Annual General Meeting 2010

Back to the contents

Danish-Chinese Business Forum’s Annual General Meeting was held on 27 April 2010. Nearly 100 of the network’s 500 executives attended the meeting on the premises of Novo Nordisk A/S. Mr. Nils Foss welcomed the members and expressed his gratitude to Mr. Børge Diderichsen, Vice President and Head of Corporate Research Affairs at Novo Nordisk, for hosting the event.

Mr. Uffe Toudal Pedersen, permanent secretary at the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, and Mr. Gu Hui, Chargé d'Affaires at the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Denmark, were keynote speakers at this event. Mr. Toudal Pedersen addressed the research collaboration between Denmark and China in his speech. He emphasised that the establishment of the Sino-Danish Centre for Research and Education will support and enhance the existing Danish-Chinese cooperation.

In his keynote speech, Mr. Gu Hui underlined that the development in the Chinese economy presents enormous opportunities for foreign companies on the Chinese market, especially Danish companies. He also stressed that Chinese companies keep their eyes open for business opportunities in Denmark.

Chairman Nils Foss encouraged the members to further strengthen their activities in China and to take part in the booming economic development in China. He also underlined that it is paramount for the Danish business community that the Danish government should continue to maintain and develop good relations with the Chinese government. Nils Foss also reported on the activities of Danish-Chinese Business Forum in 2009 and presented a satisfactory surplus of DKK 167.314.

Three new board members (Søren Mygind Eskildsen, senior vice president, Danfoss A/S; Brian Seeberg Larsen, senior vice president, COWI A/S; Carsten Boyer Thøgersen, head of department, The Trade Council, Ministry of Foreign Affairs) were elected unanimously.

It was suggested that the existing membership fees should be regulated according to the inflation rate and that a new membership category for large company members with a turnover of above DKK 1 billion should be adopted. These suggestions were unanimously approved by the board at the extraordinary general meeting on 2 June.

The Danish-Chinese Business Award 2010
Danish-Chinese Business Forum’s Annual General Meeting was for the first time followed by an annual dinner where the Danish-Chinese Business Award 2010 was presented. The honour of receiving the award was bestowed on Nilfisk-Advance A/S, the award’s very first winner.

The Danish-Chinese Business Award is granted to a Danish or a Chinese company which
•has achieved remarkable and innovative results in their Danish-Chinese business over a period of several years as well as during the past year.
•has contributed to networking and co-operation between Danish and Chinese companies.
•enjoys a good reputation in both Danish and Chinese business communities.

At the award ceremony, Chairman Nils Foss elaborated on the merits of Nilfisk-Advance A/S by explaining how Nilfisk-Advance is an extraordinary example of a successful Danish industrial company which, within only seven years, has managed to broadly expand their activities on the Chinese market. In addition, the company has contributed to a further strengthening of the Danish-Chinese commercial co-operation and can be considered a role model for many Danish companies with activities in China.

Nilfisk-Advance enjoys a good reputation in the Danish and Chinese business communities and has through its membership of Danish-Chinese Business Forum shared its experience and expertise with other members of the Forum.