Danish-Chinese Business Forum’s Annual Meeting 2012

28 March 2012, Danish-Chinese Business Form held its Annual General Meeting. Over 90 members participated at the event which was kindly hosted by Grundfos Holding A/S in Bjerringbro.

Keynotes
Pia Olsen Dyhr, Minister for Trade & Investment, started her keynote speech by emphasizing that the challenges China face, such as environmental issues, lack of access to clean water and an increasing proportion of elders, are challenges which the Danish society and business community can help the country to resolve. She accentuated the growing importance which emerging markets, especially China, has on the Danish economy and the significant role it will play in the future. Furthermore, the Minister stressed that Chinese investments in Denmark are important in developing a sustainable trade balance between Denmark and China, as well as providing growth in Denmark.
Access the Minister's speech here.

Minister for Trade & Investment Pia Olsen Dyhr together with Group President & CEO of Grundfos Group Carsten Bjerg.

After the Minister’s keynote, Han Xiaodong, Economic and commercial counselor at the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Denmark held his speech. Here he began by complimenting Danish-Chinese Business Forum for its work in establishing and continuously improving cooperation between Denmark and China.
Access Han Xiaodong's speech here.


Han Xiaodong during his presentation

The next to take the scene was Humprey Lau, CEO Grundfos China & Group SVP at Grundfoss Group. Mr Lau introduced the audience to the setup and strategy of Grundfos in China. He explained their dual headquarter strategy, with their commercial center in Shanghai and their governmental center in Beijing. Concerning the strategy, one of the main points was the importance of Grundfos’s long-term perspective in China, as it is their goal to have China as their second home market in 2020. Mr Lau explained that this was also embedded in his key performance indicators, in which he is not measured on the basis of quantitative figures but instead on qualitative indicators.
Access Humphrey Lau’s presentation.

Uffe Toudal Petersen, Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Higher Education ended the line of speeches by presenting the Sino-Danish Centre for Education and Research. The Sino-Danish Centre for Education and Research is a joint project on education and research between the eight Danish universities, the Danish Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, the Graduate University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (GUCAS) and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). When it is fully operational in 2013, the Centre will provide a platform for 100 researchers, 75 PhD Students and 300 Master students.
Access Uffe Toudal Pedersen's presentation.

The Chairman’s Report
Chairman Nils Foss reported on the activities of Danish-Chinese Business Forum in 2011 and presented the objectives for 2012. The Chairman also announced that he had made the decision to resign for health reasons. The Chairman thanked the members for trusting him with this post for almost 8 years and wished the coming Chairman best of luck in his endeavours. Together with the board of directors, he recommended Vice Chairmen, Thorkil Kastberg Christensen, CFO at Novo A/S, as the new Chairman of Danish-Chinese Business Forum.

3 new members of the board were unanimously elected for four years:

Professor Kjeld Erik Brødsgaard, who holds a Ph.D. in modern Chinese Studies and is Director of Asia Research Centre at Copenhagen Business School. Kjeld Erik Brødsgaard conducts research focused on Chinese politics and China’s political system, public management in China, and on China’s role in the global economy.

Henrik Busch, Chairman and Co-owner of House of Amber ApS. House of Amber is experiencing a rapid growth on the Chinese market, with currently 28 shops and 14 more planned to open in 2012. Henrik Busch has more than 30 years of experience in the retail and tourism industry.

Hans Henrik Pontoppidan, Partner, Corporate Finance and Head of China Desk, Deloitte A/S. Hans Henrik Pontoppidan has more than 20 years of experience with the Chinese market and he is a strong voice both on Danish investments on the Chinese market and on Chinese investments in Denmark.

4 board members resigned from the board:

Nils Foss, Founder, FOSS A/S
Peter Brun, Group Senior Vice President, Group Government Relations, Vestas Wind Systems A/S
Klaus Honoré, Partner, Deloitte A/S
Finn Lauritzen, former Director General, Danish Enterprise and Construction Authority, Ministry of Business and Growth

Access the Chairman's Oral Report.
Access Annual Report.

Nils Foss entitled Honorary Member
On behalf of Danish-Chinese Business Forum, the new Chairman Thorkil Kastberg Christensen and Secretary General Tom Jensen gave Nils Foss a diploma entitling him Honorary Member of the organisation. This was done as an acknowledgement of the great work Nils Foss has done founding Danish-Chinese Business Forum and establishing the Forum as the primary independent, executive network organisation promoting commercial relations between Denmark and China.


Nils Foss recieving his diploma as a recognition of his invaluable work for the Forum.