The Belgian-Luxembourg/Thai Chamber of Commerce

Economic relations between Belgium/Luxembourg and Thailand have existed since the previous century. During the last decades, the number of business contacts between these countries has grown considerably. In order to further promote economic relations, the Thai-Belgium Business Association was established in September 1990 and ran activities up to 1992. It was in 1993 that the Belgian-Luxembourg/Thai Chamber of Commerce was established during the first Annual General Meeting in January 1993.


ROLE OF BELUTHAI

Beluthai is a formal and official entity and is registered with the Ministry of Commerce, which organizes, supervises and controls its activities.

There are 27 Foreign Chambers of Commerce in Thailand of various sizes.
The largest is the Thai-Chinese Chamber with a few thousand members, while Beluthai ranks amongst the smallest.

For the Thai authorities, Chambers of Commerce are the official speaking or negotiating partners representing the Foreign Business Community or interests on a very large number of topics. These topics range from legislative questions (Foreign Business Law, Labor law, Competition Act) to practical problems (functioning of customs, VAT Refund audits by Revenue Department).

Meeting the Foreign Chambers of Commerce is also a way for the Thai authorities to seek the Foreign Business' Community opinion, advice, recommendations with a view toward formulating new policies (e.g. the promotion of Foreign Direct Investments).

This is the reason why the 27 Foreign Chambers of Commerce are the Directors of the Board of Trade. They sit with Thai Directors under the Chairmanship of the President of the Thai Chamber of Commerce. It is interesting to note that each chamber has one seat regardless of its size.

To their members (Thai or Foreign) the Chamber of Commerce offers an official and structured access to the Thai authorities
It gives the certainty that the issues will be listened to and it is a way to convey messages on specific problems and to influence the decision process in many areas.

Representatives of the Foreign Chambers of Commerce meet each other in regular and professionally organized circles. This gives each Chamber the opportunity to hear the problems and find the solutions encountered by other Chambers members, to harmonize the views of the various Chambers on the main issues and to inform other Chambers of new situations or difficulties that they might not have noticed yet.

These circles are the following :

Board of Trade of Thailand – Board Meeting

•  Frequency: the last Wednesday of each month.
•  Attendants: 65 Board members among whom one representative (the President) for each of the 25 Foreign Chambers of Commerce.
•  Main Topics: quite formal. However, the business agenda is an effective way of conveying messages and discussing issues.
•  Remarks:

- The Thai Board members are representatives of the Thai Chamber of Commerce, the main trade associations and governmental enterprises.
-The Board of Trade is one of the official policies formulating body.

Foreign Chambers President's Luncheon Meeting

•  Frequency: the 3 rd Monday of each month, hosted by each Chamber in running alphabetical order.
•  Attendants: Chamber's President who can be replaced by the Vice President or another Chamber's Representative.
•  Main Topics: Review of the main topics followed up with the Thai authorities (e.g. Foreign Business Law, VAT Refund, Customs Issues, Revenue Department, Board of Investment, Immigration Department).

F- 4C (Foreign Chambers of Commerce Coordinating Committee)

•  Frequency: the 3 rd Thursday of each month.
•  Attendants: one representative of each Chamber.
•  Topics: Executive follow-up of the President's Meeting:

- issues are discussed from a technical point of view
- opinion of Chambers' members are sought
- solutions and tips are exchanged among the participating representatives.

In addition to the meetings, some ad-hoc events are organized, such as working meetings with the Revenue Department. These meetings are organized and attended by the respective Directors.
G-FCC is a semi-regular meeting between the Foreign Chambers and the representatives of the Government.

OBJECTIVES OF BELUTHAI

The main objectives of the Belgian-Luxembourg/Thai Chamber of Commerce (Beluthai) are following:

•  To promote the development of commercial relations and business activities between the Belgium/Luxembourg and Thailand .
•  To represent Belgian, Luxembourg and Thai business interests in relation to the government of Thailand , Belgium and Luxembourg , as well as to business representative organizations in Thailand .
•  To provide information and services to members concerning commerce, industry, finance and investment.
•  To organize events and activities relevant to Belgian, Luxembourg and Thai businesses.

BENEFITS FOR THE MEMBERS

•  Contacts: The Chamber provides the opportunity – through activities like dinner meetings – to meet and exchange information with leading Belgian, Luxembourg and Thai business people on a regular basis, as well as with members of other Foreign Chambers of Commerce.

•  Information: the web site provides information on Chamber members, Chamber events, the business and economic environment in Thailand and Belgian/Luxembourg, social and cultural matters, as well as on trade inquiries.
Each member has a corporate page.
Members are also informed about the activities of other Chambers through E-mail.

•  Participation: Beluthai is an official body that can be utilized by its members to have access to the Thai authorities.
The Chamber takes part in the coordinating and consultative bodies of the Foreign Chambers of Commerce in Thailand and the Board of Trade of Thailand.
Because of the representation system (1 chamber = 1 seat), members of Beluthai have a better chance to be heard and to have their view taken into consideration. Members are welcome to convey their questions, remarks and complaints if they wish them to be discussed in one of these official circles.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Beluthai is a non-profit organization and the Directors volunteer some of their energy and free time because they believe that Beluthai is a useful and necessary mean to access the official side of the local business.
They are convinced that it is the responsibility and the duty of the Belgian/Luxembourg business community to preserve and maintain Beluthai as a tool.

The Directors meet once a month in the Board of Directors meeting. Beluthai representatives at the various circles and committees described above will report on the topics discussed.

The Board of Directors was elected during the Annual General Meeting in June 2003 for a period of 2 years.

The 11 members are:

•  Mr. Frank Clovyn, President
•  Khun Vibul Pattarathamas, Vice-President
•  Mr. Jean-Louis Graindorge, Honorary Secretary
•  Mr. Philippe Salmon, Honorary Treasurer
•  Mr. Dries Agneessens, Director
•  Mr. Philippe Annez, Director
•  Mr. Daniel Chaudière, Director
•  Mr. Pierre Metz, Director
•  Mr. Philippe Roolant, Director
•  Khun Sutharm Valaisathien, Director
•  Mr. Oliver Verdickt , director

The Executive Director is Mr. Bert Cesar.
The office is situated in B.B. Building, 19th Floor, Room 1909, 54 Asoke Road, Sukhumvit 21,
Klongtoey Nue, Wattana, Bangkok 10110, Thailand

MEMBER ACTIVITIES

Monthly luncheons or dinner conferences with interesting guest speaker.

The guest speaker can be a Beluthai member giving a lecture about their business, or it can be an outside person invited to talk about an issue of general interest.

MEMBERSHIP

Interested parties can apply for membership. The annual fee is 12,500 Baht per year for Ordinary Members and 7,500 Baht per year for Associate Members.
Application forms are available at the Chamber's office or on the web site.
Details about membership are described in the by-laws (click here for by-laws).

March 2005