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"EUROCHAM Malaysia; Chamber of Chambers..."
"Dear Mr Sven, you were the Director of Trade & Investment and Strategic Planning Division with Invest Selangor Bhd years back and currently the Chief Executive Officer in EUROCHAM Malaysia."
"Please tell us more about yourself particularly your career path having to be involved in government relations and industry trade programmes."
/I am really blessed that after coming to Malaysia, I found this opportunity to contribute to the growth and economic development of the state of Selangor and thereby to Malaysia’s economy. Together with the team at Invest Selangor, we created thousands of job opportunities for Malaysians and brought new technologies into the country. This work always felt meaningful to me and in many ways, I believe that I found my purpose here.
In Germany, where I was born, I always had a keen interest in Asia and saw the potential in bridging the gap between both regions. I started my career developing economic development concepts for cities, consulted trade missions to Asia and organised collaboration programmes with China. The work excited me and it created opportunities to visit different countries, explore new places, experience different cultures and finally settle down in Malaysia.
When I was recently offered the position of CEO at EUROCHAM Malaysia, it came as a natural expansion of my previous experience. It is widening my scope to cover the whole of Malaysia and allows me to work my strength by assisting businesses from the European Union. Again, I am able to bridge the gap, bring businesses together and foster new alliances for a prosperous EU-Malaysia partnership.
"To-date, how many members under EUROCHAM Malaysia network? What is your vision for EUROCHAM Malaysia in terms of bolstering strategic trade alliances between EU-Malaysia? Is there any specific trade mission currently in the pipeline for year 2021?"
/EUROCHAM Malaysia is set up as a chamber of chambers and thereby reaches out to 1,600 companies in the wider network. Some are direct members with EUROCHAM Malaysia and some are indirect members with the respective EU Bilateral Chambers of Commerce. You could imagine us like an umbrella organisation with direct membership options. Consequently, we cover a wide range of industries and assist these corporations in connecting with the Malaysian government as well as business organisations.
Our vision is specifically focused on exploring and establishing stronger relations with Malaysian partners, either trade associations or Malaysian government agencies. I am proud to share that we have signed several MOUs with a number of organisations such as SME Associations of Malaysia as well as Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council here in Malaysia. More agreements are currently prepared to allow our members and strategic partners to access the network, develop joint projects and transfer knowledge as well as technology.
I believe that 2021 will be an exciting year for us, since there are a lot of projects in the pipeline. We are preparing programmes on different industry sectors, which include healthcare, medical devices and pharmaceuticals, mobility, sustainability as well as education. These programmes will include different events, virtual trade missions and other activities running throughout the whole year of 2021. In addition, we also have planned a number of very specific programmes, we call it internally mini-series, which focus on topics such as cybersecurity or logistics.
"“VOICES of the business community and industry trade delegates towards sustainability...” What had been the key initiatives implemented by EUROCHAM Malaysia in dealing with the Covid19 post pandemic?"
/During the last few months of lockdown and different levels of MCO, we have been actively engaging the government with proposals to ensure business continuity and survival. We also worked closely with authorities to communicate SOPs and guidelines to our business community to ensure compliance and battle the spread of the virus.
For EUROCHAM and the foreign business community more generally, it was very important to allow business travel as soon as possible. Virtual meetings are not able to replace personal interaction, management, maintenance and a number of other activities. Business requires trust and trust is only able to grow in personal engagement. We decided to address this in a joint effort with other chambers and I have spoken just a few months ago with the prime minister during the Economic Action Council meeting presenting our case.
Together with Amcham and the Japanese Chamber, we were able to convince the government to open the borders specifically for business travel. This allowed many of our businesses to welcome back top executives and technical experts as well as to engage with their HQ, regional management and clients. While there are still minor issues and we continue the dialogue for further improvement, we consider this a major success.
Furthermore, we are currently working on two EU subsidised programmes: preparing an Industry Awareness Campaign for early 2021 as well as a Business Recovery Programme for EU SMEs. Both programmes target different challenges, one is visibility and the other is strategic alignment in view of Covid-19. While the Industry Awareness Campaign allows EU businesses to share their story and positive impact in Malaysia, we hope to assist SMEs struggling with adopting to the “New Normal” with strategy coaching under the Business Recovery Programme.
"You have vast experiences in business trade and public affairs throughout these years serving government linked corporation and industry trade organization, how do you see Malaysia moving forward in year 2021?"
/This is perhaps one of the most challenging questions to ask. We are hopeful for 2021, but remain cautious. There is a good possibility of having an election in the 1st Half of the year, which would definitely hit the economy again.
Furthermore, it is not clear, if the budget 2021 will meet the needs of the Malaysian SMEs. If the SMEs continue to struggle, we may very well experience more insolvencies, higher unemployment and the economy could slip further into a recession.
It is my hope that the budget will buffer this and allow SMEs to navigate the challenging business environment. They are the backbone of the economy and have to survive for Malaysia to grow again. We need entrepreneurs to rise to the challenge, introduce new products and innovate. These are the foundations of any economy globally.
Certainly, we also acknowledge that Covid-19 has accelerated digitalisation globally and the Malaysian government tries to assist with grants and programmes. Whoever is adapting and adopting fast will be positioned well. EUROCHAM will introduce a series of programmes next year to address this challenge from an SME perspective and offer insights from industry leaders to assist SMEs.
"EUROCHAM Malaysia is the chamber of chambers for several European Union bilateral chambers of commerce. How can Malaysian companies become the members in EUROCHAM Malaysia? What are the membership categories?"
/It is actually very easy to become a member in our chamber and we purposely have categories for large corporates as well as SMEs to cater to different financial capabilities. Soon, we will also introduce a Micro-SME category, which will allow us to develop programmes for start-ups and small service providers. If a company is interested, I invite them to explore our website, https://www.eurocham.my/membership/ .
You will find all relevant information on our membership categories and especially the different benefits under the Membership tab. Furthermore, we are currently running an early bird discount for new members until the end of January 2021. Good opportunity to join us and save money as well.
Our core activities are targeted at helping companies voicing out their concerns to the government and thereby promoting the ease of doing business in Malaysia as well as creating visibility and opportunities for our members. Our network in Malaysia and the European Union allows us to facilitate all of these very effectively.
"You have been staying in Malaysia for numerous years. On behalf of Malaysia, what are the Top Three Foods and Top Five Leisure/ Tourism Destinations you love the most?"
/I should probably mention that I am a vegan and thereby my food choices may not be conducive to everybody, but I love sweet dishes such as roti pisang, vegan sambal is great and I appreciate a number of traditionally not vegan dishes such as chicken rice and rendang without the animal protein.
Malaysia has definitely so much to offer, when it comes to leisure and tourism. By the time of this interview being published, I may have concluded already a virtual call with the Minister of Tourism to discuss the current situation of the sector and how we can work together. Furthermore, we are actively looking into the topic of Healthcare Tourism together with MHTC.
Personally, I always enjoyed Penang, but also Ipoh, have been many times in Genting, like the Fireflies in Kuala Selangor and even Kuala Lumpur has many exciting places to be. The list could just go on and on. I cannot ignore the beautiful islands and beaches of East Malaysia. There is simply so much to explore and experience.
