With pleasure we introduce a new SME member of the Dutch Chamber: Faber Flags. Wouter Faber tells us more about the company.

"Faber Flags is part of Faber Group, a Dutch family company that, as the name suggests has its roots as a manufacturer of flags and banners. We have grown over the recent years into an international signage and printing company with sales offices and production units in both Europe and Asia.
The products and solutions we produce are used for both brand communication as well as for creating atmosphere. For example, flags are a very traditional way for attracting attention to the presence of your brand, while our custom printed curtains, wall papers and carpets are used to create a pleasant and modern-day environment in an office, hotel or hospital. Another good example is the large format reproduction of the Claudius Civilis on our Fairlyn Mesh (environmentally friendly material) that we recently did in collaboration with the Dutch embassy and the Dutch Chamber (see the picture).

Today our company offers so much more than flags as we have the ability to print on any type of material, from textiles to wood and glass. Therefore, we will soon follow our sister companies in other countries and change our name to FaberExposize.
 
How long have you been operating in Sweden and what is your role in the Company?
In the 1960’s my father, Arnoud Faber, visited large gasoline companies here in Sweden and quickly found out that there was a big demand for our flags. This was the start of successful export to Sweden through agents with steady growth. In the 2000’s after I graduated from business school, my first task was to further improve sales in Scandinavia, which in 2007 resulted in opening our sales office in Stockholm. The office was run by a local MD for several years and in august 2014 I decided to come to Sweden with my family to take on the challenge to grow more. Since then we have seen a double-digit growth rate, recently started with our own local production and are planning to expand our business into Norway and Finland.
 
How have you been introduced to the Dutch Chamber of Commerce?
A friend introduced me to Els Berkers and we met to talk about Swedish business climate. Els invited me for a seminar, where she introduced me to Maarten Merckx. We stayed in touch and I attended a number of other events related to the Dutch Chamber. This leads to my membership of the Dutch Chamber.
 
What do you expect from your membership?
I think the Dutch Chamber is a good platform to discuss doing business in Sweden, as well as getting a better understanding of how the Swedish society functions. It doesn’t limit itself to only the relationship between Sweden and The Netherlands, but actively seeks to connect to organizations from other countries and different parts of society, offering a very wide perspective. I think that’s important in international business. I hope that by being a member of the Dutch Chamber I can also contribute to this.

​/Wouter Faber

On 15 May we organised this year's first Orange Table event in Stockholm. The theme of the evening was gamification in health care - a show case for any business.
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"Accepted solutions are not always the best solutions, neither are the best solutions always the most accepted ones" - it depends on the socio-political complexity and the technical physical one. Our speaker Sebastiaan Meijer, professor at the Royal Institute for Technology, informed the audience about the difficulties of determining adequate logistics for different solutions. 

Normal logistics do not fit for health care. With the patient at the centre, we have to work more cross-organisational. However, people are trained to optimize their "aspect system"  and not the subsystem that is part of a the large complete system.
He also mentioned the problems with AI. What do we measure and who reacts? Are we creating much anxiety by monitoring? He noticed that sensing technology is here already, monitoring and control is on its way but concerning Care Access Pathways, little has yet been done - digital meetings are a starting point.

/Annemieke Ålenius

Members of the Dutch Chamber were invited to join an event hosted by the French Chamber (CCFS) together with Grant Thornton about Global leaders in a modern world.

Reinforcing global competence is vital for individuals to thrive in a rapidly changing world and cultural awareness is a pivotal aspect for all international businesses. Business leaders of today need the ability to examine and understand international perspectives and world views.

A diverse and international panel touched upon this topic from different angles but with one common conclusion: Internationalisation is happing and now is the time as a company and individual to see, understand and make use of the advantage of being an internationally diverse employer/e.

The panel consisted of the following persons: Meg Tiveus, Karen Henriksson, Yves Chantereau, Karin Björkman, Linda Karlsson and Margareta Neld. You can read more about the panel members here.

​/Charlotte de Jong

On Friday April 27th, Gothenburg  welcomed 120 Dutch hikers for a Friendship Walk through the city.
The hikers were very excited and dressed up in orange outfits. Our Dutch Ambassador in Sweden, Mrs Ines Coppoolse, gave them a warm welcome speech and after an orange cake the first group started the Friendship Walk from the Sjömanskyrkan. The trail led the hikers along various highlights of the city and through the beautiful parks. The groups were guided through the city by Dutch habitants of Gothenburg. After 15 kilometres of walking, their effort was rewarded with a medal and a drink offered by the Dutch Chamber. Together we toasted on Kings day and this special day in Gothenburg.
After the speech of Mrs Lena Malm, Mayor of Gothenburg, the group left for Ikea to have a typical Swedish buffet.
We had a wonderful day and an successfull event, where we were able to show Gothenburg in its best light!
/Annemieke van Wijk

On Friday the 16th of March members and friends of the Dutch Chamber met at the Nobel Museum in Stockholm for the Annual Diner. It became a great evening, inspired by the great minds of Nobel Laureates. The Ambassador of the Netherlands and our patron, Mrs. Ines Coppoolse opened the evening at the museum together with Chairman Maarten Merckx with a great speech on the necessity of innovation.

The guests were invited to the tables and served with a Nobel Diner inspired menu and had the opportunity to meet old and new friends. With a fantastic performance of the Adolf Fredriks Kyrkas Kammarkör and an exciting and interesting speech by Tobias Degsell, former curator of the Nobel Museum and Founder of Combiner, the evening became fabulous.
Tobias reminded us of the power of creativity. With an expected longer life ahead of us it is important that scientists and the industry work together to make this life as smooth and healthy possible. 

Maarten Merckx took the opportunity to thank soon resigning, Honory Consul for Sweden in the Netherlands, Mr. Lukas Joel. Lukas is a great friend of the Dutch Chamber of Commerce and Maarten thanked Lukas for his contributions and cooperations over the last few years.

We thank our sponsors Samskip van Dieren, Amgen, Randstad, Berkers & Company and not to forget the organising committee - consisting of Jorien Olthof, Charlotte de Jong and Els Berkers in making this an unforgettable evening. 

Keep an eye on the announcement for next year if you missed this year’s Annual Diner. We will be back with another night to remember!​

Together with the SGLCC the Dutch Chamber hosted an inspiring evening on Diversity & Inclusion on 21 March. 
The Dutch Ambassador, Ines Coppoolse set the tone of the evening after which a panel of five people with a different background but a common drive for human rights, diversity and inclusion, discussed the topic.

The Diversity Business Award Sweden was this year won by Swedavia AB for their work on an inclusive labor market.
Some comments from the audience were: “They figuratively hoist the rainbow flag every day” and “An example of an inclusive employer that live up to their values”.

Congratulations Swedavia!

/Charlotte de Jong