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:
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.
II
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 Linnr 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.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. 2. 3.
3.1. 3.2.
INTRODUCTION TIMETABLE DESTINATIONS

Thailand Malaysia truly Asia?
1 3 10
10 11
4.
4.1. 4.2. 4.3. 4.4.
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 7TH 2009

Austrian Embassy to Thailand Malaysian Embassy to Thailand University of Oulu Austrian Embassy to Thailand
13
14 17 20 24
5.
5.1. 5.2.
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8TH 2009

WKO Aussenwirtschaft sterreich, Auenhandelsstelle Bangkok Swiss Embassy to Thailand
27
27 36
6.
6.1. 6.2. 6.3. 6.4. 6.5. 6.6.
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9TH 2009

Thailand Board of Investment Indonesia Briefing Thai Anti-Corruption Commission Malaysian Embassy to Thailand Japanese Embassy to Thailand Mahidol University International College Bangkok
40
40 43 45 48 50 52
7.
7.1. 7.2. 7.3.
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 10TH 2009

UN ESCAP Introduction Macroeconomic policies and development in Asia and the Pacific Statistical links to ASEAN economies
55
55 59 61
IV
7.4. 7.5. 7.6.
Trade and investment in ASEAN countries Information & Communication Development Trans-Asian Railway & Asian Highway Networks
63 65 68
8.
8.1. 8.2. 8.3. 8.4.
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 11TH 2009

The Delegation of the European Commission to Thailand Ambassador of India to Thailand Ambassador of Italy to Thailand Minister Counselor of Trade
72
72 77 82 85
9.
9.1. 9.2. 9.3.
MONDAY, 14TH SEPTEMBER 2009:

University Malaysia Perlis SHORUBBER (Malaysia) DN BHD Business in Malaysia
89
89 94 98
10.
10.1. 10.2. 10.3.
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 15TH 2009

Reception by the Raja of Perlis State Councellor for Investment, Trade and Industry, Science and Technology Food bazaar and cultural evening
102
102 106 109
11.
11.1. 11.2.
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16TH 2009

Kulim High Tech Park AMD
112
112 116
12.
12.1.
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 18TH 2009

Mahidol University, College of Management
120
120
13. 14. 15. 16. 17.
DIARIES CONCLUSION PERSONAL COMMENTS CONTACT INFORMATION CREDITS
124 146 147 149 153
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 (WK) 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 H 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 Kings 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. Lets jointly return to excellence and coin the future which starts now !!
Prof. (FH) Dr. Anis Bajrektarevic, Acting Deputy Director of Studies EXPORT EUASEANNAFTA Professor and Chairperson, International Law/Global Political Studies IMC University of Applied Sciences Krems, AUSTRIA/Europe (Principal architect and organizer of the BFA 2009)
VI
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 couldnt 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), Hitech 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.
2. Timetable
Business focus ASEAN

Itinerary, Thailand Malaysia 0520 September 2009
(please note that the speakers names and topics might be a subject of change)
Place
Programme
Saturday, September 5th 2009
Vienna VIE 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!) Dubai 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
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 ASEANs 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, Charg daffaires 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 Caf - 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 Attach)
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: Japans 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: Experts 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 Philippines 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 (dont 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
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 & Kings 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: EUASEAN (China-ASEAN FTA) Topic: The Swedish EU Presidency: Ongoing activities & forthcoming challenges (incl. Q&A) Speaker: H.E. Mr. Lennart Linnr, Ambassador of Sweden to Thailand 11:30-12:15: Lunch break 12:15-13:30: India/SAARCASEAN (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
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/ Saturday, September 12th 2009 Bangkok 06:00: (CET -5) Breakfast at hotel 06:3019.30: 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 Sunday, September 13th 2009 Bangkok 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 Monday, September 14th 2009 Perlis 09:00-09:30: (CET -6) Breakfast at hotel 09:3004:50: Transfer 10:0011:00: Meeting the UniMAP Faculty members and tour-detable with the UniMAP Faculties Deans 11:0012:00: UniMAP and Perlis Topic: Perlis vision 2015 (Excellency & Distinction) Speaker: Mrs. Fauziah bt Hashim, Director of Perlis State Economic Planning Unit 12:0013:00: 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)
Malaysia
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 Wednesday, September 16th 2009 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
Thursday, September 17th 2009 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 Friday, September 18th 2009 Bangkok 09:00: (CET -5) breakfast at hotel 09:30-15:30: Free morning & early afternoon 15:30: meeting in the hotels 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 Saturday, September 19th 2009 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 !!) Sunday, September 20th 2009 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
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 Asias 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 Mahathirs 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.
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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 havent 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.
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4.1. Date: Time: Topic: Speaker:
Austrian Embassy to Thailand Monday, September 7th 2009 10:30 11:00 Welcoming speech & introduction to the ASEAN region focusing on Thailand H.E. Ambassador Dr. Johannes Peterlik, Ambassador of Austria to Thailand
Moderator: Prof. Anis Bajrektarevic
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 worlds 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 Excellencys 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
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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 Peterliks 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.
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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: Johannes.Peterlik@bmeia.gv.at
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Malaysian Embassy to Thailand Monday, September 7th 2009 11:00 11:30 Relations between Thailand and Malaysia 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
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 Malaysias 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.
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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.
EUROPES 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.
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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.
H.E. Ambassador Dato Husni Zai bin Yaacob, Ambassador of Malaysia Malaysian Emassy to Thailand 35 South Sathorn Road, Bangkok 10120, THAILAND
Contact Information 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: sybakri@kln.gov.my
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University of Oulu Monday, September 7th 2009 12:15 14:15 Intercultural Management Essential ASEANs Intercultural Aspects Mrs. Prof. Anna-Kaisa Pudas, University of Oulu, Finland
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 worlds famous Hofstedes 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.
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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. Jai1, 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. Namjai2, 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. Krengjai4, 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 2
http://www.apmforum.com/columns/thai46.htm 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
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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 ones 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 partners behavior that decides whether cooperation is successful or not. Concerning culture, it is an absolute dont 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 Kings 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.
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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: anna-kaisa.pudas@oulu.fi
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Austrian Embassy to Thailand Monday, September 7th 2009 14:15 15:00 Thai- Austrian relations (Economic, political and cultural perspective) Role of the Embassy Mr. Arnold Obermayr, Councillor and Deputy Head of the Austrian Embassy to Thailand
Moderator: Prof. Anis Bajrektarevic 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
http://www.europeanvoice.com/article/2009/04/eu-extends-sanctions-on-myanmar-until2010/64716.aspx
6
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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 Thailands 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 Bangkoks 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. Mr. Arnold Obermayr Councillor and Deputy Head of Mission Austrian Embassy 14 Soi Nantha, Sathorn Tai Soi 1, Bangkok 10120 Contact Information Tel.: (+66)/(0)2 303 60 57-9 Ext. 30 E-mail: arnold.obermayr@bmeia.gv.at
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5. Tuesday, September 8th 2009

5.1. Date: Time: Topic: Speaker: WKO Aussenwirtschaft sterreich, Auenhandelsstelle Bangkok Tuesday, September 8th 2009 10:00 11:30 Business, investments and job opportunities in Thailand and Indochina (Vietnam/ASEAN) Dr. Gustav Gressel, the Commercial Counsellor
General Information
The Austrian Embassys Commercial Section, located in Thailand, is also accountable for Thailands 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 km, 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 Thailands 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
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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 Jewellery Chemical Products Mechanical Machinery Glass and Glass Products (EUR 37,1 Mio.) (EUR 31,9 Mio.) (EUR 30 Mio.) (EUR 26,7 Mio.) (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)
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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.
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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 GDP (in bn EUR) GDP - growth (%) Foreign Reserves (in bn EUR) Inflation (%) Unemployment Rate (%) Exports (in bn EUR) Imports (in bn EUR) Austrian Exports to Thailand (in million EUR) Austrian Imports from Thailand (in million EUR) 220 2,6 87,7 5,8 1,4 122,8 (+16,8%) 122,6 (+26,4%) 197,8 (+4%)
2009 (projection) 213,4 212,3 -3,0 - -3,5 n/a -1,0 3,4 102,7 (-16,3%) 92,9 (-24,2) 191,8 (-3,5%)
392,9 (+6%)
369,3 (-6%)
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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 Thailands 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 ASEAN thereof Singapore Malaysia Indonesia Vietnam USA EU thereof UK The Netherlands Germany France Italy Belgium Austria Japan China
AWO, Auenhandelsstelle Bangkok
Exports 23% 5,70% 5,60% 3,60% 2,82% 11,40%
Imports 16,80% 4% 5,40% 2,90% 0,80% 6,40%
2,40% 2,50% 1,80% 1,90% 1,20% 1,10% 0,20% 11,30% 9,20%
1,80% 0,60% 2,50% 0,90% 1% 0,50% 0,20% 18,70% 11,20%
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Foreign Commerce with Austria (Mio. EUR) Austrian imports Austrian exports shift compared to proceeding year
Statistik Austria
2006 338,1 153,1 +22,1%
2007 379,9 186,1 +21,6%
2008 392,9 197,8 +6,3%
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 km, 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. Gressels explicit and experienced explanations, he moaned about Vietnams 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.).
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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 Pharmaceuticals Electrical machinery Fertilizer (27,5 Mio. EUR) (6,3 Mio. EUR) (3,9 Mio. EUR) (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 Coffee Furniture Mechanical machinery (44,9 Mio. EUR) (35,2 Mio. EUR) (8,0 Mio. EUR) (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 GDP (in bn EUR) GDP - growth (%) Foreign Reserves (in bn EUR) Inflation (%) Unemployment Rate (%) Exports (in bn EUR) Imports (in bn EUR) Austrian Exports to Thailand (in million EUR) Austrian Imports from Thailand (in million EUR) 60.4 6.2 17.7 23.0 4.9 42.8 (+21.2%) 54.3 (+22,3%) 86.5 (+26,8%)
2009 (projection) 62.7 4 n/a 5.6 5.4 41.5 (-3%) 44.3 (-18.4%) 74.5 (-13.9%)
261.2 (+16,5%)
233.5 (-10.9%)
AWO, Auenhandelsstelle Bangkok
Austrian companies focus on the following sectors:

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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. Gressels 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 Vietnams 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
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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 countrys infrastructure is boosted with the construction of roads, railways and public transportation systems, to name only a few. In the end of the Dr. Gressels 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 AWOs Tour dAutriche.
Contact Information WKO Aussenwirtschaft sterreich Auenhandelsstelle 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 fr Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Kambodscha, Myanmar Bangkok@wko.at
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Swiss Embassy to Thailand Tuesday, September 8th 2009 11:30 am 13:15 pm Switzerland's partnership with Thailand and ASEAN Mr. Lukas Gasser, Minister, Charg daffaires of the Swiss Embassy in Thailand
Moderator: Prof. Anis Bajrektarevic In the beginning of Mr. Gassers 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 (36000 of 300000 companies, 38 % of GDP in 2008). The countrys 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 Switzerlands 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.
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Switzerlands FTAs with ASEAN are jointly derived with EFTA. The EFTAs 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 EFTAs Free Trade Agreements and its statuses:
Source: EFTA
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.
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The following chart shows the EFTA States trade with Thailand in 2008:
Source: EFTA
As another programme point, Mr. Gasser, dwelled on Switzerlands 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. Switzerlands big interest in ASEAN is motivated by the regions 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. Gassers 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 Mr. Lukas Gasser, Minister Lukas.gasser@eda.admin.ch Ban.vertretung@eda.admin.ch
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
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6. Wednesday, September 9th 2009

6.1. Date: Time: Topic: Speaker: Thailand Board of Investment Wednesday, September 9th 2009 10:00 11:00 Thai Briefing: Investment Environment in Thailand Mr. Winzoo Laopoonpittaya, Senior Investment Promotion Officer, Thailand
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 oclock 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 Thailands trading partners economies. The countrys 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
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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 countrys GDP. The Top 3 of Thai exports in 2008 were machinery, car manufacturing and jewelry. Further important exports of Thailands 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
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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
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Indonesia Briefing Wednesday, September 9th 2009 11:00 12:00 Indonesian Briefing Mr. Syafrudin Yahya (Commercial Attach) and Ms. Nana Yuliana (1st Sec.for Economic Affairs)
Moderator: Prof. Anis Bajrektarevic After the comprehensive presentation on investment opportunities in Thailand by Mr. Winyoo Laopoonpittaya, Mr. Syafrudin Yahya and Ms. Nana Yuliana gave a wideranging 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 Indonesias 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 Indonesias 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
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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.
Ms. Nana Yuliana (1st Sec.for Economic Affairs), nanasamsuri@yahoo.co.id; nana.yuliana@deplu.go.id Ministry of Trade of the Republic of Indonesia: http://www.depdag.go.id/
Contact Information Indonesia Investment Coordination Board: http://www.bkpm.go.id/ National Agency for Export Development: http://www.nafed.go.id/
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6.3. Date: Time: Topic:
Thai Anti-Corruption Commission Wednesday, September 9th 2009 12:00 12:45 Introduction to Anti-Corruption measures in Thailand 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 AntiCorruption Commission
Speakers:
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 AntiCorruption 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
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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 AntiCorruption, 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 info@14iacc.org 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.
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Contact Information Ms. Sairinya Tankaew Mrs. Sirirat Vasuavat Project Coordinator of the 14th Director of Resource Centre of NCCC International Anti-Corruption Thai National Counter Corruption Concerence (IACC) Commission: sirirat_vas@hotmail.com Thai Anti-Corruption Commisson : thisissarin@yahoo.com http://nccc.thaigov.net
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Malaysian Embassy to Thailand Wednesday, September 9th 2009 13:00 14:00 Malaysian briefing: Malaysian-Thai Chamber of Commerce role and ongoing activities Mr. Mohd Iqbal Mohd Noor, Economic Counsellor and Alternate Permanent Representative to UN ESCAP, Trade Office, Embassy of Malaysia
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 MTCCs members to have a better understanding and more effective business endeavors in the Malaysian and Thai
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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, trade@samart.co.th http://www.mtcc.or.th/
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Japanese Embassy to Thailand Wednesday, September 9th 2009 14:00 15:00 Japans briefing: Japan-Thai/Japan-Mekong region state of art in trade & investments and the future perspectives Mr. Masato Ohtaka, Minister, Embassy of Japan
Moderator: Prof. Anis Bajrektarevic 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 Thailands major foreign investor and major trade partner. An overview of the bilateral Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) then followed whereby Japans EPAs 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 JapanMekong 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,
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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 Ohtakasan!
Contact Information Masato Otaka Economic Minister Embassy of Japan 177 Witthayu Road Lumphini, Pathum Wan, Bangkok 10330, Thailand masato.ohtaka@mofa.go.jp
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Mahidol University International College Bangkok Wednesday, September 9th 2009 15:15 16:45 Experts View: Impact of China-ASEAN FTA on these economies and impact of this FTA on EU/European exporters (challenges/obstacles/opportunities) Prof. A. Dale Rorex, Social Sciences Division, Mahidol University Intl. College - Bangkok
Speaker:
Moderator: Prof. Anis Bajrektarevic Mr. Rorex, professor at Mahidol University was the final speaker of this very intensive program day. He grabbed the groups 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 agriculturebased 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
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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 Chinas 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.
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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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Thursday, September 10th 2009

7.1. Date: Time: Topic: Speaker: UN ESCAP Introduction Thursday, September 10th 2009 09:30 10:00 Welcome remarks & introduction to ESCAP Mr. Mitchell Hsieh, Public Information Officer
Moderator: Prof. Anis Bajrektarevic (Georg Schn on behalf of)
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 UNs principal organs, which are:
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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 worlds 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. ESCAPs main legislative organ is the commission that meets annually at a ministerial level. It is composed of all members and associate members governments.
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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.
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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.
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Macroeconomic policies and development in Asia and the Pacific Thursday, September 10th 2009 10:00 10:45 Macroeconomic policies and development in Asia and the Pacific Mr. Shuvojit Banerjee, Economic Affairs Officer
Subsequent to Mr. Hsiehs 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 worlds 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 ESCAPs 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. Japans 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.
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Another threat is the increase in food and crude oil prices. Rice for example, the regions 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 worlds natural disasters. Disturbingly, 65% of the victims are poor and vulnerable. This background shows that amending the regions 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 peoples 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 regions GDPs on crude oil.
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Statistical links to ASEAN economies Thursday, September 10th 2009 11:00 11:45 Statistical links to ASEAN economies Mr. Clovis Freire, Economic Affairs Officer
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 divisions 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 regions 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
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(MDGs). The MDGs aim to achieve social and economic condition in the worlds 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.
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Trade and investment in ASEAN countries Thursday, September 10th 2009 11:45 12:30 Trade and investment in ASEAN countries Ms. Mia Mikic, Economic Affairs Officer
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, ASEANs 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 intraregional 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
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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 Banks 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 socalled 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.
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Information & Communication Development Thursday, September 10th 2009 14:00 11:40 Information & Communication Development in the Asia-Pacific Region Mr. Jorge Martinez-Navarette, Associate Economic Affairs Officer
After the lunch break, which we spent in the canteen of the UN, Mr. Jorge MartinezNavarette, 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 countrys 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 UNESCAPs 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.
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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 objectiveAPPLICATIONS. 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
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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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Trans-Asian Railway & Asian Highway Networks Thursday, September 10th 2009 14:40 15:30 Trans-Asian Railway & Asian Highway Networks Mr. Pierre Chartier, Economic Affairs Officer
Moderator: Prof. Anis Bajrektarevic (Georg Schn on behalf of) 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 worlds top 30 container ports were located in the ESCAP region. Todays market place is characterized by a diversity of demand and a multiplicity of sourcing and trading patterns. Manufacturers are looking for innovative solutions to
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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.
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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: hsieh@un.org Mr. Shuvojit Banerjee, Economic Affairs Officer: banerjee@un.org Mr. Clovis Freire, Economic Affairs Officer: freire@un.org Ms. Mia Mikic, Economic Affairs Officer: mikic@un.org Mr. Jorge Martinez-Navarrete, Associate Economic Affairs Officer: martinez-navarrete@un.org Mr. Pierre Chartier, Economic Affairs Officer:chartierp@un.org
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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 EUASEAN 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 Linnr, 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.
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Date: Time: Topic: Speaker:
Friday, September 11th 2009 10:00 11:00 EU-ASEAN, the Swedish EU-Presidency Ongoing Activities and Forthcoming Challenges H.E. Mr. Lennart Linnr, Ambassador of Sweden to Thailand
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 visitors 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 Linnr, 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. Linnr 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 Swedens 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
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representing the Council vis--vis other EU institutions as well as vis--vis other countries and international organizations.
Since 1 July 2009 it has been Swedens 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 Swedens priority issues and tighten Swedens role in the EU. In this respect His Excellency Linnr 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. Linnr 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. Linnr pointed out the countrys 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 EUs strong commercial and economic interest, which, however, exists also on the bilateral level. Despite these positive linkages, H.E. Linnr emphasized that the country is characterized by political instability, a circumstance, which needs to be followed closely. As an
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example the Swedish Ambassador mentioned the coup dtat 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. Linnr 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. Linnr stressed the tremendous progress that the country has made as regards infrastructure development. We were told that some years ago, Cambodias 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 Peoples Democratic Republic), as a one-party state with a relatively conservative government, was mentioned by H.E. Mr. Linnr 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. Linnr 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. Linnr, 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. Linnr was asked about Swedens 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. Linnr 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 Chinas 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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Ambassador of India to Thailand Friday, September 11th 2009 12:00 13:00 India ASEAN Challenges and Opportunities H.E. Ms Latha Reddy, 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, Indias state territory covers a total of approx. 3.3 m km 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.
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India gained independence from the British in 1947, explaining also why its legal system is based on English common law. The countrys 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 Associations growing prominence. When India and ASEAN finally started to enforce dialogue during the East Asia Summits (ASEAN+6) their relations reinforced. With Indias 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 Indias 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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Ambassador of Italy to Thailand Friday, September 11th 2009 13:00 14:30 G8-ASEAN-EU, The Italian G-8 Presidency Between Challenges and Opporunities in the ASEAN theatre H.E. Mr. Michelangelo Pipan, Ambassador of Italy to Thailand
Moderator: Prof. Anis Bajrektarevic 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 1 hours H.E. Dr. Pipan gave us unique insights into the important topics of free trade agreements and the current G8-presidency.
FTAs
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
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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 couldnt 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 countrys 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).
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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.
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Minister Counselor of Trade Friday, September 11th 2009 15:00 16:00 General aspects & the current state of the EU ASEAN FTA Mr. Jean-Jacques Bouflet, Minister Counselor for Trade (on behalf of the Head of the EC Delegation to Thailand, Ambassador David Lipman)
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 EUs 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
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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 paralleltrack approach where bilateral FTA negotiations with individual ASEAN 'frontrunner' 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
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homepage of the European (http://europa.eu/index_de.htm).
commission
and
European
Union
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.
H.E. Mr. Lennart Linnr, 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 lennart.linner@foreign.ministry.se 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 Jean-Jacques.BOUFLET@ec.europa.eu
Udomdech.SRIMASERM@ec.europa.eu
Contact Information Embassy of Italy in Bangkok 399, Nang Linchee Road, Yannawa 10120 Bangkok Tel.: +66-2-2854090 Fax: +66-2-2854739 (Chancellery) Ambasciata.bangkok@esteri.IT H.E. Ms. Latha Reddy, Ambassador of India 46, Soi 23 Sukhumvit Road Bangkok 10110, Thailand Tel.: (02) 2584198, Fax: (02) 2594870 ambindia@inet.co.th
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9. Monday, 14th September 2009:

9.1. Date: Time: Topic: Speaker: University Malaysia Perlis Monday, 14th September 2009 10:30 15:00 UNIMAP reception Madam Fauziah bt Hashim, Director of Perlis State Economic Planning Unit
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
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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. UNIMAPs 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 universitys mission is to produce a holistic human capital that contributes to the nations 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, EXTRAORDINARY STATE BY 2015 OF DISTINCTION AND
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 Perliss 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:
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Agriculture Services Manufacturing Construction Mining -
- 34.4 % - 48.0 % 13.5 % - 3.4 % - 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 Malaysias 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 knowledgebased enterprises to grow and compete in the global marketplace. In order to receive a practical insight into UniMAPs education concept we straightly went to a teaching factory and a microfabrication Cleanroom. All in all we had a onehour 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
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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 soyasauce. Contact Information Director of Perlis State Economic Planning Unit Madam Fauziah bt Hashim Tel : +604-9702160 E-Mail: fauziah@perlis.gov.my Web : www.perlis.gov.my Fax : +604-9762951 Web : www.perlis.gov.my
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SHORUBBER (Malaysia) DN BHD Monday, 14th September 2009 02:00 04:00 SHORUBBER (Malaysia) SDN BHD Glove Production Facility in Arau, Perlis (Malaysia) Ms. Salbiah Hashim, HR Manager of SHORUBBER (Malaysia) SDN BHD
Moderator: Prof. Anis Bajrektarevic 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 todays world leading Rubber glove producer. Its Headquarters are situated in Himeji/Tokyo, Japan and
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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 8
NR = Natural Rubber NBR = Nitrile Butadiene Rubber 9 PVC = Polyvinyl Chloride 10 PU = Polyurethane 95
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: salbiah@shorubber.com.my
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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Business in Malaysia Monday, 14th September 2009 08:00 11:00 Business in Malaysia 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
Speakers:
Moderator: Prof. Anis Bajrektarevic 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 1990ies. Due to high losses, he adapted a Malay thinking: as long as you can afford your life you are doing well.
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Currently, Mr. Hunter is involved into Malaysian plantation development and harvesting supporting in which he himself is and
alternative
methods
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
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more information, Mr. Bakar asked us to visit the companys 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: murray@kukum.edu.my Saffie Bakar Advisor to SHORUBBER (Malaysia) SDN BHD and Director of Dallab Cryptotech E-Mail: saffie88@gmail.com; saffie@dallab.net 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 Date: Time: Topic: Speakers: Tuesday, September 15th 2009 09:30 13:30 Reception of IMC students and graduates by the Raja of Perlis, including question and answer session 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
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 AlMarhum 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
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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 dos and donts 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 Rajas assistants. The two pre-selected speakers Mr. Vincent Krmer 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
Date: Time: Topic: Speaker:
Tuesday, September 15th 2009 14:00 16:30 The State of Perlis Dato`Seri Diraja Syed Razlan Jamalullail
Moderator: Prof. Anis Bajrektarevic and Murray Hunter
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. DatoSyed 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
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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.
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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 Schn 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.
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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 UniMAPs Vice-Chancellor again went onto stage and
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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.
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11. Wednesday, September 16th 2009

11.1. Kulim High Tech Park
Date: Time: Topic:
Wednesday, September 16th 2009 12:00 13:45 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 Mr. Annuar bin Mohd Saffar
Speaker:
Moderator: Prof. Anis Bajrektarevic (Erwin Ulreich on behalf of) 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. KHTPs 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.
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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.
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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 HiTech Park itself. The final question dealt with the subject of whether the region was suffering from brain drain. Mr. Annuar bin Mohd Saffars 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
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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 annuar@khtp.com
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AMD Wednesday, September 16th 2009 14:00 16:30 History and scope of work of AMD, an introduction to processors including a short visit to the production facilities and cleanroom labs Ms. Jariyah Hashim, Mr. C. C. Leong
Speaker:
Moderator: Prof. Anis Bajrektarevic (Erwin Ulreich on behalf of) Disclaimer: In order to comply with AMDs 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 AMDs 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 companys 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 companys 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
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delegation with a lunch on the companys 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 AMDs products.
History
The company was founded in 1969 in Sunnyvale, California. AMDs 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. AMDs 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 companys activities in the region. This can be reflected in Ms. Hashims 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 AMDs 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.
Mr. C.C. Leong Manager Employee Relation & Industrial Relation, Communication & Public Relation, Human Resources cc.leong@amd.com
Contact Information Ms. Jariyah Hashim, Director of EHS & Operations Training Jariyah.Hashim@amd.com.
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12. Friday, September 18th 2009

12.1. Date: Time: Topic: Speaker: Mahidol University, College of Management Friday, September 18th 2009 15:30 17:30 Final workshop on Intercultural Management 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) Friday, the 18th September, was the last official day of the Business Focus ASEANStudy 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 Thailands business environment:

First, Mr. Morstadt underlined Thailands excellent geographic position in the IndoAsian region and its graphical, industrial, and political importance. Two very important advantages of Thailand compared to its neighbours in a foreign companys 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
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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 companys expats and their families, because personal integration is very easy.
The dark side of Thailands 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 Thailands 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 directors 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 caf.) 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 dont 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: cmastrid@mahidol.ac.th 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: till.morstadt@lorenz.co.th
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13. Diaries Saturday, September 5th 2009 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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Sunday, September 6th 2009 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 thats 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 2 hour massage for just 12 hours.
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Monday, September 7th 2009 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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Tuesday, September 8th 2009 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 wont forget.
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Wednesday, September 9th 2009 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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Thursday, September 10th 2009 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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Friday, September 11th 2009 Ambassador

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 dont 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 Thailands 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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Saturday, September 12th 2009 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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Sunday, September 13th 2009 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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Tuesday, September 15th 2009 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 sultans 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 schnen 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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Wednesday, September 16th 2009 Ill 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 Malaysias 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 Malaysias 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 Penangs 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 Frstenfeld 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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Thursday, September 17th 2009 Thank Allah, its the fasting month of Ramadan
It was four oclock 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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Friday, September 18th 2009 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 BKKs 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- Bauernfnger- 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. SameSame. 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 oclock 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 Bangkoks high class hotels, others spending their last coins on fake-Prada Bags and not that original Tiffany & Co jewellery at the citys night markets, because Diamonds are a girls best friend.
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Saturday, September 19th 2009 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 oclock, 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 breathtaking 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 Schn 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 regions 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 Bachelors 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 Bachelors Programme Export-oriented Management
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16. Contact Information

Austrian Embassy to Thailand
www.aussenministerium.at/bangkok
Malaysian Embassy to Thailand
University of Oulu
Austrian Embassy to Thailand
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: Johannes.Peterlik@bmeia.gv.at 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: sybakri@kln.gov.my Prof. Anna-Kaisa Pudas University of Oulu, Finland Email: anna-kaisa.pudas@oulu.fi 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: arnold.obermayr@bmeia.gv.at
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Embassy of Switzerland Diplomatic Affairs Department of Foreign Affairs
Mr. Lukas Gasser, Minister Lukas.gasser@eda.admin.ch Ban.vertretung@eda.admin.ch www.eda.admin.ch/bangkok 35 North Wireless Road, Bangkok 10330 Tel.: +66 2 253 01 ext. 113 Fax: +66 2 255 44 81 Masato Otaka Economic Minister Embassy of Japan 177 Witthayu Road Lumphini, Pathum Wan, Bangkok 10330, Thailand masato.ohtaka@mofa.go.jp Dr. Gustav Gressel, Der Handelsdelegierte fr Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Kambodscha, Myanmar Bangkok@wko.at 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 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 Mrs. Sirirat Vasuavat, Director of Resource Centre of NCCC, Thai National Counter Corruption Commission: sirirat_vas@hotmail.com Ms. Sairinya Tankaew, Project Coordinator of the 14th International Anti-Corruption Concerence (IACC), Thai Anti-Corruption Commisson : thisissarin@yahoo.com http://nccc.thaigov.net Mr. Winyoo Laopoonpittaya Director, Services & Consulting Division Investment Services Center Office of the Board of Investment 555 Vibhavadi-Rangsit Road, Chatuchak Bangkok 10900 Thailand
Japanese Embassy to Thailand
WKO Aussenwirtschaft sterreich Auenhandelsstelle Bangkok Austrian Embassy- Commercial Section
Secretariat of Economic Affairs of Indonesia
Thai Anti-Corruption Commission
Thailand Board of Investment
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Indonesian Embassy
Malaysian Embassy to Thailand

The United Nations
The Delegation of the European Commission to Thailand
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 nanasamsuri@yahoo.co.id; nana.yuliana@deplu.go.id Mr. Mohd Iqbal Mohd Noor, Economic Counsellor and Alternate Permanent Representative to UN ESCAP, Malaysian Trade Office, Embassy of Malaysia , trade@samart.co.th Mr. Mitchell Hsieh, Public Information Officer hsieh@un.org Mr. Shuvojit Banerjee, Economic Affairs Officer banerjee@un.org Mr. Clovis Freire, Economic Affairs Officer freire@un.org Ms. Mia Mikic, Economic Affairs Officer mikic@un.org Mr. Jorge Martinez-Navarrete, Associate Economic Affairs Officer martinez-navarrete@un.org Mr. Pierre Chartier, Economic Affairs Officer chartierp@un.org H.E. Mr. Lennart Linnr, 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: lennart.linner@foreign.ministry.se H.E. Ms. Latha Reddy, Ambassador of India 46, Soi 23 Sukhumvit Road Bangkok 10110, Thailand Tel.: (02) 2584198, Fax: (02) 2594870 E-mail: ambindia@inet.co.th Embassy of Italy in Bangkok 399, Nang Linchee Road, Yannawa 10120 Bangkok Tel.: +66-2-2854090, Fax: +66-2-2854739 E-mail: ambasciata.bangkok@esteri.it 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: Jean-Jacques.BOUFLET@ec.europa.eu Udomdech.SRIMASERM@ec.europa.eu
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University Malaysia Perlis
SHORUBBER (Malaysia) DN BHD
Kulim High Tech Park
AMD
Mahidol University, College of Management
Director of Perlis State Economic Planning Unit Madam Fauziah bt Hashim Tel : +604-9702160 E-Mail: fauziah@perlis.gov.my Web : www.perlis.gov.my Murray Hunter Associate Professor at the School of Business Engineering UniMAP E-Mail: murray@kukum.edu.my SHORUBBER (Malaysia) SDN. BHD. Ms. Salbiah Hashim HR Manager Advisor to SHORUBBER (Malaysia) SDN BHD and Director of Dallab Cryptotech E-Mail: saffie88@gmail.com; saffie@dallab.net Web page : www.dallab.net Mr. Annuar bin Mohd Saffar Vice president of KTPC & Director of KHTP Current president AABI annuar@khtp.com Ms. Jariyah Hashim, Director of EHS & Operations Training Jariyah.Hashim@amd.com. Mr. C.C. Leong Manager Employee Relation & Industrial Relation, Communication & Public Relation, Human Resources cc.leong@amd.com 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: cmastrid@mahidol.ac.th 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: till.morstadt@lorenz.co.th
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17. Credits
Final draft of the report Photos
Poppenreiter, Terreu, Brauchart, Philipp Pasalic, Kasseckert
Austrian Embassy to Thailand, Malaysian Messner, Wimmer Embassy to Thailand, University of Oulu Austrian Embassy to Thailand, Swiss Embassy to Thailand Peer, Beham
Thailand Board of Investment, Secretariat Kramer, Stubauer of Economic Affairs of Indonesia, Thai Anti-Corruption Commission, Malaysian Embassy to Thailand, Japanese Embassy to Thailand, Mahidol University International College Bangkok United Nations Organization Delegation of the European Commission to Thailand University Malaysia Perlis, SHORUBBER (Malaysia) SDN BHD, UNIMAP 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 Kulim High Tech Park, AMD Mahidol University, College of Management Diary 06. 10. September Diary 11. 15. September Diary 16. 20. September Haberleitner, Beck Dunzinger, Eggenbauer Wohlesser, Kolar
Ulreich, Gitau
Gerasimenko, Schn Weber Winkler Gartner Obersberger
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BFA 2009, EU-ASEAN Public Diplomacy - Business Networking (Integrated Report)

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Business Focus ASEAN Report Of the visit to Thailand and Malaysia 5th 20th September 2009

INTRODUCTION TIMETABLE DESTINATIONS

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 7TH 2009

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8TH 2009

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9TH 2009

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 10TH 2009

7.4. 7.5. 7.6.

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 11TH 2009

MONDAY, 14TH SEPTEMBER 2009:

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 15TH 2009

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16TH 2009

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 18TH 2009

13. 14. 15. 16. 17.

DIARIES CONCLUSION PERSONAL COMMENTS CONTACT INFORMATION CREDITS

124 146 147 149 153

FOREWORD BFA 2009

Business focus ASEAN

Malaysia truly Asia?

4. Monday, September 7th 2009

4.1. Date: Time: Topic: Speaker:

Moderator: Prof. Anis Bajrektarevic

THE GLOBAL ECONOMIC CRISIS

BECOMING RISK TAKERS

www.aussenministerium.at/bangkok Tel.: (+66/2) 679 88 83 Fax: (+66/2) 287 39 25 Email: Johannes.Peterlik@bmeia.gv.at

4.2. Date: Time: Topic: Speaker:

Moderator: Prof. Anis Bajrektarevic

BACKGROUND & HISTORY

EXPORT & INVESTMENTS

EUROPES TRADING OPPORTUNITIES

PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT BETWEEN ASIA & EU

4.3. Date: Time: Topic: Speaker:

Moderator: Prof. Anis Bajrektarevic

BUN-KHUN, KRENGJA, NAM-RUAM & NAMJAI

DOING BUSINESS WITH THAIS

University of Oulu, Finland Email: anna-kaisa.pudas@oulu.fi

4.4. Date: Time: Topic: Speaker:

Background & History

Doing business in Thailand

5. Tuesday, September 8th 2009

Moderator: Prof. Anis Bajrektarevic

Exports 23% 5,70% 5,60% 3,60% 2,82% 11,40%

Imports 16,80% 4% 5,40% 2,90% 0,80% 6,40%

2,40% 2,50% 1,80% 1,90% 1,20% 1,10% 0,20% 11,30% 9,20%

1,80% 0,60% 2,50% 0,90% 1% 0,50% 0,20% 18,70% 11,20%

2006 338,1 153,1 +22,1%

2007 379,9 186,1 +21,6%

2008 392,9 197,8 +6,3%

How to use these opportunities

AWO, Auenhandelsstelle Bangkok

Austrian companies focus on the following sectors:

5.2. Date: Time: Topic: Speaker:

6. Wednesday, September 9th 2009

Moderator: Prof. Anis Bajrektarevic

BOI & Investment incentives

6.2. Date: Time: Topic: Speaker:

6.3. Date: Time: Topic:

Moderator: Prof. Anis Bajrektarevic

The NCCC and its duties

International Anti-Corruption Conference (IACC)

6.4. Date: Time: Topic: Speaker:

Moderator: Prof. Anis Bajrektarevic

6.5. Date: Time: Topic: Speaker:

6.6. Date: Time: Topic:

China and the ASEAN