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 [email protected] 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