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Some 100 members of the Beluthai, the Franco-Thai and the Netherlands-Thai Chambers of Commerce enjoyed a very “European” ambiance during their: X-Mas party

Beluthai was proud to present a very interesting dinner talk with Mr. Karel Vinck, Chairman of Umicore and Director of Padaeng Industry Plc. Indeed, it is rather rare to have someone of this caliber coming to Bangkok . Mr Vinck is a gifted speaker and we were delighted to have him presenting us how European companies can survive in today’s global competitive environment. In addition to the quality speech, we have had a great dinner with wine at the Conservatory Room of the Landmark Hotel.

The objective of this event was not to try many different types of wine, but to learn and taste the difference between wines. This unique “Wine Taste Experience” had an unusual approach (starting with some Tea, milk and cream) and followed by interesting wines to taste: full body, medium body, high or low in tannin, etc.

The dinner and especially the wines seem to have been more than appreciated by our members given the number of bottles that were found empty at the end of this successful event! It was a wonderful evening and we will organise a similar event sometime next year (for those who were not able to attend this time around and for those who need to taste some more).

A big thank you to our wine guru, Pierre Metz, for his interesting explanations.

The Regional Shared Services Center
of Philips Electronics ( Thailand) Ltd.
Winner of the '05 NTCC/Beluthai Award for Special Projects

We visited the award winning Philips Shared Services Center. The presentation was really interesting and a great learning experience for all attendees. We know of lots of people who are interested to join us next time and agreed with Henry Chua to do another visit early next year. We'll keep you posted because, apart from the social aspects, our chamber is really about learning from one another. And that is what you do while visiting other companies and listening to their experience.

Keynote speaker Mr. Satit Chanjavankul of the BOI addressed the chamber on the most recent developments regarding foreign investment in Thailand.

Indeed, with the recent events, Khun Satit argued whether or not now was the time to resume investment in Thailand. Lots of issues were covered during the luncheon: What has really changed? Is Thailand still such a good place to invest in given the current context? What new and attractive investment incentives is the BOI working on?

Due to both the press coverage on this topic and the increasing reputation of the Beluthai/NTCC high quality events, attendance for this event was very high.

For those who attended and would like to review the presentation once again or for those who unfortunately couldn't make it we can provide the power point presentation on request.

Thursday 24 Aug

Tilleke and Gibbins lawyer Mrs. Cytnhia Pornavalai adressed the chamber on the most recent developments in Thai Company Law and directives: Landownership for foreigners/foreign companies, Thai nominees for foreign shareholders.

Partly because of the high amount of press coverage on this topic due to the many developments and because of the increasing reputation of the Beluthai/NTCC of high quality events the drive for attendance of this event was very high. This therefore seemed like a splendid opportunity to invite the Swiss and Australian chambers.

Needless to say the expectation for this lunch were high, but we are proud to say that the expectations were met. For those who attended and would like to review the presentation once again or for those who unfortunately couldn't make it we can provide the power point presentation on request.

The Beluthai/NTCC annual Welcome Back from the Holidays Cocktail was on Wednesday 16th August. As usual, we enjoyed Wine and Food at the wonderful V9 Wine Pub located at the 37th floor of the Sofitel Silom.

The event was once again a splendid opportunity to enjoy the beautiful wines and tasty cocktail buffet. NTCC and Beluthai were happy to offer you this free flow of wine, which seems to have been more than appreciated by our members given the number of bottles that were found empty at the end of this successful cocktail! It was a wonderful evening and a nice way to end the holidays.

The much anticipated and delayed 8th annual Business Awards Dinner took place on the 7 th of June 2006, at the Grand Erawan Hyatt Hotel. The annual Beluthai/NTCC Business Award Presentation is an important event for the Benelux-Thai business community. Every year, we set out to honor some of our finest companies for the way in which they excel in business and for their contribution to Thai society.

Special encouragement Awards were given to 5 Start-Up Companies: Align ( Thailand) Co., Ltd., CHN Rangsit University Thailand, Purac Thailand Ltd., Stamex, Smurfit Kappa Solid Board Asia Pacific.

The Awards were presented by Ambassador Marres, Ambassador Matthysen during the gourmet Award. This very successful event was fully booked and some 400 guests attended and enjoyed this wonderful evening. The evening started with a cocktail party where four Mime characters kept everybody laughing. But the event really started when Ms. Jennifer Kim introduced the guests to her voice and kicked off the night in the Ballroom. Guests were baffled by Condom King Khun Mechai Viravaidya who delivered his keynote address in his usual candid way. The dark chocolate mousse was a great introduction to the students of Wat Thard Thong school who performed their wonderful music and dance. After the fun part, the serious stuff started with the Ambassador of the Netherlands, Pieter Marres, and the Ambassador of Belgium, Jan Matthysen, coming on stage to announce the winners of this year’s Business Awards. After all the talking and cheering it was again show time. Being transported by TukTuk, Ms. Christy Gibson came on to the stage. She sang a wonderful mixture of English and Thai songs. Then it was time for the infamous lucky draw tickets with KLM once again generously offering two Business Class tickets to Amsterdam and Phillips supplying a huge 32 inch TV. Finally NTCC President, Dr. Pisit Leeahtam, closed the evening giving thanks to the sponsors, special guests and everybody who helped organize this very successful evening. And thus the 8 th Annual Gala Award Dinner came to an end.