On Wednesday 10th of February, the Dutch Chamber of Commerce in Sweden has successfully held its Annual General Meeting online. With about 29 participants including the Dutch Ambassador and all board members of the Dutch Chamber.
During this online meeting, Els Berkers, Chair of the Dutch Chamber, reviewed the activities in the past year and presented the future outlook for the coming period. Moreover, the financial statement and budget planning was shared with the attendees as well.
The ambassador gave a short speech at the beginning of the meeting. He was pleased to see  the fruitful and creative works of the Chamber. He encouraged the members to come to the Embassy and exchange ideas regarding business and investment in Sweden.
We also welcomed our new Treasurer Manuel Harmsen as one of the Executive Board Members. And of course, we held a great farewell for our previous Treasurer Rex Schothorst and thanked him for all his efforts. 
 The Annual General Meeting was moderated by the Secretary Håkan Westin.
 The recording of this online Annual General Meeting is on demand, please send your request to  Nora Jing Chu.

/Nora Jing Chu

​On 4 February a group of curious members (and several non-members) gathered online to meet the coaches, trainers and counselors in our network for an event focused on enriching insight on the impact of leadership. During this dynamic evening the group was presented with different insightful exercises varying from meditation, exploring the connection to oneself, the benefit of changing perspectives and listening for values in yourself and other people. An evening to remember!

Coaches: Gigi de Groot, Helen Lettinga, Ilse Wicherts, Nanda Jansson and Stefanie Brinkman
​
/Nanda Jansson

Picture from left to right: Viveka Andersson (moderator), Annika Berglund and Marianne Hamilton, Norah Chu.

Thanks to the initiative of Swedish Chamber of Commerce in the Netherlands, we were very pleased to co-host the Webinar “Corporate Gender Diversity” on Tuesday 26 January.
 
Live from our Innovation house in Stockholm, moderator Viveka Andersson interviewed the Swedish author of the book “Advice to my dear daughters “ mrs Marianne Hamilton , which followed by a great panel discussion from both Swedish and Dutch perspective, together with mrs Ruth de Jager, mr Peter Møllgaard and mr Ruben Brunsveld from the Netherlands, who are the experts on the topic “gender diversity”.

Key take away from moderator Viveka Andersson: "Besides Marianne’s 46 pieces of advice,  was that gender diversity and inclusion are complex questions that still cause lots of frustration, primarily as we lose out on so much competence and creativity that it would bring on. There is still a long way to go, but by having a positive mindset we untapped some keys that will make a difference as the discussion revealed a number of concrete examples and initiatives that will contribute to real change. We need to further elaborate the topic and look forward to doing that in the close future.“
 
Did you miss this webinar and want to learn more? Please e-mail marion.norman@dutchchamber.se to receive the recording of this webinar “ Corporate Gender Diversity” .

​/Norah Chu

Nora Jing Chu has recently joined the Dutch Chamber team as Webinar Event manager. We asked Norah to  introduce herself:

" My name is Norah Chu. I live in Stockholm since 2017 together with my Swedish partner and our daughter.  I was born in China and grew up in the Netherlands. I have worked in different cities and countries. Intercultural life has always been an important aspect of my life. Moving to Sweden has added further international experience, which I have enjoyed."
 
What is your professional background?
"With a master of Communication Science, I have worked more than 10 years in the field of public diplomacy, public relations and event management for Dutch government and multinational companies, both in China and in the Netherlands.
Since 2016, I have specialized in branding and marketing through digital media and e-commerce, especially towards Chinese market. Working together with Swedish and Dutch brands, my role is to set up suitable social media strategies, create content for different target groups, and optimize advertisements on various social media platforms."
 
In what way would you like to contribute to the Dutch Chambers activities?
 "I would like to support the online activities of the Dutch Chamber. I am more than happy to co-organize interesting and engaging online webinars and meetings for both members and non-members, to get more business people from the Netherlands and Sweden connected."
 
For what subjects and expertise can members and network contact you?
"Being an independent digital marketing consultant, I would love to share ideas on social media branding and marketing. Feel free to contact me for related projects or topics.
Furthermore, I am experienced in project management and events management."

/E.B.

 On Thursday 21 January the Dutch Chamber in Sweden and the Swedish Chamber of Commerce in the Netherlands jointly held a new year's reception for their members in the presence of both Ambassadors.
The meeting started with a short quiz on peculiar national habits which, although most members seem to know their host countries very well, raised an eyebrow with some of the zoom participants.
After that both Ambassadors shared their reflections on national developments, policy and EU cooperation. The Swedish Ambassador to the Netherlands highlighted a.o. the good cooperation of the two countries in the EU and the importance of continued cooperation in fields such as innovation, digitalisation and sustainable development.
The Dutch Ambassador to Sweden spoke a.o. about the good examples he has noticed in Sweden on cross sectoral cooperation and in relation to that the need for companies to cooperate and look for win-win scenario’s. Before closing both embassies graciously extended an open invitation to all members to make use of their networks and facilities and expressed the hope that we would soon be able to mingle and meet in real life again.
 
/Ruben Brunsveld

On Thursday the 7th of January we held our first Online quiz. It was time to turn the page to 2021 with a fun little quiz.  Participants were quizzed on a variety of topics such as how many blueberries does a Swedish brown bear eat? to What was the most streamed song on Spotify in 2020? 
We congratulate Esther Meulenberg with the 1st place! After the quiz there was time for a brief digital mingle with fellow members from Stockholm, Tilburg, Malmö and Göteborg.  Your quizmaster will be back later this year with episode 2. 

​/Frank Cleeren

Three speakers of hygiene and health company Essity presented during this webinar. After a general introduction about Essity as a company and its famous brands such as Tork, TENA, and Libresse, the speakers shared some insights on how Essity has been able to contribute to society during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Besides keeping up with their production of essential hygiene products such as toilet paper, tissues, hand wipes and sanitizers, we learned that they were able to make an extremely quick production shift from paper diapers to face masks, using the same diaper machines.
Furthermore, the speakers shared some of the results of a big survey Essity conducts yearly in many countries around the world: the Hygiene and Health Report - with this year's focus on the effects of COVID-19 on hygiene and health. One interesting takeaway was that 90% of people have increased their handwashing since the pandemic. Comparisons were shown between different countries on hand washing behaviours, places people now avoid, expectations people now have on public spaces and businesses, and changes people need to feel safer. COVID-19 has changed all of our lives and personal behaviour and we all see an increased need for hygiene measures. We thank Essity for their inspirational presentations and all participants for their engagement! 
​
/Esther Meulenberg
Team West

On 12 November we held our first Online beer tasting. This was hosted by SME-member Louis Hedberg, who is the proud owner of the craft beer brewery Inlands Bryggeri.  In the tasting we were shown through the factory facility and tasted 4 delicious handcrafted beers. Louis passionately guided the attendees through 4 different beers, it gave the spectators a unique insight in the Micro brewery and it's pearls.  Paragraph. Klicka här när du vill redigera.
/Frank Cleeren

the Dutch Chamber has moved to a new office at the embassy, the so-called Innovation House. The new office is located on the ground floor with its own entrance to Peter Myndesbacke. 
​Annika Närling, board member communications, prepared a film to show you around the Innovation House (see below). She interviewed John Dekker from the embassy, who explains the thoughts behind the Innovation House: a meeting place for those who want to explore the Swedish market. One can only conclude that it is an obvious home for our members and network. Please contact Frank Cleeren if you want an individual tour. 

Consul and DC member Kerstin Lindell opened the new Bona Headquarters, close to the Central Station in Malmö for a Dutch Chamber Mingle on 15 October. 
It was an excellent opportunity for our Ambassador, Mr Bengt van Loosdrecht to meet our members and for our members to hear more from the Ambassador at the beautiful new office.
The group of invitees was not big, due to the precautions taken because of the Covid 19 situation. But with approx. 20 people we had a very nice and interesting mingle, where people networked and exchanged the latest business experiences.
It was also good to hear, partly even in Swedish, that our Ambassador has an eye and heart for the importance of the regions outside of Stockholm. 
 
We thank Kerstin Lindell and Helena Wikenås for helping with the organisation. Regional Directors Bram Nabuurs and Wouter Ridder will follow-up on this mingle, hoping for a possibility to organise events soon with more guests if the situation permits.