Update from the Executive Director
Some words about my person
Some words about my person Originally, I come from Zurich, where I grew as the youngest of 6 siblings. After graduating from high school, I entered compulsory service with the army in Switzerland, where I served as a long-term service member for one year on the army staff directly under the Chief of the Armed Forces. Following in the footsteps of my late father I decided to study law at the University of Zurich and obtained first a Bachelor and then a Master of Law degree.
My time in Bangkok started in Spring 2019, when I joined the Swiss Embassy in the political and economic section, where I also worked during the outbreak of the ongoing pandemic until the end of June 2020. Since then, I have continued to stay in close contact with my colleagues at the Embassy and to assist wherever the private sector is involved or when one of our members is in need of assistance.
STCC Events
As we had to painfully learn at the end of 2020, Covid-19 finds its way into every society despite all possible prevention measures. The Thai government therefore had to take drastic measures last December to contain this renewed outbreak, which meant for us that we had to put our event plans on hold for the time being.
Nevertheless, I intend to hold events again once the situation has stabilised. We will increase the cadence of our exclusive and community events and work closely with other chambers to provide an attractive and stable networking platform for our members. We have also designed new attractive event formats that will provide unique networking opportunities for our members. More detailed information on these events will follow at a later date.
CRM & New Website
On the subject of back office activities, I can report that we are working on the implementation of an interactive CRM software and a new website for the STCC. For our members, this means that they will be in control of their information and have access to all the activities of our Chamber on one platform. Here are some of the improvements that this solution offers:
- Manage your personal details, and membership information
- Complete renewal and other add-on payments
- Create your own Job Postings and promote your company events on the new Website
I foresee to go live with this new software and website for mid to end of February. So, stay tuned for the detailed announcement later this month!
S-GE Partnership
At this point we can officially announce, that at the end of last year the STCC concluded a partnership agreement with Switzerland Global Entreprise (S-GE). S-GE supports Swiss SMEs in their international business and helps innovative foreign companies to establish in Switzerland. Under this partnership we will be the focal point for Swiss companies interested to explore and expand their business to Thailand and encourage Thai businesses to expand their operations to Switzerland.
“Switzerland Global Enterprise is proud to have gained with the Swiss Thai Chamber of Commerce such a strong partner in Thailand. We are convinced that the Swiss and Liechtenstein exporting industry will have even better access to business opportunities in this well-industrialized country”, says Stefan Barny, Director Global Network at S-GE.
Sponsorship opportunities
We are currently working on attractive sponsorship opportunities for our members. These programmes will be announced by the end of the first quarter. If you would like to already register your interest in one of these limited sponsorship packages, please contact me directly.
Let us share your news!
Gentle reminder for our members, that the multiple STCC communication channels (Newsletter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter) are available to communicate your news to the Swiss-Thai business community and beyond. This may range from announcements from the Management, introduction of new products, innovations, CSR programs etc. In addition, our members have the opportunity to promote their services, products and promotions through these channels at a special rate.
These are just some of the projects we have in the pipeline for 2021, and I will regularly update you about upcoming changes and expansions of our activities and services from now on.
Let me close by assuring our members that although COVID-19 has changed our lives and had a devastating impact on the global economy last year like none of us could have imagined, I am optimistic and energised to overcome this situation together and grow stronger and closer than before.
Sincerely yours,
David Stauffacher
Executive Director