ScandAsia South East Asia - October 2017

OCT 2017

Malaysia Indonesia Philippines Vietnam Cambodia Laos

Virtual Manufacturing

Swedish experts on production improvements BUSINESS

Digital and Efficient Manufacturing workshops

COMMUNITY Nordic Crayfish Party Manila

EVENTS

The Nordic Way National Day celebrations, Jakarta

PEOPLE

Casper Klynge becomes Ambassador of Technology & Digitalisation

October 2017

ScandAsia Community

4 Sweden Alumni Network of Cambodia 4 Nordic Crayfish Party Manila 5 CanCham-NordCham Speednetworking Night Manila

6

Mr Søren Brofeldt Helping Cambodians fighting illegal logging

10 Virtual Manufacturing

4

ScandAsia Business

12 Sweden-Malaysia Digital and Efficient Manufacturing workshops 13 BIMA partnered with AntiCorruption Unit in Cambodia

14

Mr Casper Klynge

Becomes digital ambassador for Denmark

4

Country’s largest life-insurance provider

15 The Nordic Way Jakarta event 2017 Nordic Embassies’ joint National Day celebration

16 Swedish retail innovation Manila seminar

Organised by Embassy of Sweden and Philippine Retailers Ass.

Mr Johan Alvin

19

5

Second Secretary, Swe embassy in Vienam launched ‘Innovate Like a Swede’ contest

17 OCT 20

Malaysia Indonesia Philippines Vietnam ia Cambod Laos

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13.173 October 2017 • ScandAsia.South07/09/2017 East Asia

Community

Sweden Alumni Network of Cambodia launched

S

weden’s Ambassador to Cambodia H.E. Maria Sargren on 17 August hosted a networking event and the launching of Sweden Alumni Network of Cambodia.

The reception marked the first ever gathering for Cambodian students who have been to Sweden to pursue their higher education under the Swedish Institute scholarships and other means.

“We are proud to see the contribution the students have made in their respective roles and professional careers after their return from Sweden,” writes the embassy.

“We believe that the network will expand and continue to serve as a platform for networking among its member s as well as spreading information relating to scholarship opportunities for more young Cambodian students to study in Sweden.”

Source: Embassy of Sweden in Phnom Penh

Nordic Crayfish Party 2017

N

ordCham Philippines extends their deepest gratitude to their sponsors for supporting the Crayfish Party 2017, which was held last September 16, 2017 at Sofitel Philippine Plaza Manila.

NordCham’s biggest charity event, Crayfish Party 2017, was made possible with the support of the following sponsors: Co-Presenter : Volvo; Gold Sponsors: Belle Corp, Cricket, Jotun, Via.com Silver Sponsors: Guest, Nordea, Pacific Cross, Atmosphere, Fairmont Makati, Marco Polo Or tigas, Dusit Thani Manila, Mövenpick Resort & Spa Boracay, Coast Boracay, Magallanes Square Hotel Tagaytay, Kandaya Resort, HMR Auctions, Spartan Proceeds amounting to PHP 525,000 will be donated to Chosen Children Village Foundation, Inc. Again, thank you for your generosity and we hope to see you on our upcoming events.

Source: Nordich Chamber of Commerce Philippines

4 ScandAsia.South East Asia • October 2017

CanCham-NordCham Speed Networking Night Manila

Community

T

he first ever CanCham-NordCham Speed Networking Night was held at the Dusit Thani Manila on 17 August.

Attendants mingled and expand their network with the members and guests of both Chambers with the added fun of a 3-minute timed countdown between each group to ensure they met everyone. There was also a fun game held at the end of the night to check how much the attending guests could remember about the people they have met.

Not your typical networking night and it is worth your while if you are looking to increase yours or your company’s awareness.

Source: Nordic Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines

October 2017 • ScandAsia.South East Asia 5

Community

Photo: Allan Michaud

Cambodians fight to save their forest against illegal logging with Danish help

By Nadja Dam Jensen

Søren Brofeldt. Photo: Danmission

M

otorcycles are roaring, leaves rattle and every now and then a twig snaps under a shoe as a group of people, tr ying to protect the place they call home, gather deep inside of Cambodia’s biggest forest, Prey Lang.

As one of Southeast Asia’s last remaining lowland evergreen woodlands, Prey Lang, which translates to ‘our forest’ in Kuy language, stretches over four Cambodian provinces with an area of approximately 5,000 square kilometres. But it is also an area that is quickly being reduced, posing a threat to the environment and the 200,000 people, who live in and around the forest.

These people have depended upon the forest for generations, not only is it an intricate part of their culture and spiritual life, the forest is essential for their livelihood. Every day they use it for collecting resin, building materials, medicine and food, but every day, illegal loggers are also trying to take the forest away from them.

Prey Lang Community Network, PLCN, is a grassroots movement started by the very people who live in the forest and have experienced first hand, which consequences eradication of the

6 ScandAsia.South East Asia • October 2017

forest brings along. Approximately 400 members with representatives from all of the four Prey Long provinces, Kratie, Stung Treng, Kampong Thom and Preah Vihear, are volunteering to save the forest and fight the illegal logging by patrolling and monitoring the forest.

“We patrol to ensure that our forest is still our forest,” explains Mr. Chea Sokheoun, member of PLCN’s steering committee from Stung Treng province.

New technology to fight illegal logging

Danmission, an independent Christian based organisation from Denmark, and University of Copenhagen are working with PLCN in Cambodia to fight the illegal logging and have worked with several actors to develop new methods to improve PLCN’s work to save Prey Lang.

With some people scribbling observations down on a note pad, others taking notes on their phone, and some having picture evidence on their cameras, it was difficult to gather all the data from PLCN’s patrols in one place as some of the observations would easily get lost, and the rest maybe not having quite the same structure.

Photo: Allan Michaud

Photos: Danmission So in hope of finding a better way to gather and systematize their data from their monitoring and patrols PLCN met with Danmission.

Danmission got in contact with University of Copenhagen, and soon after, several partners were working together on developing a mobile application that could help PLCN with their challenges to collect valid evidence of the illegal logging they discovered on their patrols.

Søren Brofeldt, PhD Student at University of Copenhagen’s Section for Global Development, is part of the team who worked with Danmission and PLCN to create the app. He explains that the team spent a lot of time meeting and interviewing the PLCN activist, who were doing the monitoring, to figure out their exact needs.

“The main idea of the app became that it should be intuitive, and that people should be able to use it without being able to read or write, but as most in the community can read and write, we decided to also add text,” says Søren Brofeldt.

When the PLCN workers are in the forest and come across illegal logging they can easily report it through the app. When they open it on their phones, the app starts at a home screen and as soon as it is opened it creates a data point that

Photos: Danmission collects observations like location, coordinates, time, date and identification of the observer.Then it is possible for the worker to upload a picture or record a memo if the observation cannot be explained in pictures. The observation can then go into three different main categories; illegal activity, resources and interactions, which one can easily pick by answering simple questions about their observations. When the phone has mobile coverage it will upload the data to a database.

This allows Prey Lang Community Network to easily gather their observations in a report, which they can submit to local authorities, governmental institutions and NGO’s to get help to protect their forest.

Timber gangsters threaten livelihood

Even though PLCN with the help of the app has strong evidence of illegal logging going on in Prey Lang, they still struggle to get action from the government.

A shor t sighted economic interest has overshadowed the long term wellbeing of a nation and have allowed people to damage the Prey Lang forest. According to Global Witness, an international NGO working towards

exposing conflict, corruption & environmental abuse, predacious wood sorts, such as Siamese Rosewood which is protected under both local and international law, are thoughtlessly logged and shipped of to China, where it is manufactured into furniture that can be sold for millions of dollars.

However, the price it costs the environment and ecosystem is much higher.

“Buyers of lavish four-poster beds and vanity tables in China may be unwittingly lining the pockets of what can only be described as timber gangsters,” said Megan MacInnes from Global Witness, who has been working on uncovering Cambodia’s illegal logging trade for years.

In their 2015 report ‘The Cost of Luxury’, Global Witness point out Cambodian Tycoon Try Pheap as one of the big players in the network of illegal logging in Cambodia. Following an eightmonth undercover investigation, Global Witness has been able to document how Pheap is working with officials from government, the military, police and customs to clear rare trees like Siamese Rosewood, traffic logs across the country and load them onto boats bound for Hong Kong.

“Try Pheap and his network are destroying Cambodia’s last forests and robbing indigenous

October 2017 • ScandAsia.South East Asia 7

Community

Photo: Allan Michaud

Photo: Allan Michaud communities of their livelihoods. Meanwhile the very officials in Cambodia who should be stopping them are conspiring to ensure that contraband wood enjoys safe passage, and is exported as seemingly legitimate lumber,” continues MacInnes in the Global Witness press release following the report.

In a previous repor t from 2007, Global Witness also connected Pr ime Minister of Cambodia, Hun Sen, to the illegal logging business, saying Cambodia’s most powerful logging syndicate is led by relatives of the Prime Minister and other senior officials. The report followed three years of investigation and also uncovered Cambodia’s army, military, police and Forest Administration as being heavily involved in the illegal logging.

Minimal help from authorities

Er nst Jügensen, Countr y Representative of Danmission in Cambodia, hopes that the mobile app and the evidence it allows PLCN to gather will help put pressure on the Cambodian Government to put a stop to the illegal logging.

“The authorities claim that they have the situation under control, and that improvements are happening. But PLCN’s observations show a different truth,” he says.

When the people of Prey Lang Community Network have submitted their reports containing all of their observations of illegal activities going on in the forest, they are often turned away.

“When we submit it to the ministr y of environment they just say;‘Please do not complain too much’,” says Mr. Phai Bunleang, member of the PLCN steering committee, representing Kratie province. The ministry of environment are the ones responsible for protecting the forest, but Mr. Bunleang believes that they do not have the capacity.

The pressure form Prey Lang Community Network does not seem to be enough to change the governments agenda. With the help of social media and their website, where they upload videos, newsletters and recent reports, PLCN

hopes to reach more global partners, who can support their work.

After being recognized by both UNDP’s Equator Prince in 2015 for their outstanding local achievement and Yale University’s International Society of Tropical Foresters Innovation prize in 2017, the network is hoping for more help from global partners.

“Since we were recognised globally, a lot of embassies in the country are interested in our forest project and it also adds a pressure to our government to consider protecting the forest,” says Mr. Chea Sokheoun.

Government must stop power men

People like Try Pheap, the tycoon behind a lot of the illegal logging, is what the people from PLCN call the power men. They are not able to uncover every one of them, and the black market behind the illegal logging in Prey Lang is large and complicated. The steering committee is not sure, how they can stop them.

“That is not easy. We cannot stop the power men. Maybe the government can stop the import of chainsaws into the country,” says Mr. Heoun Sopheap from the Hampong Thom district.

In February 2017 the Ministry of Environment in Cambodia did acknowledge the problem and put forth a suggestion asking for a ban on the import of chainsaws, but as long as the government is still benefitting from people like Try Pheap’s work and the illegal logging, it is questionable if the ban will ever be implemented.

On their patrol, the PLCN activists often confiscate chainsaws when meeting loggers in the forest. But after handing over the chainsaws to the local authorities, it rarely takes long before the chainsaws are back in the hands of the loggers and once again cutting down threatened trees, which are then transported across the borders to safe land.

“I think the government need to have a clear strategy to stop any kind of expor t or transpor ting of log or timber at the road by the forest. What I see is that a lot of timber is

8 ScandAsia.South East Asia • October 2017

exported to other countries from these roads,” says Mr. Heoun Sopheap.

A way to provide for family

“Our community people are poor and we do not have enough food to eat, that is why it is a challenge when we do forest protection, because we do not get any money,” says Mr. Phai Bunleang.

Most of the Prey Lang people are farmers and live on no more than two dollars a day, and often less, so they work hard in order to provide for their families, but the forest is essential for them to create a livelihood. Being an activist does not bring them any money to survive for, even though many activist work almost as a full time job. This makes many people tempted to accept money to stop the patrols.

“Even activist are bought out of activism,” says Ernst Jürgensen from Danmission.

The steering committee of PLCN understands the struggle, and do not see the loggers as bad people. They are people like themselves, who are just trying to get by and provide for their families.

When the power men come and offer them money to do their dirty work, it is hard for these people to say no.

“Our community people, our villagers they don’t have a choice, so the option is logging to get the income for their family,” says Mr. Chea Sokheoun.

Because we love our forest

The Prey Lang Community Network keeps fighting to save their forest. They will keep up their work with patrolling and publish reports, whether the Government want it or not. They are replanting the cleared area, hoping that the future generations will also get to enjoy the forest, but hope that some day, the Government will live up to their promises and protect their forest, Prey Lang.

“We still have limited resources and sometime we just have only gasoline, but we try to do a patrol, even just a small group together, because we love our forest,” says Mrs. Phork Hong.

Denmark’s new ambassador arrived to Jakarta

R

asmus Abildgaard Kr istensen was welcomed as the new Danish ambassador to Jakarta by the Embassy of Denmark, Indonesia, arriving on 10 September.

“He is eager get started building on the strong partnership between Indonesia and Denmark,” wrote the embassy.

Rasmus comes from a position in the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs as Head of Department for Public Diplomacy, Communication and Press.

Having previously served in the Asia Department and been posted to the Danish Embassy in Beijing, Rasmus has strong ties to Asia and Indonesia.

Rasmus has also been head of the International Department in the Danish Ministry of Energy, Utilities and Climate where he helped build the clean energy partnership with Indonesia. In 2015,

News Brief

Rasmus had the pleasure of taking part in Her Majesty the Queen’s State Visit to Indonesia, giving him a first-hand impression of the Indonesian hospitality and cultural splendour.

Rasmus has also travelled in Indonesia as a tourist experiencing the country’s beautiful natural scenery, including its amazing islands and magnificent diving sites. Rasmus actually got his diving certificate many years ago in Indonesia.

In his spare time, Rasmus enjoys racket sports, including badminton. He also loves Asian food and is looking forward to the rich and tasty Indonesian cuisine, including dishes such as Bak Pao and Soto.

Rasmus has a wife and a young daughter, who will be accompanying him to Jakarta.

Source: Embassy of Denmark, Indonesia

Danish ambassador visited Istiqlal Mosque

O

n 26 September Denmark’s Ambassador Rasmus Abildgaard Kristensen was kindly welcomed by the Grand Imam Prof.

Nasaruddin Umar at his first visit to the largest mosque in South East Asia, Istiqlal Mosque. He was shown around the beautiful complex and got a glimpse of the Cathedral of Jakarta, which is placed just next to the mosque as a symbol of interfaith tolerance.

Rasmus and Prof. Umar had a good talk about religion and interfaith dialogue. Moreover, they discussed the future collaboration between Denmark and Indonesia and the possibilities of promoting tolerance and freedom of religion.

Source: Embassy of Denmark in Indonesia

Ambassador Gunn Jorid Roset accredited to Malaysia

O

n 16 August Gunn Jorid Roset was accredited as Ambassador of Norway to Malaysia. Her Excellency presented her credentials to Malaysia’s king, the Yang Pertuan Agong Sultan Muhammad V, in a grand ceremony at the National Palace of Istana Negara, along with 12 other foreign envoys.

Ambassador Roset also exhibited Norway’s rich cultural heritage in her traditional national costume, which hails from her native Nordmøre, reported Royal Norwegian Embassy in Kuala Lumpur.

As the former Director of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Section for East Asia and Oceania, Her Excellency has extensive experience from Malaysia and the ASEAN-region. She has accompanied several Norwegian ministers and state secretaries on official visits, including the 2015 visit by Foreign Minister Børge Brende to Kuala Lumpur. Ambassador Roset has also had postings in Latvia and South Africa, and has an educational background in political science, German language and international development policy. She is married with three young children, and looks forward to exploring Malaysia’s rich culture and stunning nature with her family for years to come.

ScandAsia sends its warmest congratulations to Gunn Jorid Roset as Norway’s new head of the mission to Malaysia!

Source: Royal Norwegian Embassy in Kuala Lumpur October 2017 • ScandAsia.South East Asia 9

Business

Virtual Manufacturing Swedish experts on production improvements

V

Text and photos: Joakim Persson ir tual Manufacturing (VM) from Sweden, a supplier of ‘lean-based production development services’, is successfully on their way to building a market within Southeast Asia’s huge manufacturing base.

Since its arrival to this region VM has gained good – and fast – traction, with many leads and their first clients in Malaysia and Thailand. This was proven not least by the tremendous interest shown for their solutions during the Manufacturing Expo 2017 in Bangkok. Being experts on guiding manufacturers towards ‘Industry 4.0’ is clearly a winner in Thailand, and the region, these days!

‘Brings value in production’ isVM’s catchphrase, based on new approaches in helping leading manufacturers to reach operational excellence faster.VM can be a partner in modern production development, or be an enabler for that, and move towards Industry 4.0, by utilizing both the virtual and physical worlds.

“So we work with bringing value into production and the different values can be: reducing time, reduced lead time and we look at the entire process and try to free up time and thereby freeing up resources to do other things, or to simply save money,” explains Pontus Rosengren (Business Developer). He and one of the founders, Torbjörn Danielsson, have move to set up and steer their operations in Southeast Asia. Reducing lead time can for example get the cash faster in to the company.

VM use what is called ‘Digital factories’ for workplace visualisation – something they strongly believe in. “The value is that the team that will be working with you will have an understanding and will go in the same direction. We also think that you should make your mistakes in the digital factory rather than in the real one.”

But everything starts in the real world: “You need your factory performance KPI so you can show it to those working on the factory floor.

From that data you can start doing simulations and optimisation. And from that you will get new KPIs and based on that you start doing the changes in the real world again.”

That cycle is then repeated to earn time/ money again and again.

One of VM’s standardized tools and methods that relate to Industry 4.0 and IoT (Internet of Things) is their ‘Physical Web for Manufacturing’.

“Basically by giving assets and people and areas within your factory digital identities, you can track movements of those assets and see if they are adding value to your product. So let’s say in an 10 ScandAsia.South East Asia • October 2017

assembly plant, as example, in one area is where the assembly workers do the value added work.

By tracking those people’s movements indoors, we can see that perhaps they spend only 40 per cent of their time on adding value. Why? With digital identities we can take fact-based improvement decisions.”

“In normal cases we have facts, for instance the cer tain amount of time something takes.

We have filmed the manufacturing process and have broken down the video film to see where the value added activities happen and where we have waste in the process. Then we reorganise, simulate and move for example material and tools closer to the worker. We can simulate how long time a movement takes, and therefore the whole time process based on that. It’s very important in manufacturing: time is money – the old cliché rules,” continues Pontus.

Another tool is real time communication and visualisation, which is about being able to act in the right time, before the surprises occur.

It is central for VM to work with Surprise Avoidance. ”Why? Because surprises in a factory costs money and if we can front load activities to reduce these surprises in the factory then we earn money.”

Aiming towards Industry 4.0; by using smart analytics systems one can start gathering the data and have a good system where to store it. “But what should you do with the data? One must be able to analyse the data in one way or the other. Can you use it to be proactive to tell you that a machine will, historically, break down soon and that these are the parts you must fix? Then you can take measurements to avoid it from happening.”

“In connection to a new factory, or wanting to

improve, or having a new line or production cell, we make sure we know what’s going to happen and that we will use as little energy as possible in order to save you time and money.”

Other customer’s concerns may be: having a new product launch to be released to the market; internal and external demand – maybe they need to lower their lead-time to the market; or they are having quality issues and need to come up with a more sustainable solution.

For the last of these mentioned concerns VM work with the client on reducing claims, or, reclamations, as it costs the company a lot – establishing a quality-ensured working method.“In processes this is to steer; for example making an assembly process or a machine process as safe as possible to eliminate any risks so that you deliver the same quality product every time.

The value that VM brings to a client can concern production lead-time, floor space utilization, reducing ramp up cost, optimisation of automation investment in order not to underspend or overspend when they buy equipment etc.

The digital factory process entails many steps that broadly look like this: based on the “as is” data the process continues with the “to be” scenario, the future. This is built up in a 3D model for testing, and so on. See the Gateway Driven Process graphic for all the steps!

“If you have worked in one way for twenty years, or have been doing something well and it works well, and then some expert consultant comes and tells me to do it differently - that that does not feel good. Then one must be able to visualize to them how it will work so that you can get them with you. In the sales stage it is important to get the management on board but

then one must get the workers in the factory on board, otherwise it will never work . So getting involvement from everyone at the customers’ side is very important.”

“The need to change culture and behaviour is essential to get a long-term beneficial solution.You always need to work with culture and behaviour so you get everyone involved, and everyone to want to drive the continued improvements afterwards.”

“In Southeast Asia we want to gain a deeper cultural understanding so that we can bring real long term improvements for the companies here.

Here, we are rookies, so we have been out every week visiting x number of companies to get an understanding for how things work here.”

“Our target group is really all manufacturing companies from big giants in the automotive industry to SME companies who want to get better.”

“And what’s fun is that among the SMEs we have visited it does not differ much from Sweden and there is a large urge, willingness to improve.

And I think that overall it seems very interesting!”

The region offers VM lots of untapped potential: “It’s enormous compared to Sweden!

Take just the number of cars being produced here, with the gigantic automotive industry. And we can see we have something to offer here. And we understand that people are being restrictive and do not want to jump into something, but step by step. We have kick-started the first projects and if those become success stories it will be even easier.”

VM has so far gone from two to ten employees in Southeast Asia within just one year.

October 2017 • ScandAsia.South East Asia 11

Business

Sweden-Malaysia seminars:

Digital and Efficient Manufacturing Text: Joakim Persson Photos: Embassy of Sweden, Kuala Lumpur

A

productive workshop on Digital and Efficient Manufacturing, focusing on the phenomenon known as Industry 4.0, was arranged in Kuala Lumpur on 6 September and Penang on 7 September by Business Sweden, in cooperation with the Embassy and the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM). Swedish innovation and industrial efficiency knowhow was showcased through presentations and workshop sessions with par ticipating Malaysian manufacturing company representatives, 107 people in Kuala Lumpur, and 102 in Penang, while the Swedish organizer had aimed at 70.

H.E. Dag Juhlin-Dannfelt, Swedish Ambassador to Malaysia and YBhg Dato’ Dr Ir Andy Seo, FMM Vice President & Chairman of FMM SMI Working Committee were in attendance giving their respective introduction speeches.

Carl Malmqvist, Trade Commissioner to Malaysia, then presented insights from the survey ‘Reaching new productivity heights through digitalization of Malaysian Companies’ Atlas Copco, SKF, Vir tual Manufacturing, Monitor ERP System, Good Solutions and Flexlink shared their experiences on how to adapt to the 4th Industrial Revolution.

Carl Malmqvist from Business Sweden explained that these workshops followed on a first seminar held back in January 2017. “It goes back 1.5 years, we have been looking at the manufacturing industry for many years but have not necessarily done a direct approach.

There are many players who are already here but having worked a lot with transpor tation previously we felt we needed to find new sectors in Malaysia where we could do more. So we

started discussing with some companies, and did a first seminar in January, where we worked with the Malaysian government’s SME Corp, aiming at SMEs.” “In that seminar, one board member attending from FMM, thought it was so good and that we had hit the right note. Industry 4.0 is thematic, a bit too difficult target even for larger corporations.

But at lest we managed to create a target and had managed to use both big and large companies, discussing it very practically from different angles.

And he wanted to bring that to FMM.” Through FMM the Swedish organisers got slightly larger companies that are a bit more mature and receptive to discussing automation and ERP systems etc., according to Carl.

“We combined a half day seminar with afternoon sessions in smaller groups, gathering 10-15 companies going in more in-depth, where Monitor wanted to demonstrate their systems more practically and have people try it out, which is difficult in a seminar setting. The same goes for Virtual Manufacturing and Atlas Copco. In that regard it was great to get people into a classroom environment for them to exchange hands-on what are their issues, and get the solutions available presented.”

“The whole target we had was to not have people on stage just hard selling their solution but we wanted everyone coming to talk in the context of how they contribute to industry 4.0, which can be on a smaller or larger scale. For Vir tual Manufacturing their whole context is industry 4.0 – automation, robots etc. But Atlas Copco wants to sell processors; that’s about lowering energy costs. Sustainability is also an important topic and an incentive in this; more effective solutions, surveillance of the systems to

12 ScandAsia.South East Asia • October 2017

reduce downtime is absolutely part of 4.0. So that was the angle from SKF and Atlas Copco how one can work with preventive solutions against downtime towards their solutions.”

Carl thought this approach turned out very well: “It was very successful where they were able to sell their solutions by highlighting the opportunities around Industry 4.0. That is what we want to achieve. At the end of it one wants to sell the solutions but wants to contribute to development and to see that the industry here gets some kind of exchange from what we want to offer as well.”

One aspect discussed a lot during the seminar was to be careful when it comes to defining 4.0 because also in Sweden most companies are at 2.0 or 2.5 and in Malays many are still at 1.0. “To talk 4.0 becomes very difficult for people to visualise. So becoming very practical with even small changes like getting workers at their workstations engaged and thinking about their workflow to work perfectly, how can they maximise the whole process in their factory, was a successful approach. And it is from there we would like to continue.”

“We will continue this journey onwards with FMM and these companies are very interested in continuously engaging Malaysian companies and stakeholders to be a support in the agenda for development.”

Also in Malaysia Industry 4.0 has become a hot topic on the agenda for the country and its ministries – not without challenges. Carl replied that from the Swedish side they are only able to point out discrepancies but that it is an agenda for the country.

“The Trade & Industr y Ministr y is ver y interested and there will be much more new money to boost SMEs, and where Industry 4.0 twill be part of it to boost more automation,” he added and portrayed a positive picture about Malaysia.

“Aside manufacturing, which is a positive aspect from Swedish side, the more we dig into things the more pops up. With a new Swedish ambassador with a lot of energy we jointly notice together that a lot is happening, plus with InvestKL contributing strongly to increase the engagement and being very good at creating ecosystems for the Swedish companies and connect them with the right people in this jungle of an organisation.

So somehow we are creating a working climate enabling to support companies to enter here and reap the fruits of the good economic development that is happening. It feels very positive.”

He paints the picture of Business Sweden’s collaboration with Invest L as being very positive and strong.

Business

Swedish insurance company BIMA and Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) agreement

T

he Swedish insurance company BIMA and the Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU), officially par tnered to increase transparency in business practices, signing a memorandum of understanding at ACU headquarters on Monday August 7 2017. BIMA is the largest life-insurance provider in Cambodia, where corrupt practices make up everyday life.To disassemble Cambodia’s culture of corruption the private sector must be a part of the cooperation.

Moving towards progress This culture of corruption is a significant impediment to business and national growth, with many organizations accepting corruption as a necessary evil to achieve an end. As a result, Cambodia ranks at the bottom of ASEAN countries in corruption, and 156th out of 176 countries according to two recent Transparency International reports.

BIMA has an international reputation of transparency across the 14 countries where it operates, having rolled out ethical practices as a core part of its culture. BIMA chose to step forward to emphasize its continued commitment to best practices, and to encourage other industry leaders to follow its decision. Making this agreement an official act is part of BIMA’s initiative to promote the highest professional standards in the private sector and to demonstrate that it is indeed possible to operate without engaging in corruption.

No-tolerance to corruption policy: Win-winwin solutions This no-tolerance policy to corruption has always been BIMA’s motto. BIMA truly believes that any possible setback in the short run for adopting such a policy has largely paid off in the long run and improved its business outcome in Cambodia. Commitment to transparency drives the quality of customer service. “Corruption and non-transparent practices in any business can lead to distrust from the perspective of both consumers as well as potential investors.

Being transparent and adopting completely fair and open business practices always leads to win-win-win solutions in the long term – for the end-consumer, for the service provider and for the country as a whole.” said Tapas Kuila, Country Manager at BIMA Cambodia.

Preap Kol, Executive Director of Transparency International Cambodia, said firms that sign the MoU stand to benefit from closer ties with the ACU, which can provide additional protection and prevent corrupt officials from extor ting money from these businesses. “The companies send a message to the public that they cannot commit corrupt acts, meaning that corrupt officials who used to ask for money earlier cannot do it anymore,” Kol said.

Corruption in business practices can be seen as a shor t versus long term trade-off, but in the end hur ts everyone. The four companies

partnering today, including BIMA, are refusing to climb a mountain with pebbles in their shoes.

Par tnered companies will not engage in corrupt acts and will report any solicitation of corruption to the ACU for investigation. Any evidence submitted will launch an investigation by the ACU. BIMA is also taking a proactive approach by launching internal education campaigns to promote ethical engagement with government officials, suppliers, customers, and other independent organizations or individuals.

BIMA is a ground-breaking Swedish company that uses mobile technology to deliver affordable and easy-to-use insurance and health products that emerging market consumers need but cannot access through traditional channels.

BIMA has revolutionized the insurance industry in emerging markets, already reaching 30 million subscribers globally. BIMA continues to work with strategic par tners to offer new products and reach under-served families. 93% of its customers live on less than 10 USD per day and over three quarters access insurance for the first time.

Valmet’s new Indonesia service center

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innish company Valmet inaugurated a new ser vice center in Indonesia on the 27th of September. Valmet is the leading global developer and supplier of technologies, automation and services for the pulp, paper and energy industries. Ambassador Ms. Päivi ToivioHiltunen attended the event.

Source: Embassy of Finland Jakarta

October 2017 • ScandAsia.South East Asia 13

Business

Casper Klynge: From Jakarta to Silicon Valley By: Nadja Dam Jensen

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mbassador of Denmark to Indonesia, Casper Klynge, is a busy man these days.

Tying up his work in Indonesia while at the same time getting ready for his new job, and figuring out what exactly it means to be a Tech Ambassador, or rather Ambassador of Technology and Digitalisation, means travelling back and forth between Jakarta and Silicon Valley for the Danish diplomat.

The day after the Muslim holiday Eid alFitr, Casper Klynge finds a little time to talk to ScandAsia about his new job and saying goodbye to Indonesia.

“I am really looking forward to starting my new job. I think it’s a great privilege to be allowed to work with a brand new policy area, and to be allowed to build something from scratch,” said Klynge.

Ties with influential companies

As a Tech Ambassador, Klynge’s job will be to promote Denmark as a digital pioneer country, help Danish companies and build and strengthen ties with large global tech companies, such as Facebook, Google, Apple, Alibaba Group and Microsoft.

Danish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Anders Samuelsen, explained that these kind of companies influence Denmark as much as other nations do, and therefor it is important to build ties with them.

“This is the very right initiative, at the right time,” said Klynge.

Klynge explains that many tech companies, including a few of the really big players, have already showed an interest in Denmark’s new move and has contacted him to learn more and wants to meet with the Tech Ambassador.

Defining the rules

Although Klynge describes the traffic in Silicon Valley to not be much better than Jakar ta’s busy and overcrowded streets, the new job will definitely be quite a change for the 43-year-old diplomat.

As Ambassador of Indonesia, Klynge has worked with a broad spectre of politics; everything from foreign policy to development cooperation, working with waste, water and energy, commercial spectres in helping Danish companies and a culture program. But no matter what, there are somewhat clear lines for what you have to do. That is not how it is going to be, working in Silicon Valley.

“It is going to be a completely different way we have to work. It is a virgin territory in the sense that nobody has done it before. We will be part of defining the rules of the game with these companies.”

Klynge explains that he still does not have a clear answer for how it is going to work. ”I think that is also a big part of the point.

This is completely new and we will have to be a ‘learning organisation’ and figure out how to make this work the best.”

Goodbye to the greatest position

Although he is making history with his new job, Klynge does admit that he is a bit sad to leave Indonesia and his work there.

“Ever yone who knows me, knows that I have become very attached to Indonesia. I think it is a totally amazing country, and an incredible embassy to work for. In many ways, it is one of the best jobs in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.”

Klynge enjoys the variety of political spectres he gets to work with in Indonesia, and that a

Malaysian Ministry of Health in Denmark

Casper Klynge has been known as the Danish Ambassador to Indonesia for the past three years, but now he is moving on to new adventures in Silicon Valley as the world’s very first Tech Ambassador

country as small as Denmark gets to play around with the world’s fourth largest country.

There are also several projects going one, that the ambassador would love to get to finish.

For example, projects on waste management and supporting a rainforest in Sumatra.

“We really have some great foreign policy tools for a country the size of Denmark. It is really something to be able to make such a big difference in a country as big as Indonesia.”

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he Danish Embassy and the Director General of the Malaysian Ministr y of Health, Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah, is currently in Denmark to learn about Danish Healthcare and Eldercare solutions.

On 22 August they attended a meeting at the Danish Ministry of Health, and visited Bispebjerg Hospital with local companies, 2Trace, Viewcare and OpenTelehealth, to talk about innovative healthcare solutions. The following day they attended a meeting at Copenhagen Municipality about public health, Novo Nordisk and visited a Danish Eldercare home.

“The Embassy looks forward to continue the good cooperation with Malaysia in the healthcare sector.”

Source: Embassy of Denmark, Kuala Lumpur

14 ScandAsia.South East Asia • October 2017

Business

The Nordic Way party 2017: Nordic Embassies jointly celebrated their National Days at Jakarta reception

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he Embassies of the Nordic countries Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden jointly celebrated their National days for the third consecutive year in Jakarta on Wednesday, 20 September 2017. They missions had invited high-level guests and important stakeholders to Shangri-La Hotel for a grand celebration themed ‘The Nordic Way’.

The Indonesian Minister for Environment and Forestry Ibu Siti Nurbaya Bakar and the Minister for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ibu Susi Pudjiastuti along with ambassadors from a range of countries were among the more than 600 guests.

The theme for this year’s celebration was the Nordic economic models and how they have enabled societies that promote change, innovation and sustainability. The Nordic countries are at the top of the charts on the global innovation indexes.

This was showcased in a joint exhibition where innovations and sustainable solutions from the Nordic countries were displayed.

Through innovative exhibitions, the guests had the oppor tunity to get an understanding of how Nordic companies provide impor tant solutions and products for Indonesia. Further, a large buffet of traditional Nordic food was served and photo exhibitions displayed beautiful areas from our countries. “ O n e o f c o m m o n fe a t u r e s i n o u r economies is transforming our societies into circular economies in which Nordic countries are frontrunners. The world needs pioneering solutions to ensure that economic growth and increased wellbeing are no longer based on a wasteful use of natural resources. In Nordic way

neutral encounters, dialogue and co-operation between different sectors and parties in society businesses, politicians, scientists and organizations - are together creating circular economy solutions” commented Ms Päivi Hiltunen-Toivio, Ambassador of Finland.

“In a rapidly changing world economy, the Nordic countries have shown a way into the future combining high economic development, sustainability and technological improvements.

Here we have also assured higher economic equality regardless of gender. Norway has by being an open economy and attracting international talents, our most advanced industries have stayed competitive. This together with this, the Nordic welfare model has proven a very capable mixture for both withstanding economic turmoil as well as producing talent and innovation that is benefiting our economies, as our exhibition shows here today,” Mr Vegard Kaale, the Ambassador of Norway pointed out.

According to Rasmus Abildgaard Kristensen, the Ambassador of Denmark to Indonesia “The Nordic countries share the same Nordic Model of economy and social structure.The innovativeness, creativeness and sustainability of our societies are some of the common traits binding the Nordic countries together. In the Nordic countries, we pride ourselves of the high level of transparency and openness of our political systems.The Nordic Way entails synergy and dialogue between the government, businesses and civil society, which allows an open and innovative economy fostering welfare and sustainable solutions to some of our shared global challenges, such as energy security and protection of the environment.”

“The Nordic economies have stood the test of time and been able to reinvent themselves on many occasions. Our welfare model does not only provide safety mechanisms for people in case they lose their jobs or get sick, it also enables people to take risks. And to invent you need to take risks. Good education, combined with knowing that even if you fail you will still have a social security net to rely on, is why I believe we are seeing so many new innovations and creative hot spots across the Nordic economies,” Ms Johanna Brismar Skoog, the Ambassador of Sweden said.

Although small individually, the importance of the Nordic countries as a group is considerable.

There are 27 million inhabitants in the Nordics and the combined gross domestic product of the Nordic Region makes it the world’s twelfth largest economy (1 277 billion USD). In the 2017 Bloomberg Innovation Index, Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden are all in the top 15 of the world’s most innovative countries.

With this event, the Nordic embassies want to mark our ongoing commitment to this important country and celebrate the strong diplomatic ties with Indonesia.

Sources: Embassy of Denmark in Jakarta, Embassy of Finland in Jakarta

October 2017 • ScandAsia.South East Asia 15

Business

Gifts exchange between H.E. Chu Ngoc Anh and Mr. Esko Aho

Sweden attended KPMG networking luncheon in Manila

Mr.Esko Aho and H.E. Chu Ngoc Anh visiting Finland showcase organized by IPP2 at MOST

Ex-Finnish PM Esko Aho’s speech in Hanoi

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inland’s former Prime Minister Esko Aho’s held a presentation in Hanoi on September 18 about Finland’s experience in economic development based on innovation.

As part of the Vietnam-Finland Innovation Partnership Programme Phase 2 to improve the capacity of Vietnamese policymakers, the event was a follow-up to a presentation made by Prof.

Goran Roos in late August.

Opening the event, Minister of Science and Technology Chu Ngoc Anh said to serve the demand for renovation, managers, and sciencetechnology policymakers should improve sciencetechnology policies in tandem with sustainable economic development in Vietnam.

In his speech, Aho underscored the need to change ideas about knowledge, master future technology and devise strategies for innovation.

In the afternoon the same day, Aho and

leaders of the Ministry of Science and Technology discussed science-technology development policies used for economic development.

Aho is also former Chairman of the Finnish Innovation Fund under the Parliament of Finland and former Vice President of Nokia Corporation.

He was part of an experts’ group to build the EU’s innovation policies and chaired a group to propose Finland’s innovation strategy for 2008.

In recent years, Finland has been among the world’s top 10 countries in terms of the Global Innovation Index and Global Competitiveness Index.The country was also ranked high in indexes scoring the efficiency of public organisations, ter tiary education, corporate innovation and public-private partnership.

Source: ipp.vn, Innovation Partnership Program

Swedish retail innovation Manila seminar

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he Embassy of Sweden in Manila, together with Business Sweden and the Philippine Retailers Association (OFFICIAL) (PRA), organized a seminar entitled ‘How to Increase Retail Productivity through Innovation in August, reports the Swedish Embassy there.

In recent years, the digitalization of the retail industry has created new ways of shopping online, with infinite product offerings being delivered to your doorstep through the internet. This, in turn, forces retailers to rethink how they work in terms of shopping experience, productivity and service.

The seminar highlighted how innovations can support that change.

“Sweden is proud to have many strong international retailers such as IKEA and H&M. These retailers have benefited from the Swedish culture of innovation. The seminar featured some of the best Swedish technological companies that have supported the retail sector in this everchanging environment through their innovations.”

Source: Embassy of Sweden, Manila

16 ScandAsia.South East Asia • October 2017

Swedish Ambassador to the Philippines Harald Fries and Jasmin Cruz, marketing manager for Ikano Philippines Inc. (IKEA).

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wedish Ambassador to the Philippines Harald Fries recently attended a knowledgesharing luncheon with at the Tower Club in Makati City, Manila, Philippines, hosted by the auditing firm KPMG R.G. Manabat & Co. According to The Inquirer, the Swedish ambassador acknowledged KPMG RGM & Co.’s efforts in bringing more Swedish power players to the country while discussing developments in the local and global economies, which impact the Philippine consumer markets sector.

KPMG RGM & Co. executives present were vice chairman and chief operating officer Emmanuel P. Bonoan, vice chairman and head of advisory Henry D. Antonio, chief finance officer Pacifico M. Castañeda, tax principal Maria Carmela M. Peralta and advisory partner Michael H. Guarin.

Top local auditing firm KPMG R.G. Manabat & Co. took the lead in boosting close economic ties with Sweden as it recently hosted a knowledgesharing luncheon with Swedish Ambassador to the Philippines Harald Fries at the Tower Club in Makati City.

The Swedish ambassador acknowledged KPMG RGM & Co.’s effor ts in bringing more Swedish power players to the country while discussing developments in the local and global economies, which impact the Philippine consumer markets sector.

KPMG RGM & Co. executives present were vice chairman and chief operating officer Emmanuel P. Bonoan, vice chairman and head of advisory Henry D. Antonio, chief finance officer Pacifico M. Castañeda, tax principal Maria Carmela M. Peralta and advisory partner Michael H. Guarin.

The event was attended also by other members of the Swedish business community in the country, Ericsson Telecommunications, Inc. chief executive officer (CEO) Sean Gowran; Retail Software Associates Corp. CEO Bo Lundqvist; Auto-Delta Volvo Bus president Robbie Torres; Swedish Embassy senior trade promotion officer Giselle Yap; Atlas Copco business line manager Raymond Buenaventura; Ikano Philippines Inc. marketing manager Jasmin Cruz; Electrolux Philippines country marketing manager Andrea Soto-Pionilla; and Swedish Match Philippines sales area manager for Asia Pacific Martin Ejecklint.

News Brief

Danish Embassy helps ISS in Indonesia

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asper Klynge, Danish Ambassador to Indonesia, and Karina Charlotte Mosgart, Deputy Head of Trade on Friday 4 August 2017 accompanied Jeff Gravenhorst, Group CEO of ISS, and CEO Elisa Lumbantoruan of ISS Indonesia for a meeting with Vice President Pak Jusuf Kalla.

The Danish service giant ISS (Integrated Service Solutions) underlined its long-term commitment to job creation and development in Indonesia. ISS, headquartered in Copenhagen, is one of the leading global service providers.

Danish Embassy added that it appreciates the support it has received from the Danish representation in Jakarta.

Being strategically important in the ISS Group’s global operation, ISS Indonesia alone employs over 61,000 people with more than 2,000 new employees joining every month and has reported an annual growth rate of 12%. With operations across the country, the company puts great emphasis on educating and training their employees to realize their full potential and get qualifications to move forward in life. Through their operations in Indonesia, ISS is contributing to move local unskilled labourers from the informal to the formal work sector and by doing so providing them with greater prospects and opportunities for their future and Indonesia’s continuous development.

Saxo Bank held presentation on future in Asia

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hief Executive Officer and Member of Management Board at Saxo Bank A/S, Kim Fournais, was the keynote speaker and spoke of SaxoBank’s visions for future involvement in Asia during a meeting at AsiaHouse in Copenhagen, reported the Embassy Of Denmark Bangkok on 1 August 2017.

Six Danish ambassadors to Asia - including ambassador Uffe Wolffhechel - participated in the meeting to offer perspectives on opportunities for financial services and business in Asia.

Source: Embassy Of Denmark Bangkok

Denmark shared clean energy transition insights at ConEx

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n 13 September Denmar k’s new ambassador Rasmus A. Kristensen gave a presentation in a high level plenary on renewable energy and energy security at the EBTKE ConEx 2017 conference. The Minister of Bappenas, the Deputy Executive Director of IEA, the US Ambassador to Indonesia, the Vice Chairman of Kadin, the Country Manager of IFC Indonesia and the President Director of Medco Energy also participated.

During the plenary, Rasmus shared insights and highlighted the Danish transition from oil dependent nation to frontrunner within clean energy. It was stressed, that an important lesson from the Danish experience is how long-term energy planning and investment in renewable energy can generate jobs and deliver affordable electricity without jeopardizing energy security.

Further, Rasmus underpinned that a conducive regulatory environment is essential for Indonesia to reach its ambitious 23% renewable energy target by 2025.

The Danish Embassy and ESP3 also launched a study about ‘Support to Monitoring and Estimation of Energy Conservation Policies Impact’ together with EBTKE, Danish Energy Agency and Indonesian Institute for Energy Economics. Denmark’s Head of Development, Kurt Moerck Jensen and Head of Energy Cooperation, Soren Mensal Kristen, gave their speeches and presentation about Danish perspectives on the report.

The main purpose of this study is to identify applied and upcoming energy conser vation policies and to see its impact on the Indonesia final energy demand. The results can be used as a basis reference for Indonesia energy conservation policies to determine energy conser vation policies priorities, calculate energy savings impacts from the policies, and formulate activities and strategy planning in cooperation with various Indonesia stakeholders.

Source: Embassy of Denmark, Indonesia

October 2017 • ScandAsia.South East Asia 17

News Brief

ITP SRHR alumni Myanmar launched with Swedish embassy

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n 26 September, Embassy of Sweden, Section Office in Yangon was happy to host alumnis from the Sida financed Advanced International Training Programme (ITP) on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) together with Lund University.

The purpose of the meeting was to launch the Myanmar network among the ITP SRHR alumni.

The group discussed how they collectively can raise awareness on SRHR in Myanmar, using the expertise and knowledge which they have learnt from the training programme. The meeting ended up by discussing future plans and activities of the ITP SRHR Myanmar National Network, such as how to advocate for Comprehensive Sexual Education in Schools. The Section Office sees this group of about 20 alumnis as a strong ally and resource in the uphill battle of raising the bar on SRHR in Myanmar.

Source: Embassy of Sweden section office Yangon

Swedish Embassy met Myanmar peace process stakeholders

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n mid September 2017 Anna Åkerlund, Ghin Shoute and Johan Hallenborg went to Chiang Mai to meet several of the key stakeholders in the peace process in Myanmar.

They also met many civil society organisations working with communities in Kachin and Shan states, several of which are partners to Sweden.

These conversations about peace and the future of Myanmar provide important perspectives to Sweden’s work.

The pictures are from some of the meetings: Burma News International, Pyidaungsu Institute and SWAN (Shan Women Action Network).

Source: Embassy of Sweden section office Yangon

Sida’s Strategic Environmental Assessment workshop in Vietnam

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he Embassy of Sweden in Hanoi participated in an interesting workshop gathering alumni of Sida’s international training programme on Strategic Environmental Assessment and other key stakeholders.

Financed by Sida, the programme has been carried out by Chalmers, University of Gothenburg and NIRAS. The networking event on 7 September was hosted by UNDP. “We discussed about the SEA as a tool for planners and decisionmakers, practices in different sectors, challenges, accomplishments and most importantly opportunities for enhancing effectiveness of SEA in Vietnam,” writes the embassy.

To date, the programme has trained more than 30 people who are in mid-management positions in Vietnamese ministries, government agencies, research institutes and universities.

Source: Embassy of Sweden in Hanoi

18 ScandAsia.South East Asia • October 2017

News Brief

Swedish peace building strategy planning in Myanmar

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wedish peace building strategy planning in Myanmar Swedish Peace and Arbitration Society (SPAS) and their partners gathered in Yangon for five days of intense planning and strategizing for peace building in Myanmar in mid September.

Anna Åkerlund, First Secretary at the Section Office, Embassy of Sweden section office Yangon, visited them on one of their last days. She congratulated participants for work well done within the current peace building programme of SPAS, which Sweden supports, and wished them well in future endeavours.

Innovate Like a Swede: contest in Vietnam

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n 18 September the national contest ’Innovate Like a Swede’ was launched in Hanoi! Since then Second Secretary at the Embassy of Sweden Mr. Johan Alvin has been doing a national tour visiting 14 universities in Hanoi, Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City along with Swedish business representatives and representatives from Uppsala University in Sweden.

Innovate Like a Swede is an initiative by the embassy of Sweden in Hanoi, in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and Training, the Ministry of Science and Technology and nine global, Swedish companies. The contest is aimed

at university students from all over Vietnam and its purpose is to spark creativity and innovative thinking to solve the problems faced by Vietnam today and tomorrow.The contest revolves around the UN Sustainable Development Goals, and this year the focus is goal number 12: sustainable consumption and production.

The winners of the competition get to go to Singapore to visit the regional headquarters of a Swedish company. The runner-ups get an amazing opportunity to do internships at Swedish businesses in Vietnam.

Source: Embassy of Sweden section office Yangon

Source: Embassy of Sweden in Hanoi

Nordics in Hanoi Pride Parade

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n 24 September the Nordic Embassies: Embassy of Finland in Hanoi, Embassy of Sweden in Hanoi, Embassy of Denmark in Vietnam and Norwegian Embassy in Hanoi joined forces and thousands of other people in the Hanoi Pride Parade to advocate the universal values of equality, diversity, and tolerance.

Ambassadors, diplomats, local staff, family members - in total 45 people from these embassies biked and walked together in the event.

Photo Credits: Pham Tung Lam and Kaarina Suominen Embassy of Finland in Hanoi October 2017 • ScandAsia.South East Asia 19

At KIS International School in Bangkok, Thailand all students can shine. The midsize, caring community allows KIS students to be confident and to be appreciated as an individual, with unique dreams and strengths. The school is a full IB school, offering the International Baccalaureate Programmes for all age groups (IB Primary Years Programme, IB Middle Years Programme and IB Diploma), ensuring an academically rigorous curriculum that not only prepares students to be successful at university, but also teaches important life skills.

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