in Perlis. The state of Perlis is an

agricultural state. This sector mainly consists of the growing and processing of sugar

cane, rubber, paddy as well as mango plants, whereas paddy constitutes the major

source of income. As the agricultural sector is of utmost importance for the region

they have established a world class R&D centre for seeds in Perlis. This Seeds Centre

aims to ensure the high quality of hybrid rice on the one hand and to increase the

productivity per hectare. Animal husbandry, fruits & veget ables like grapes, herbs

and horticulture like Java tea plantations also form part of Perlis agriculture.

As far as the manufacturing branch is concerned, there are only a few production sites

including plastic or rubber. Therefore, the goal for the near future is to promote

biotechnology industries by building up a centre for R&D in biotechnology as well as


Time: 14:00 – 16:30

Topic: The State of Perlis

Speaker: Dato`Seri Diraja Syed Razlan Jamalullail

Moderator : Prof. Anis Bajrektarevic and Murray Hunter

107

an engineering cluster. Further goals are to develop and enlarge Perlis tourism,

promoting their numerous rivers and the caves.

Dato` Syed Razlan Jamalullail especially

stressed Perlis intensions to establish a

logistic hub as well as border city for the

transportation of cargo from Thailand to

Pulau Pinang via roads and railroad. He

concluded the very comprehensive and

informative presentation with something

that is very much true for all small

entities: „We have to concentrate on small

things of a high value. And even though we are small we have to achieve incentives

for investors.“


After the presentation students and graduates were given the opportunity to pose

questions of interest related to the economy of Perlis. The first question that arose

addressed the issue of investment incentives for foreign investors. Ms. Sandra Gitau

mentioned the example of Pulau Pinang with its well-established Free Trade Zone, as

a very effective tool to attract overseas investors. Dato´ Seri Diraja Syed Razlan

Jamalullail pointed out that Perlis offers alternative incentives to investors of 12-15%,

compared to 10% of its neighboring state Kedah. According to him a Free Trade Zone

would require territory and therefore harm the agricultural sector of the state.

Afterwards, Ms. Michaela Grill posed a question

concerning the use of chemical fertilizers in Perlis.

Mr. Jamalullail rather expressed his concern for the

use of chemical insecticides and fungicides, because

people are directly affected with these harmful

products when consuming fruits or vegetables. Perlis

should opt for a mix of organic and chemical insecticides, as this will create a balance

between the increase of returns and doing less harm to the nature on the other hand.

Since Perlis concentrates on the growing of paddy Mr. Wolfgang Weber was

interested in the option of spreading the risk by diversifying the range of agricultural

products. However, Mr. Jamalullail responded that diversification is not an option as

paddy is the most important comestible and presents a security crop, not only for the

state of Perlis but the entire country. With the cultivating of rice Malaysia makes itself

less vulnerable in case of and less dependent on imports.

108

The next question concerned the area of genetic engineering. According to Dato´

Jamalullail Malaysia is blessed with sufficient food for its population. This is the

reason why there is no need for genetic engineering, even though research is

conducted in this field in the country. Mr. Georg Schön was interested in the question

if the sugar cane production could be seen as an opportunity to produce alternative

fuels. Side-product of sugar cane production is used as organic fertilizer. Finally Mr.

Jamalullail argues that Perlis does not produce enough to generate alternative fuel.

However, he mentions a project with the aim of re-converting plastic into alternative

fuel.

Prof. Anis Bajrektarevic finalized the round of inspiring discussions with the general

question of how the studying and working environment or possibilities look like in

Malaysia. In order to qualify, one has to prove that there is a lack of this certain

capability, meaning that this know-how cannot be supplied by domestic labor.

109

10.3. Food bazaar and cultural evening

Leaving the premises of the National Parliament the bus took us to a food bazaar,

which was situated next to the football stadium of Kangar. Since the sun did not set

yet and many Muslims were still fasting this must have been a torture to cook, see,

sell and smell this delicious food. As the food served and sold there was traditional

Malay, Chinese and Indian home cooking this was not only visually very attractive

and colorful but a real culinary pleasure. The acquired food could then be enjoy

afterwards in the bus or back in the hotel, or even on-site for those who could not

resist any longer.

After having gathered already lots of impressions on this remarkable day there was

one highlight still to come. And it turned out to be something very special again.

We have been invited from our hosts of UniMAP to join a cultural evening event,

including a cultural show. When we arrived at the place where the event was going to

take place we were facing lovingly decorated tables, a huge stage, several students

and graduates of UniMAP as well as exchange students from China and nicely

dressed performers in their traditional costumes. We arranged to be seated around the

tables by mixing the nationalities of this evening. After the Vice Chancellor of the

University Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP), Yang Berbahagia Brigadier General Dato´

Professor Dr Kamarudin Hussin, had welcomed us several performers - singers and

dancers - communicated Malaysian culture to us in an impressive way. They

performed traditional Chinese, Indian and Malay dances in colorful costumes. All of

them were students of UniMAP but due to their professional performance they could

have been also members of any university focused on the fine arts.

At that moment it had been also our wish

to introduce them to one of our cultural

peculiarity. And therefore we have chosen

to present them the Viennese Waltz. Ms.

Julia Wimmer and Mr. Michael

Schadenhofer – both of them very

experienced dancers – performed to the

music of Strauss a fabulous waltz. In order

to make these evening a real intercultural

exchange Prof. Anis Bajrektarevic invited all participants to join us on stage and

practice together a Viennese Waltz. This had been a lot of fun for all participants and

nobody got hurt. Our first impression that there must be very talented students at

UniMAP was confirmed when UniMAP’s Vice-Chancellor again went onto stage and

110

performed several songs. None of us remained seated on his chair any longer when he

invited us to join a dance. He was performing on the stage supported by UniMAP

students as well as IMC students and graduates and Prof. Bajrektarevic. Before we

gathered for the “family picture” Mr. Erwin Ulreich expressed his gratitude in the

name of all IMC students and graduates for this remarkable and memorable evening.

Concluding it has to be emphasized that this event was an extraordinary and very

special experience for all participants and the astonishing effort put into the

preparation as well as the vivid and spectacular performances was highly appreciated.

The cultural exchange, which took place on all levels through chatting, dining,

singing and dancing could neither have been more intense nor on a more personal or

sincere level.

112

11. Wednesday, September 16th 2009

11.1. Kulim High Tech Park

The last day in Malaysia our group started with the visit to the Kulim Hi-Tech Park

(KHTP), which is located close to Penang. The IMC group was guided through an

introduction lecture about the KHTP by Mr. Annuar bin Mohd Saffar, the Vice

president of Kulim Technology Park Corporation and the Director of Kulim

Technology Management Sdn Bhd. As the second part of the visit, the group received

a guided tour throughout the premises of the technology management centre. In the

areas dedicated to robot programming, students get the possibility to improve their

skills for editing and implementing various programs with regards to automation.

Witnessing engineers perform such activities was rather interactive for our group.

History

KHTP is the first technology park in Malaysia and one of the largest in the world.

Kulim Hi-Tech Park (KHTP) was officially opened in 1996, when Intel corp. opened

its subsidiary there. Rapid growth of the park attracted investors and today there are

more than 20 companies operating on the park's facilities, including the Austria based

“Infineon”. Advanced development of the park would not be possible without support

from the government which established a local authority administration office

especially for KHTP in order to provide efficient service for local and international

investors. KHTP’s preferential location next to the North-Butterworth Container

Terminal (NBCT) for sea cargo and the Bayan Lepas International Airport in Penang

also plays a central role in the park's development.


Time: 12:00 – 13:45

Topic: Kulim Hi-Tech Park, an introduction to the premises and the Asian association of business incubation including a short visit to the technology management centre

Speaker: Mr. Annuar bin Mohd Saffar

Moderator : Prof. Anis Bajrektarevic (Erwin Ulreich on behalf of)

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Scope of activities

KHTP incorporates 6 dedicated zones; the main,

industrial zone represents more than 20 companies,

which have their industrial facilities within the park

(Intel, Fujimi, Fuji Electric, Entegris, Schencker,

Infinion etc.) on more than 45 industrial lots. The 5

other zones include R&D, commercial, recreation,

urban and institutional zones. Established companies are operating there are aimed to

provide services and support to the industrial companies, with a workforce of 16.000

employers working in the park. Today, 320 expatriates, as well as locals live in

residential facilities and use medicine, education, commercial and recreation services.

Supplementary investors have access to R&D, training, IT, administration and

commercial facilities and services provided by KHTK to their convenience. Nearby

seaport and airport facilities allow fast transportation of products. Furthermore

favorable government treatment including subjects such as taxation and employment

of foreigners provide incentives for investors.

Asian association of business incubation

Recently many countries have established

incubation centers to provide new

knowledge for companies and business

operations, as innovation and

entrepreneurship have become the key

factors of driving economic development.

The Asian Association of Business

Incubation (AABI) comprises associations

that organize incubation resources and facilities and organizations operating

incubation programs among 16 nations in Asia since year 2001 when it was

established. The IMC group was guided by Mr. Annuar bin Mohd Saffar who was

elected as the new President of AABI for 2 years from January 2008 until December

2009.

114

Kulim technology management

Kulim technology management for small

and medium industries is a part of training

programs provided in the R&D zone. Such

programs include advanced technical

courses such as robot programming,

working with turning, laser, prototyping

and wire cut machines. Other courses are

focused on quality enhancement and

biotechnology. The delegation was guided through the premises of technology

management program where the group became familiar with robotic programming

and operations of machines. Courses last from 2-4 days and cost in average 100 euros,

but companies may receive a subsidy from the government, allowing them to educate

their employers for free.

Question & Answer session

Following the presentations on the Kulim

Hi-Tech Park and the Asian Association

of Business Incubation, Mr. Annuar bin

Mohd Saffar opened the floor for

questions. One of the group members

wanted to know, what Mr. bin Mohd

Saffar identified as the most important

competitive advantages of the KHTP. One

got to know that one of the main factors for the current good status quo is the close

cooperation of the KHTP with education facilities such as UniMAP. Such interlinking

between universities and the businesses on the other side allows companies to select

from a rather large pool of highly skilled human resources. Additionally, corporations

that decide to set up a production facility can not only refer to a scheme of incentives

from the Malay government side, but will also receive further bonuses from the Hi-

Tech Park itself.

The final question dealt with the subject of whether the region was suffering from

brain drain. Mr. Annuar bin Mohd Saffar’s answer surprised many group members, as

he indicated that today many global companies are substituting expatriates for local

work force. Depending on the company and its country of origin, it was illustrated

that especially US-American corporations were rather likely to use local engineers

115

and reduce the number of expatriates. On the other hand, Japanese companies are

often staffing their production facilities with their own nationals.

Contact Information

Mr. Annuar bin Mohd Saffar Vice president of KTPC & Director of KHTP Current president AABI [email protected]

116

11.2. AMD

Disclaimer: In order to comply with

AMD’s security and reporting standards,

this section will not include any pictures

of the cleanroom laboratories, as well as

technical details. For further information

please refer to AMD’s global website.

(http://www.amd.com) The second part of

our programme for this day brought us to

the production site of AMD – Advanced

Micro Devices, located in the commercial area of Penang. Following a medical health

check for high temperature, the group was directed towards the company’s

auditorium, where Ms. Jariyah Hashim, Director of EHS & Operations Training an d

Mr. C.C. Leong, Manager of the branches Employee & Industrial Relations, as well

as Public Relations and Human Resources provided the students with a presentation

on the company.

The lecture of the two speakers included an overall

view on the global structure of the concern, but also

integrated the audience via a vivid Question and

Answer session. Mr. Leong would award good

answers with “AMD - Limited Edition products”,

such as T-shirts, coffee mugs and posters.

Ms. Hashim illustrated the company’s supply chain

and production flow by presenting a corporate

video, subsequently opening the floor to questions

from the students’ side.

Before giving the group a very rare chance to visit

parts of the production line, AMD provided the


Time: 14:00 – 16:30

Topic: History and scope of work of AMD, an introduction to processors including a short visit to the production facilities and cleanroom labs

Speaker: Ms. Jariyah Hashim, Mr. C. C. Leong

Moderator : Prof. Anis Bajrektarevic (Erwin Ulreich on behalf of)

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delegation with a lunch on the company’s expenses.

This part of the trip was concluded by a round-up session, where Mr. Leong presented

the participants with “goodie bags” including pens and information material on

AMD’s products.

History

The company was founded in 1969 in Sunnyvale,

California. AMD’s field of activity is the development

of computer processors and related technologies for

commercial and consumer markets.

Today, the hardware producer is employer to approximately 14.000 employees and

generates a yearly profit of about 5.8 billion US-Dollars. Major milestones of this

company include the acquisition of Texas-based ATI, a manufacturer of graphic

devices and the introduction of the first x86 dual-core processor in 2004. In the Asian

region, Penang is one of three “in-house manufacturing” sites, the other ones are

located in Suzhou, P.R. China and Singapore. AMD’s involvement in the region can

be depicted in the workforce of AMD Malaysia. 54% are Chinese, 13% are Indians,

32% are Malay and only 1% descents of any other background. Besides it has to be

mentioned that many employees of the Malay subsidiary have been with AMD since

the start of the company’s activities in the region. This can be reflected in Ms.

Hashim’s statement on the AMD Malaysia workforce: “We are not old, we are

mature!”

Company scope of activities

On a global scale, AMD is the second-largest global supplier of microprocessors,

which use the x86 architecture. The product range includes processors of various

kinds, namely the AMD Athlon™, AMD Phenom™, AMD Sempron™ and AMD

Turion™ series. These series can be divided in two segments: Desktop Processors and

Mobile Processors. One most recent example for the use of AMD processors is the

Microsoft Wii™, as part of their gaming technology. Even in the world of cinema, the

products of the semiconductor manufacturer are used. Examples include Madagascar,

Ice Age and Shrek, where Hollywood studios have relied on AMD technology to

realize the film projects.

Today AMD is looking for more ways to “further move up the value chain” (cf.

Ms.Hashim). Therefore the company has introduced the WISE system. The acronym

WISE stands for Workable Ideas Supplied by Employees, where AMD’s workforce

gets the chance to have its say on business conduct of the company. The best ideas are

presented during an annual award ceremony.

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Question & Answer Session

The presentation was followed by a very lively Q&A session, most of them very

circling around technical details of the processors and the manufacturing of

microchips.

One of the topics raised was why gold was being used within the production. Ms.

Hashim explained that this material was used in order to enhance the durability of the

product, as well as the conductance. AMD would not be able to use anything else, as

most of the minerals include a portion of nickel, which has a negative on both criteria.

One of our Malaysian colleagues wanted to know, what kind of sand was used for the

production of AMD microchips and was being informed that sand with a very high

concentration of quartz is the most optimal basis for production.

The Question and Answer session was closed with the question, why microchips have

to be round instead of square and Mr. Leong informed the audience that the reason for

this would also be found in the field of enhancing conductance. Regarding possible

internships it was explained that the Penang unit of AMD is mainly concerned with

production aspects rather than the marketing; internships may only be given to

students of an engineering background.

Contact Information

Mr. C.C. Leong Manager Employee Relation & Industrial Relation, Communication & Public Relation, Human Resources [email protected]

Ms. Jariyah Hashim, Director of EHS & Operations Training [email protected].

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12. Friday, September 18th 2009

12.1. Mahidol University, College of Management

Friday, the 18th September, was the last official day of the “Business Focus ASEAN-

Study Trip”. The IMC Delegation from Krems, Austria, had the great opportunity, not

only to listen to, but also lively interact and share our collected opinions and

impressions with two Asian experts in the course of the “Final workshop on

intercultural management”.

Mrs. Astrid Kainzbauer, Ph.D., Manager

of International Relations and Lecturer in

Management from the “Mahidol

Universtity”-College of Management, in

Bangkok, Thailand, expert in the field of

culture and business ethics showed us in a

snapshot all those remarkable

characteristics of the Thai culture which

we were, at least to some extent, allowed to observe during our stay in Thailand. Mr.

Till Morstadt, on the other hand, partner at “Lorenz & Partners Co., Ltd., a globally

acting consulting company with offices in Germany, Thailand, Hong Kong, Taiwan

and Vietnam is an expert in the field of investment, tax and business consulting in

Thailand.

The bright side of Thailand’s business environment:

First, Mr. Morstadt underlined Thailand’s excellent geographic position in the Indo-

Asian region and its graphical, industrial, and political importance. Two very

important advantages of Thailand compared to its neighbours in a foreign company’s

point of view, are the alluring labour costs on one hand and the prevailing excellent

infrastructure on the other. Geographically seen, Thailand offers the perfect

infrastructure and potential to act as a springboard for internationally acting


Time: 15:30 – 17:30

Topic: Final workshop on Intercultural Management

Speaker: Ms. Astrid Kainzbauer, Ph.D., Manager of International Relations and Mr. Till Morstadt, Partner at “Lorenz & Partners Co., Ltd.

Moderator : Prof. Anis Bajrektarevic (Mag. (FH) Vincent Kramer on behalf of)

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companies wanting to penetrate the Chinese, Indonesian or the Asian market in

general. Mr. Morstadt underlined, that Thailand is generally very interesting for

foreign company’s expats and their families, because personal integration is very

easy.

The dark side of Thailand’s business environment:

Sometimes, however, companies are facing quite some difficulties in complying with

the governmental guidelines. The “Foreign Business Act” (Permission for foreign

companies dating 1997 which limit the amount of direct foreign investment, e.g. Joint

Ventures with 51% Thai shareholders) is one example representing such an obstacle.

The first contact for international companies wanting to penetrate the Thai market is

the so-called “Board of Investment”, which regulates permits for foreign investors, as

in Thailand there are around 50 different types of possible investments. At this point,

it is important to mention, that these procedures can be very quickly handled if you

have experts, such as a business consultant, helping you. Otherwise it could cost a

substantial amount of time and money. The biggest problem Thailand’s economy has

had to face in recent years is its very unstable political environment (e.g.” red” vs.

“yellow shirts”) In terms of staff placement and hiring foreign companies need

someone at the spot, like a local director, who understands the culture and the

prevailing circumstances. Foreign companies can influence and limit the local

director’s power by placing foreign staff in charge of the Finance and Production

Department.

From a Human Resource point of view it is important to mention, that there are no

short-term work permits in Thailand. Consequently companies need to send

“engineers” illegally to perform repair and maintenance work. (In case the labour

department steps in, this could end in a prison cell for one night). Another important

fact internationally acting companies should be aware of is that pre-negotiated

contracts with local business partners are not that definite as it is the case in the

European Union. For some local companies contracts are “fulfillments that might

happen in the future - but if circumstances change -why should the contract be

executed?”

Furthermore Mr. Morstadt recommended us to refrain from “bribing the right people

in Thailand” as it can be a very costly game, due to the fact that international

companies do not know “how to play the game in Thailand”, as they do not exactly

know “who is of importance and who is not!” Another important issue companies

must be aware of is that in terms of business planning. “5 years” is a very long period

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of time for South-East-Asian people. So, international companies should therefore

avoid “long-future-planning”.

Intercultural dialogue under the guidance of Ms. Kainzbauer:

Following the interesting and detailed

presentation of Mr. Morstadt, the fellow

students and graduates had the great

opportunity to interact with the two

experts in a “Question and Answer

Session” under the direction and guidance

of Ms. Kainzbauer. The IMC Delegation

had then the opportunity to share their

gathered impressions with the group and the experts equally.

• Business related issues mentioned by experts and fellow students and graduates:

o You can not expect “extraordinary things” from Thais, such as an

unauthorized extension of opening hours. (Experienced by the fellow

students for example in terms of the opening hours of the hotels’ internet

café.)

o Companies show their wealth in terms of staff employment. Especially in

tourism related businesses such as restaurants. Thai restaurants seem

extremely overstaffed compared to European standards.

o Thais are in general not trained to be independent, but are very helpful.

� In the EU: discussions, brainstorming, laissez-faire…

� In Thailand: “follow the leader”-principle, know your rules…

o With a “western management style” you don’t do Thais a favour. Thai

workers need a certain degree of hierarchy in their daily business life.

Therefore guidance, directives, and instructions should be provided by the

decision makers and the management alike.

• Fellow students’ personal impressions of Bangkok and the Thais:

o “Yes!” need not mean “yes!” if said by a Thai, it rather means: “I

understand!”

o When a taxi driver says: “I know where the target location is”, he means

that he might know someone, who knows where it is!

o In general taxi drivers do not take advantage of foreigners and do not take

you to unwanted “sight-seeing-tours” around Bangkok.

o Tuk Tuk drivers, however, might take you from one gift shop to the next,

as they get “gas-vouchers” from the shop owners for every “delivered”

tourist.

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o Basically people are not greedy at all. The poorer they are - the nicer they

are!

o The laundry service in the hotel does not wash your underwear as it is seen

as something private that must not be seen by anyone else.

o The Thai society in general pretty is conservative (party, sex and nightlife

are not discussed.) The “sex-tourism” Thailand is so famous for, does not

represent Thai culture, but some kind of “culture” established solely for

foreigners and tourists who have enough money and the desire to spend it.

Contact Information

Astrid Kainzbauer, Ph.D. Manager of International Relations Lecturer in Management “Mahidol Universtity” College of Management 69 Vipawadee Rangist Rd. Phayathai, 10400 Bangkok, Thailand Email: [email protected]

Till Morstadt, Partner at “Lorenz & Partners Co., Ltd Legal, Tax and Business Consultants 22nd Floor, Sathorn City Tower 175 South Sathorn Rd. 10120 Bangkok, Thailand Email: [email protected]

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13. Diaries


Let the journey “party” begin

On Saturday the 5th of September 2009 our group

composed of 26 IMC students and graduates from the

Bachelor and Master “Export-oriented Management” full

and part time program met at the Schwechat Airport at

13.30 sharp ready to start the journey to Thailand and

Malaysia. Discussing the last details of the trip as well as

already made shopping plans one could see many happy

and enthusiastic faces eager to enter the plane. After

saying good bye to family and friends the Emirates flight

EK 128 left Vienna without any difficulties and also the

flight itself was smooth and comfortable.

In Dubai we had about 5 hours to spend until our departure to Thailand which gave us

enough time to explore the airport and its great variety of shops and restaurants. At

2.30 am it was time for us the leave Dubai behind us and enter the second flight

towards Thailand.

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First day in Bangkok

After a rather smooth 6-hour flight our

plane arrived on time at the Bangkok

international Airport. Lucky us, we all

passed the health control, which has been

installed due to the swine-flue at the

airport, and did enter Thailand without

any difficulties. At the airport our travel

agent was already waiting for us and after

putting our entire luggage in the very

colourful bus we all were looking forward

to a really needed shower in our hotel.

During the transfer from the airport to the

hotel our travel agent gave us a small

overview about Bangkok, the Thai

mentality and important things we should

consider when exploring the city:

The weather ...

Even though the rain time has already started, for us western Europeans it is still

incredibly hot (28 to 35 °C) and humid (95%). Long sleeve shirts were almost a no-go

but for Thais it was time to take out the winter jacket. The rain is not really a relieve

either but as many of us found out on the last day, a very wet experience.

... people ...

Thais are very friendly and helpful people who love their king. Any disrespect

towards the royal family can lead to jail time without any exceptions. Even such

things as stepping on a coin are seen as a major disrespect. A special Thai thing is the

use of the word “yes” because in Thailand “yes” does not stand for “yes that´s true

and I know” but instead “yes” stands just for “I acoustically did understand you”

which as one can imagine led to very funny conversations while negotiating or

explaining a Thai Taxi driver where you want to go and where we end up.

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…and the famous traffic.

Bangkok offers various forms of

transportations. The most convenient one

is for sure a taxi. However, with the daily

traffic jam this can be a rather time

consuming form of transport. Other

possible forms of transport are tuk tuk

(three wheal scooter), scooters or buses.

However, Bangkok also offers a very

futuristic and modern sky-train which

offers a fast and cheap form of transport

and a possibility to get out of the daily

traffic on the streets.

After this short overview we finally

arrived in our hotel. The SP “The Suan

Dusit Place” is located in the

governmental district only a few minutes’

walk/drive to Bangkok`s top tourist sites

by the Chao Praya river.

Once receiving the keys to our rooms

everybody was happy to take a cold

shower and refresh before hitting out to

explore Bangkok. The group split up, some went downtown to have a nice dinner and

exploring already some sights whereas some staid in the hotel and enjoyed their first

massage to get rid of their heavy legs after spending almost a whole day on the

airplanes and airports. The prices in Thailand compared to Austrian standards for a

massage were very “student friendly” and one could have a 2½ hour massage for just

12 hours.

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BFA kick-off

Day two in Bangkok started with some very sleepy

and not very talkative students at the breakfast bar.

For some of us the cultural clash with rice and

meat for breakfast was too much and so toast,

butter and jam were the most common dishes on

the tables. Anyhow, at 10 am Professor Anis gave

us a warm welcome speech explaining the

upcoming events and the program for the following

two weeks. Followed by the 1st BFA session,

which lasted from 11am to 3pm. Using the

information gained the group enjoyed the free

afternoon spending some time in the city centre for

shopping or sightseeing. At night our first

networking dinner took place at the Cabbages &

Condoms. This restaurant is one of the most unique

restaurants in Bangkok and is well known all over

the world. The C&C was conceptualized in part to

promote better understanding and acceptance of

family planning and to generate income to support

various developments activities of the Population

and Community Development Association. For all

students it was fascinating experience and the

jungle like atmosphere, the condom decorations

combined with the traditional Thai food was

something all of us will never forget. After the

dinner the group split up again and explored the

Bangkok nightlife. Thailand and particularly

Bangkok is known for its sex industry. Even if

prostitution is actually illegal in Thailand the

ladies, the boys and the ladyboys are always

present on the streets especially at night. “Here one

remark from our travel agent: In Thailand you have to be careful because you

sometimes get more as you were asking for”. After exploring a few bars some of us

ended up in the Spice Club, which is one of just 4 bars in Bangkok, which is allowed

to open later than 2 am.

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IMC dresscode – here we come

On Tuesday we had a rather short program starting off at 9 am with a group breakfast

and two presenters. Both speakers gave us a really good overview about the economic

situation in this region as well as some problems when working or starting a business.

Before starting our free afternoon Professor Anis reminded us about some important

facts when dealing and negotiating in Thailand and suggested us some hot spots for

shopping and sightseeing.

Most of the Export students and graduates actually

followed his suggestion and spent their free time to

do either shopping in one of the shopping centres or

road markets where we could practice our

negotiation skills with the locals. Especially the

ladies seemed to have a lucky hand when

negotiating and at the end of the day one could see

some exhausted but happy faces when presenting their new shirts, bags or jewellery.

Since our European size bodies did not always fit the standard Thai sizes offered in

the shops, a couple of Export students and graduates took advantage of the relatively

cheap tailor shops and got their shirts handmade. Bering in mind the strict dress code

at the IMC, shirts, jackets, dresses and skirts were ordered and looking at the spent

amount, not only the students left the shops happily but also the tailors were all

smiles.

However, we did not just boost the Thailand economy with our shopping tours but

also attended some other typical local highlights such as Thai boxing at the national

stadium as well as exploring the cultural side of BKK when visiting the temples. Thai

boxing is the national sport and even eight-year-old girls and boys fight with a

passion you have not seen before. Together with the traditional but for western ears

rather annoying fight music this was an experience even the toughest guys of our

group won’t forget.

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Lucky number 9

In Thailand the number nine is a lucky number

and therefore was the 09.09.09 at 09:09 a very

special day for the Thais, which they celebrated

across the country. For us the fourth day in BKK

was actually one of the most interesting but also

exhausting days of the whole trip. With lectures

from 10am to 5pm most of the students were

rather exhausted at the end of the day.

Nevertheless, it was a very informative day with

a lot of first hand information about other

ASEAN countries as well as the relations

between ASEAN and China and also between the EU and ASEAN. After the official

end of the BFA session most of us actually staid at the hotel for some massages but

some few enjoyed a dinner at the city centre.

Talking about massages it has to be mentioned that a traditional Thai massage is not

for sensitive people. It is amazing how much strength a 45-year-old 155cm tall Thai

lady has. However, three hours and some tears later one feels like newborn and all the

“pain” has been forgotten.

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BFA meets UNECAP

On Thursday we had our first lecture outside the

hotel. The whole group was supposed to leave at

8.30 the hotel in order to organize the ride to the

UNESCAP building. As already stated earlier in

the diary getting a taxi, which takes you directly to

the place where you want to go, is random.

Therefore it was no surprise that it took almost one

hour for all of us to actually get to the UN building, which should actually just take

seven minutes.

Since our group leader Smajo planned everything with enough time in between

everybody was on time and we listened to some very interesting speakers who

explained us the whole structure of the ESCAP as well as the various departments.

Around 4 pm the group was ready to leave but the weather was not in our favour,

meaning that it was raining or should we say pouring for about one hour. Some brave

Export students and graduates actually started an attempt to get back to the hotel but

were not really successful. Professor Anis and most of the students actually used the

delay for coffee break and free Internet connection in the UN building.

At 5 pm the weather gods gave us a short window of sun, which we used to walk back

to the hotel. After a 20 min walk in a cloud of

humidity and smock we actually arrived at the hotel

and looking for some cold water and a cold shower.

For most of us the night program was also rather

short since the jet lack as well as the visits to

various bars took their tribute to all of us.

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Ambassador³ After the day at the UN our group was invited to the delegation of the European

commission to Thailand. Even though the last couple days were stressful we all

enjoyed the very interesting and informative presentations, especially since you don’t

have every day the chance to meet three ambassadors who are not just giving you a

great lecture on their point of view, the positions of the EU, the G8 or other countries

in the ASEAN region but also invite you for a lunch which was very much enjoyed by

all of us.

The day went by rather fast and we all were looking forward to the Siam Niramit

Show, which Professor Anis arranged for us. The group met at the subway station

were shuttle busses free of charge were taking us directly to the gates of the theatre.

Already the entrance was overwhelming and everybody took a picture with a lady in

traditional Thai clothes. The show itself is a world-class performance of Thailand’s

arts and cultural heritage. The whole show is performed on a gigantic stage now listed

in the Guinness book of World Records, featuring over 150 performers with as many

as 500 costumes. Especially the river and

rain within the theatre was breath taking

and for us it was an unforgettable night

with a lot of memories and souvenirs.

As usual the taxi drivers had troubles to

find our hotel but we all got back in one

piece and tried to recover for our whole

day excursion the next day.

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Rumble in the Jungle The Saturday started early, really early, at 6.30 am

when our travel agent was waiting for us with three

vans in front of the hotel. Quiet almost silent got

some of us on their seats ready to use the two-hour

transfer from the hotel to the river Kwai to sleep

and some actually already slept even before we left

the hotel entrance. The river Kwai is famous since

war prisoners of WWII were forced to build a

bridge and railway through the jungle connecting

Burma (now Myanmar) and Siam (now Thailand).

Besides visiting the bridge we also had planned to

actually have a 90 min train ride on the so called

death train followed by a lunch and later on a

rafting and elephant rides.

Our first stop was actually the Kanchanaburi War

Cemetery. This cemetery, which is the largest of

three on the Burma-Siam Railway, is located near

the site of the former “Kanburi” Prison of War Base

Camp through which most prisoners passed on their

way to the other camps. More than 7000 casualties

from the Commonwealth and the Netherlands are

commemorating in the cemetery. Walking on by the

graves gave us just a little idea about what took

place just 60 years ago and reminded us about how

grateful we should be for a peaceful time.

After leaving the cemetery it took us just 15 minutes to the river Kwai and the famous

bridge. Before we actually had to catch the train most of us used the chance to visit a

museum showing the actual work and living conditions of the prisoners.

The train ride was an experience nobody will forget so fast. Without air condition the

90 minutes journey was a quiet sweaty one, just the lucky ones at the window could

survive without constant outbreaks. For those, who gave up on the sweat, the train

ride, feeling like a horseback ride, was actually a good time to recover and power nap.

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Arriving at our final destination the tour guide took

as to a small restaurant with a stunning view over

the river and the jungle. After a nice buffet with

rice and various forms of meat as well as coffee and

tea we jumped back into the vans. Just 5 minutes

later we arrived at the elephant camp. Before we

actually got to ride on them we went to the river for

some bamboo rafting.

After some minutes it was obvious that the floats

where built for Asian size people and not for

Europeans, since one boat actually almost grounded

and with some wet feet and a lot of girls screaming

they actually made it back on the safe land.

From the float trip the group went directly to the

elephants, which actually did not look very

enthusiastic when our large group arrived.

However, after some bananas, which were seen as a

motivation token, all of us in fact had a safe ride. It

was definitely a lot of fun and some brave ones

actually also got the opportunity to ride the

elephant without the handler. Since everybody got

off the elephant safe and sound they probably made

a good job.

The elephant ride was actually not our last stop.

Since we had some time left the whole group went

to a beautiful waterfall in the middle of the jungle.

Without any hesitation some of our group jumped

into their bathing short/bikinis and enjoyed the

water. Especially Antony must have enjoyed it a

little bit too much since we had to almost drag him

out of the water, when we were ready to go. During

the bus ride the whole trip was of course discussed

but after one hour most of us fell asleep, awaking

just in time to arrive at the hotel where most of us

went directly to bed.

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Goodbye Ladyboys, hello Malaysia One of the most discussed issues over the last two

days was the weight limit for our flight to

Malaysia. Air Asia just allowed one piece of

luggage with 15kg. This especially made some

ladies sweat since they had to make the decision

what they wanted to leave behind in the hotel till

we come back. Hereby it has to be said that Smajo

had the great idea to organize lockers at the hotel

we could use for valuable things and also a locked

room where we could leave our belongings during

the visit to Malaysia.

Anyhow at 5.00 in the morning we got picked up

from the hotel and at half past seven we left BKK

towards Penang, Malaysia. The whole flight lasted

just one hour but even that was for the tall guys of

our group an unconvertible situation since Air Asia

did not really provide a lot of leg space.

We arrived in Malaysia at around 10.30 am local

time but due to organizational difficulties we had to

wait two hours before our bus arrived to take us to Kangar in the State of Perlis.

Muffins and water was provided and the waiting time went by rather fast.

The two-hour drive from the airport to the hotel gave us the opportunity to enjoy the

landscape of Malaysia. After arriving at the Putra Brasmana hotel and receiving our

keys the group split up and explored the city. A seven eleven department store was

quickly found to by refreshments as well as some snacks and even in this tiny little

city located at the cost of Malaysia an American KFC franchise had opened its gates.

As one can imagine during the Ramadan the city was not really full of food courts at

least not in the afternoon and therefore many of us chose the American way of food.

Later on we got surprise since the hotel offered our group a dinner buffet were local

dishes were served some were rather exotic for us such as a corn juice. After dinner

we met again in the lobby where Professor Anis explained us the program for the next

day. Since the local university was planning the whole activities for us we were

depended on their organizational skills.

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Monday, September 14th 2009 Sightseeing in Perlis: rubber-gloves, instead of sculptors Right after the breakfast it was time for us to meet

some of the UNIMAP professors and students who

welcomed us with open arms. After a short

presentation about the university and its history we

drove to the training facility used by the university

in cooperation with local industries to produce

various products from Nano technology to metal

products.

The students explaining us the facilities were rather

surprised as we told them that we are business

students and actually have no idea what they were

talking about. However, two of our students

actually took the chance put on a “Marshmallow”

outfit and went into the “clean room” where they

were introduced in the world of Nano technology.

The clock was running and it was actually time for

some lunch. As already mentioned earlier, Malaysia

is an Islamic country and during our visit the

Ramadan was still ongoing meaning that it was

rather hard for our hosts to find an open restaurant

which could host 30 hungry students and graduates

from Austria. Somehow they managed to find a

small Chinese place directly at the main road. It

was a special feeling sitting in a Quonset with a

sprinkler on the roof to cool down the place. The

food however was delicious and with full stomachs

the group moved on to visit the Shorubber factory. Shorubber is a Japanese company,

which has one of its largest factories in the state of Perlis. They produce various kinds

of industrial gloves and provided us next to a very interesting presentation with a tour

through their production site.

After leaving the factory we headed back to the hotel and had some free time before

our come together with students from UNIMAP in the evening. This event actually

turned out to be a great opportunity to meet local and exchange students of UNIMAP

and we had some great conversations and intercultural exchange. The occasion was

organized by Professor Anis long time friend Professor Murray Hunter who also

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invited two government officials as guest lecturers’ for short presentations about the

economic situation and development in the state of Perlis. Roughly around midnight

we came back to the hotel and were very much looking forward to the next day since

we were going to meet the Sultan of Perlis.

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“Long live the Sultan” or “Am I allowed wearing this?” Tuesday morning started with an introduction by

Professor Anis about the etiquette when meeting

the Sultan of Perlis. Next to some dress code issues,

the ladies had to cover their knees and shoulders,

the gentleman had to wear suit and a tie and a few

other points of etiquette were addressed as well.

The palace was just 25 minutes away from our

hotel and during the transfer one could feel how

nervous and excited everybody was since no one

probably will never ever get the chance to meet a

king or a member of the royal family again.

When arriving at the palace the vice chief secretary

welcomed us together with the security chief. After

another introduction how to great and talk to His

Highness Sultan DYMM Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin

Jamalullail the king himself arrived. Even while

fasting he spent almost an hour with us and even

agreed on a group picture. After the sultan left we

were invited to visit his private gallery were we

could take a look at some of his family impressive

collections of presents and pictures. To our surprise

the Sultan also presented us with lunch what we

were really appreciated.

After lunch the group moved on to meet another

member of the royal family. At the governmental

palace the sultan’s younger brother the chief

secretary welcomed us for a question and answer session. Beside the very interesting

conversation the location itself was probably the most impressive so far during our

trip. With its gigantic entry hall and beautiful ceilings the only downside of the visit

was the arctic temperatures inside.

However, after the family picture in front of the building we were taken back to the

hotel since our hosts planed a cultural event later on that evening.

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At 6.30 pm the bus took us to the city hall were a

supper and afterwards a traditional dinner was

served. After fried chicken and rice the evening

started with a traditional Thai dance performance.

Following a short speech given by the vice chief

secretary it was time for two brave ones of our

group to present Austria and us with a traditional

Austrian waltz. To the sound of “An der schönen

blauen Donau” they earned standing ovations and

were later on joined by most of our group who tried

to teach local students, teachers and officials how

to dance the waltz.

Inspired by our performance the Vice Chancellor of the UniMAP University hit the

stage and performed the university song live for us together with the university dance.

Not enough Professor Anis also was taken on stage and showed off with his

interpretation of the university dance, which was also honored with standing ovations.

The university song/dance was just topped as the band started to play the chicken

dance song and all students, professors and even the waiters were included in the

performance. All in all it was fantastic evening, which no one will forget.

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“I’ll take a nap” After the last days on the road and in Malaysia,

none of us really expected to get enough sleep in a

hotel bedroom, so we got experts in a field that

really saved our mental health: POWERNAPPING

in the bus. Thanks to Alexand ra and Wolfgang we

were not even afraid any more to be pictured in a

bad-looking sleepy moment, because their faces

were already kept in the best pictures, which were

not able to get topped. These two and a half hours

in the bus, kindly sent by UniMap, gave some of

us, beside sleeping, the great chance to see

Malaysia´s fascinating countryside and vegetation

and others (only men) the time necessary to

exchange all more or less funny army stories they

experienced some years ago. On our way to the

Kulim Hi- Tech Park, the science city of the future

and Malaysia´s “Silicon Valley”, we were happy to

have three charming Chinese Ladies joining us for

the trip, as they are doing an exchange Semester at

UniMap. They integrated quite fast in our group

and enriched social life beside the meetings.

Prof. Anis, who was always aware of keeping us

healthy and happy, organised a troop of three

gorgeous looking “ Waterboys”, namely Jorge,

Erwin and W olfgang, who supplied us on a regular basis with water and good mood,

which was sometimes not that easy, when thinking about our bus driver who was still

in the fasting month of Ramadan and not eating and drinking BUT driving the bus.

But we all put great trust on him and are still alive.

After 12 days on the road and far away from normality and Austria, we were all still

interested, motivated and thankful in exploring the country of Malaysia and the great

possibilities offered to us by the Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMap). During our stay

in this great country, the representatives of UniMap were always treating us with a

high degree of respect and hospitality and we all would like once more to say

THANK YOU for the great work they did without expecting anything in return.

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Like during the whole BFA, also in Malaysia we

even defied our greatest enemy named “Air

condition” and got through every health check

hindering our way to student heaven: Penang

Shopping Mall. Three hours of uncontrolled buying

behavior and a lost female (!) student later we left

Penang’s city lights in the same bus and the same

strong-minded bus driver to get back to the hotel

bringing up an old question: sleeping or not

sleeping?

Most of the students decided for the first possibility

but a small resistant group in the back of the bus

put altogether their memories and started to sing

Austrian classic like “Schifoan” and “Fürstenfeld”

followed by songs out of TV serials for children

like “Mila Superstar” and “Biene Maja” finalizing

this performance of good taste with a happy

mixture coming from the last century as “ The Beatles”, “Fettes Brot” and “The

Backstreet Boys” (an input of the guys!).

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Thank Allah, it’s the fasting month of Ramadan It was four o’clock in the morning and none of us expected to have any breakfast

before arriving at Penang airport two and a half hours later.

But there it was. Some of us found out during their

whole-night stay at the lobby, others when they left

the elevator: a crowded breakfast-room, full of

people eating before the sun will enlighten the day,

which then brings up one of the four days left in

the fasting month of Ramadan. (Nevertheless we

could have had expected this situation after such an intensive introduction into

Malaysian culture during the last days.)

After a light breakfast, Prof. Anis calling for more water-drinking, and power-napping

in the bus we arrived at Penang airport, spent our last Ringgits for even more

breakfast and took Air Asia to get back to Bangkok and our Suan Dusit Hotel.

By some of us, the remaining hours of the day were used to see hopeless crowded

Chinatown, having amazing dinner at the Khao-San-(L)Road or just to explore the

impressive city lights of our all new home: Bangkok.

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A TukTuk to explore the world The second last day in BKK brought us time for

ourself, for sightseeing and last chance souvenir

shopping. Most of us used the time until noon to

catch up some sleep missed the last days in

Malaysia, others took the saying “you can sleep

when you are dead” seriously and got up quite

early to see BKK´s famous Buddhist temples

before rush-hour.

This day was also the 23rd birthday of Alexandra,

who decided to spend her special day with some of

her friends to buy some last souvenirs for the loved

ones at home and therefor discovered a Taxi as the

best vehicle in such a crowded city.

When we were told that the Wat Phra Kaeo, the

Grand Palace, is completely full and cannot be

entered in the next two hours, another option

needed to be determined. And what is smarter then

to take the advice of a local to get passed through

the city by his TukTuk and to see all the other

amazing cultural sights of Bangkok city?

So we took two TukTuks and were first of all pretty impressed about the low price. 20

Baht per person were not normal at all but we passed Wat Pho, the temple boasting its

huge reclining Buddha (46 m long and 15 m high), where another local guy told us

that today the fuel of the TukTuk is sponsored by the local tourist-office and the

TukTuk drivers will bring us to any monument we want just giving a tip. Happy

tourists like us do not even get confused when the driver stops on his way to the next

Wat by one after another official souvenir-junk-shop. Diamonds are a girls best

friend, and therefore its not further astonishing that some of us recognized this

“Nepper- Schlepper- Bauernfänger”- mentality, as we say in Austria, of this trip quite

late.

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To put it in a nutshell, the fuel of the TukTuks is

sponsored by the owners of the shops, only given

to the drivers when they stop with the tourists at

the shop. Smart students and graduates as we are,

we captured our driver, made a deal with him just

staying at a shop that long it takes to get the fuel

and then going on to the next temple. Good plan,

bad performance. We just visited two temples and

ended up at McDonalds next to our hotel. Same-

Same.

The rest of the day was more exciting. We were

having a quite informal and really funny briefing at

the cafeteria of our hotel.

There we got a last introduction into the investment

situation in Thailand as well as an openhearted

briefing about intercultural “experiences” made in

Thailand within the society.

Last but not least, at six o’clock the river boat

cruise was scheduled and highly expected by most

of us. In the last two weeks we were exploring the

city of Bangkok via TukTuks, Taxis and the

Skytrain but feeling the city was even more

intensive when doing it on the Chao Phraya River

with all the enlighten skyscrapers and Buddhist

monuments and a dinner right on the boat. The

deck was a perfect surrounding for most of us to

take a glass of wine or a cocktail served in a

coconut shell and to let the last two weeks pass by.

We spend the rest of the night in several groups, some drinking Champagne at the top

of Bangkok´s high class hotels, others spending their last coins on fake-”Prada” Bags

and not that original “Tiffany & Co” jewellery at the city´s night markets, because

“Diamonds are a girls best friend”.

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Adieu Bangkok Here it was: our last day in Bangkok and Asia in general. We were expected to meet

in the hotel lobby at around eight in the evening, but needed to have checked out until

twelve. So what to do the whole afternoon without a room or a shower? Some of us

kept their room and paid extra 800 Baht, others put their luggage in the hotel storage

room and went out for famous “weekend- market”, again others were ignoring all

inner shopping-stress and went to the last two and a half hour Thai massage at the

hotel. For those the 600 Baht (12 €) were the best investment done during the whole

trip and brought back some energy into tired feet and faces while falling asleep under

warm towels and aromatic oils.

In the meantime, storms brought heavy rain falling down on Bangkok streets and fled

the whole city completely in just a few minutes. Poor guys who went out for the

weekend market stood up to their knees in the outcome of this monstrous rain falls

and tried to keep the cockroaches away from climbing up their feet, escaping from

death through drowning.

The good spirit of our group, Smajo, was kind and smart enough to book a room for

the ones without a shower, which was then open until eight, so we all came more or

less fresh to the meeting at the lobby, fighting against time until nine, when the bus

arrived to bring us back again to BKK airport. Again spending our last Baht at Burger

King and Starbucks, we entered the aeroplane at half past one in the night looking

forward to the five hours lasting flight to Dubai, that was enriched with good food and

snacks as well as with the incredible variation of music, films and serials offered by

“Emirates” to their lucky costumers.

Seeing the twinkling city lights of Bangkok getting smaller, we felt our hearts getting

heavier, partly because of saying good-bye to a gorgeous inspiring city, partly of

getting closer to home.

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Sunday, September 20th 2009 “Same-Same, but toooo different” It was already … o’clock, bearing in mind the time

difference, when we flew over a carpet of small

shimmering lights belonging to the city of Dubai,

giving us all a clue about how rich in terms of

money and oil this city might be.

Like two weeks before, the airport was full of

people lying on the floor, taking a nap while

waiting for their flights. This was a time when most

of us were already somehow desperate because of

the long journey that would not be finished for the

next 10 hours. We drank our coffees and Chai

Lattes and ate our burgers and tried to get some

sleep in a sitting position in the meantime. Some of us were happy enough to enter the

Diners Club Lounge with all its luxury and food, or when having some money left

doing some Duty Free shopping in the huge range of stores.

After more or less five hours in Dubai, our plane started for the last journey of our trip

and got us safely back home to Vienna International Airport. The airport from where

we had started our trip exploring the great countries of Malaysia and Thailand, with

its cultural differences, its business behavior differing from central European one and

its language barriers when coming to a Taxi drive in good old Bangkok.

All in all, returning from the fifteen days of BFA 2009 expedition, Europe is quite

"same-same, but still different".

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14. Conclusion

Step by step, hour by hour, it was a long way, yet a short time. Countless breath-

taking moments throughout this trip, made it for each and everyone unforgettable, and

the magnitude of it is tricky to put into words.

“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having

new eyes.” Marcel Proust

I dare to say, this trip changed us. It changed our perception of Thailand and

Malaysia. Travelling is more than just visiting the main sights and trying the local

food. It is about getting to know the culture, which we did thanks to the locals we met

during the several meetings and get-togethers. Simply we had a once in a lifetime

experience which we are not going to forget our entire lives.

From the business perspective, each of the distinguished speakers that we had the

pleasure to receive, dealing with intercultural/business topics, were very kind to make

some room in their tight agendas and share some experiences of their interesting lives

with our group, students and graduates of Export-Oriented Management, which were

undoubtedly highly informative and rich for us since we had the chance to get all this

knowledge in a way that very few students can. Understanding the business

environment of a nation is essential to business success. Visiting various international

organizations and learning about their scope of work and activities made us feel very

uniquely.

From the personal perspective, as we were the first ones, participating in the BFA,

there is still some room for improvement. Sometimes, we felt thrown into cold water,

but looking back we learned that either you stay still and drawn or very quickly learn

to swim. Proudly, I can say, we chose to swim and through this adapt to the local

habits and customs.

It is also worth mentioning the professionalism and commitment of each of the

colleagues, who decided to travel so far from home. The group always acted as a

team, which made things easier for everyone and helped to make this experience an

unforgettable and unique one.

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15. Personal Comments

Dear Sir,

With this email I would not only like to say thank you for entrusting me once again with the possibility to attend a highly interesting venue, but I want to express my thanks for taking me along on the study trip. One has to state that this journey has been of best standards and I very much appreciate the amount of effort you have put into this, in order to make it happen.

I was surprised you did not raise your hand, when Amb. Peterlik asked about "risk takers", because bringing 30 students from various backgrounds to a region that is not only business-wise, but also culturally so different to Austria is not only a challenge, yet it has to be seen as a risk.

Sir, once again I want to express my thankfullness that you have activated your contacts in the region to offer high-class speakers such as Dale Rorex, who I hope will join us for the next International Week as a guest lecturer.

Best regards,

Georg Schön Export-oriented Management, Masterprogramme, 1st semester

Dear Professor Bajrektarevic,

Allow me to take the opportunity to thank you for envisioning and carrying out this great and alltogether highly successful Business Focus ASEAN study trip for us IMC students! I am sure it was very tyring and stressful for you. As credit comes hard, and blame comes easily, you having taken the personal risk of being responsible for this trip is admirable and very much appreciated from my side. Alas, the group managed to stay out of hospital and out of jail, and more or less quite healthy. It can be said with confidence that this trip was a new milestone set by you for the IMC internationalisation profiling!

With Kind Regards,

Mag. (FH) Vincent Kramer Graduate Student Export-oriented Mangement

Dear Professor Anis,

During the last days I got to know some more parts of Thailand and made many new experiences concerning the country's culture. I herewith want to thank you for that it was possible to participate in this first BFA although I didn't fly together with the group... The study trip was very useful for my further internships here in Asia as the presentations gave me a great inside into the region’s economy, politics, culture, lifestyle, etc.

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Nearly all the speakers talked freely and the lively speeches made it even more interesting to listen and easy to remember! I think, a special thank you is to be said to your dear friend from UniMAP - Malaysia was indeed a unique experience as we had the possibility to speak to so many locals as well as exchange students from China and listen to their opinions views. They prepared such a nice program for us and I won't forget this wonderful cultural evening! As you said - it was a super idea to take us to the food booth just on the street, that's the true daily life of these students!

Of course, it wasn't always perfect but problems are there to solve 'em and improve the next time. What was interesting for me to see - after almost the whole group did some shopping in this westernized mall in Penang, the atmosphere was a quite different one.... all the girls were smiling and relaxed again...

I wish you all the motivation and energy you need for organizing next year's BFA and even more curious risk takers ;-)

With best regards from Taipei,

Michaela Grill, B.A. Graduate Student Bachelor’s Programme Export-oriented Management

Dear Professor Anis,

I just wanted to thank you again for the great trip you organized for all of us. This was an experience we will never have this way in our life and the impressions this trip leaves for us are of great value.

At least from my point of view I learned a lot during these days in Thailand and Malaysia, even though I have been in Asia for quite some time and also to these two countries. It was a once in a lifetime experience to listen to so many qualified people, and to get to know students from different countries and cultures

It really gave me the a deep inside view on how south east Asia works, not only in business terms but also concerning culture and people.

For me personally this trip gave me also the chance to meet with old friends, which was very nice and I consider it as also very important to keep friendships alive.

I just wanted to send you these few words of appreciation to say again that in my eyes this trip was a success even if some points did not work out as planned like some speakers turned us down. Thumbs up for this first Business Focus ASEAN.

Yours

Valerie Kasseckert Student Bachelor’s Programme Export-oriented Management

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16. Contact Information

Austrian Embassy to Thailand

www.aussenministerium.at/bangkok

H.E. Ambassador Dr. Johannes Peterlik Ambassador of Austria Austrian Embassy Bangkok 14, Soi Nandha, off Soi 1, Sathorn Tai Road Bangkok 10120/ Thailand Tel.: (+66/2) 679 88 83 Fax: (+66/2) 287 39 25 Email: [email protected]

Malaysian Embassy to Thailand H.E. Ambassador Dato’ Husni Zai bin Yaacob, Ambassador of Malaysia Malaysian Emassy to Thailand 35 South Sathorn Road, Bangkok 10120, THAILAND www.kln.gov.my/perwakilan/bangkok Tel.: +66-2-629 6800, Fax: +66-2-679 2208 Mr. Syed Bakri Syed Abdul Rahman, Deputy Chief of the Mission Email: [email protected]

University of Oulu Prof. Anna-Kaisa Pudas University of Oulu, Finland Email: [email protected]

Austrian Embassy to Thailand Mr. Arnold Obermayr Councillor and Deputy Head of Mission Austrian Embassy 14 Soi Nantha, Sathorn Tai Soi 1, Bangkok 10120 Tel.: (+66)/(0)2 303 60 57-9 Ext. 30 Fax: (+66)/(0)2 287 39 25 E-mail: [email protected]

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Embassy of Switzerland

Diplomatic Affairs

Department of Foreign Affairs

Mr. Lukas Gasser, Minister [email protected] [email protected] www.eda.admin.ch/bangkok 35 North Wireless Road, Bangkok 10330 Tel.: +66 2 253 01 ext. 113 Fax: +66 2 255 44 81

Japanese Embassy to

Thailand Masato Otaka Economic Minister Embassy of Japan 177 Witthayu Road Lumphini, Pathum Wan, Bangkok 10330, Thailand [email protected]

WKO Aussenwirtschaft

Österreich

Außenhandelsstelle Bangkok

Austrian Embassy- Commercial

Section

Dr. Gustav Gressel, Der Handelsdelegierte für Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Kambodscha, Myanmar [email protected] Wko.at/awo/th 14 F Chartered Square Building- 152 North Sathorn Road Bangkok 10500 Thailand Tel.: +66 2 268 2222 Fax: +66 2 200 0222

Secretariat of Economic Affairs

of Indonesia

Ministry of Trade of the Republic of Indonesia: http://www.depdag.go.id/index.php?lang=EN Indonesia Investment Coordination Board: http://www.bkpm.go.id/ National Agency for Export Development: http://www.nafed.go.id/ Date: Wednesday

Thai Anti-Corruption

Commission

Mrs. Sirirat Vasuavat, Director of Resource Centre of NCCC, Thai National Counter Corruption Commission: [email protected] Ms. Sairinya Tankaew, Project Coordinator of the 14th International Anti-Corruption Concerence (IACC), Thai Anti-Corruption Commisson : [email protected] http://nccc.thaigov.net

Thailand Board of Investment Mr. Winyoo Laopoonpittaya Director, Services & Consulting Division Investment Services Center Office of the Board of Investment 555 Vibhavadi-Rangsit Road, Chatuchak Bangkok 10900 Thailand

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Indonesian Embassy

Ms. Nana Yuliana (1st Sec.for Economic Affairs) Alternate Permanent Representative of Indonesia to UN ESCAP First Secretary for Economic Affairs Head of Task Force on Fishery Embassy of Republic of Indonesia 600-602 Petchburi Road Bangkok 10400 Thailand [email protected]; [email protected]

Malaysian Embassy to

Thailand

Mr. Mohd Iqbal Mohd Noor, Economic Counsellor and Alternate Permanent Representative to UN ESCAP, Malaysian Trade Office, Embassy of Malaysia , [email protected]

The United Nations Mr. Mitchell Hsieh, Public Information Officer [email protected] Mr. Shuvojit Banerjee, Economic Affairs Officer [email protected] Mr. Clovis Freire, Economic Affairs Officer [email protected] Ms. Mia Mikic, Economic Affairs Officer [email protected] Mr. Jorge Martinez-Navarrete, Associate Economic Affairs Officer [email protected] Mr. Pierre Chartier, Economic Affairs Officer [email protected]

The Delegation of the European

Commission to Thailand

H.E. Mr. Lennart Linnér, Ambassador of Sweden 20th floor, One Pacific Place, 140 Sukhumvit Road (between Soi 4-6) Bangkok 10110 Tel.: +66 (0) 2 263-7201, Fax: +66 (0) 2 263-7260/70 E-Mail: [email protected]

H.E. Ms. Latha Reddy, Ambassador of India 46, Soi 23 – Sukhumvit Road Bangkok 10110, Thailand Tel.: (02) 2584198, Fax: (02) 2594870 E-mail: [email protected]

Embassy of Italy in Bangkok 399, Nang Linchee Road, Yannawa 10120 Bangkok Tel.: +66-2-2854090, Fax: +66-2-2854739 E-mail: [email protected]

Delegation of the European Commission to Thailand Kian Gwan House II, 19th Floor, 140/1 Wireless Road, Bangkok 10330 Thailand Tel: + 66-2-3052600, Fax: +66-2-2559113 E-mail: [email protected] [email protected]

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University Malaysia Perlis Director of Perlis State Economic Planning Unit Madam Fauziah bt Hashim Tel : +604-9702160 E-Mail: [email protected] Web : www.perlis.gov.my Murray Hunter Associate Professor at the School of Business Engineering UniMAP E-Mail: [email protected]

SHORUBBER (Malaysia) DN

BHD

SHORUBBER (Malaysia) SDN. BHD. Ms. Salbiah Hashim HR Manager Advisor to SHORUBBER (Malaysia) SDN BHD and Director of Dallab Cryptotech E-Mail: [email protected]; [email protected] Web page : www.dallab.net

Kulim High Tech Park Mr. Annuar bin Mohd Saffar Vice president of KTPC & Director of KHTP Current president AABI [email protected]

AMD Ms. Jariyah Hashim, Director of EHS & Operations Training [email protected]. Mr. C.C. Leong Manager Employee Relation & Industrial Relation, Communication & Public Relation, Human Resources [email protected]

Mahidol University, College of

Management

Astrid Kainzbauer, Ph.D. Manager of International Relations Lecturer in Management “Mahidol Universtity” - College of Management 69 Vipawadee Rangist Rd. Phayathai, 10400 Bangkok, Thailand Email: [email protected] Till Morstadt Partner at “Lorenz & Partners Co., Ltd. – Legal, Tax and Business Consultants 22nd Floor, Sathorn City Tower 175 South Sathorn Rd. 10120 Bangkok, Thailand Email: [email protected]

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17. Credits

Final draft of the report Poppenreiter, Terreu, Brauchart, Philipp

Photos Pasalic, Kasseckert

Austrian Embassy to Thailand, Malaysian Embassy to Thailand, University of Oulu

Messner, Wimmer

Austrian Embassy to Thailand, Swiss Embassy to Thailand

Peer, Beham

Thailand Board of Investment, Secretariat of Economic Affairs of Indonesia, Thai Anti-Corruption Commission, Malaysian Embassy to Thailand, Japanese Embassy to Thailand, Mahidol University International College Bangkok

Kramer, Stubauer

United Nations Organization Haberleitner, Beck

Delegation of the European Commission to Thailand

Dunzinger, Eggenbauer

University Malaysia Perlis, SHORUBBER (Malaysia) SDN BHD, UNIMAP

Wohlesser, Kolar

His Royal Highness, Duli Yang Maha Mulia Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin Ibni Almarhum Tuanku Syed Putra Jamalullail, State Council for Investment, Trade and Industry, Science and Technology

Ulreich, Gitau

Kulim High Tech Park, AMD Gerasimenko, Schön

Mahidol University, College of Management

Weber

Diary 06. – 10. September Winkler

Diary 11. – 15. September Gartner

Diary 16. – 20. September Obersberger

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Business Focus ASEAN 2009

BFA 2009, EU-ASEAN Public Diplomacy - Business Networking (Integrated Report)

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Transcript of BFA 2009, EU-ASEAN Public Diplomacy - Business Networking (Integrated Report)