Dear TFCC Members,

These past twelve months have been very challenging for the Board as we continue to re-build and re-brand our Chamber. Since the economic downtown and political instability in 2008 we have lost many of our previous members and are working to improve our value proposition to our current and prospective members.

We were very happy to see in July of this year a smooth election process and overwhelming majority selection of the new Thai Government. We are hopeful that the new government will be able to implement policies to enable Thailand to grow and flourish in the coming years as we prepare for the ASEAN Economic Community in 2015.

During the course of this year we lost two of our Board Members; Esko Jaalinoja and Jukka Raikonnen, due to changes in their work scope, which required both of them to return to Finland. We want to recognize and thank both of them for their valuable contributions during this period.

As we continue to enhance the direction of the Chamber we are making some short-term changes in order to minimize our overhead and allow us to return to profitability. I am happy to report that we reduced our losses by 50% from last year; however, we are still not profitable. Our Treasurer Jouni will discuss this further in detail during his presentation of the financial report. Under this direction the Board has decided to temporarily relocate the Chamber office to Finpro in Chaeng Wattana in order to maximize synergies between the two organizations. Our former Executive Director, Khun Chumsri has left the Chamber and for the time-being her position will not be replaced; however, we will be hiring an Administrative Assistant to support the necessary day-to-day operations of the Chamber.

The Board has spent the past few months working on the new budget and we believe with proper execution this year we will be strongly positioned with positive financial growth for the future.

We have also been busy throughout the year working on government advocacy through our participation in the Joint Foreign Chambers of Commerce of Thailand (JFCCT) as well as the Board of Trade of Thailand (BOT), working to improve the quality of business and life for everyone in the Kingdom of Thailand.

Lastly, we are proud to announce that the new European Asian Business Centre (EABC) has opened in the last couple of months and is also preparing advocacy groups to address specific business issues for our members, to the Thai Government, as well as provide additional business services for our members.

Cordially,

Marc Spiegel
President
Thai-Finnish Chamber of Commerce