Dear Subscriber,
Last week marked an important transition for Sweden in Singapore, as His Excellency Mr Anders Sjöberg stepped into the role of Ambassador. On 31 October, Ambassador Sjöberg had the honour of presenting his credentials to Singapore's President, Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam, in a formal ceremony at the Istana. Notably, Ambassador Sjöberg was among the first Heads of Mission to be accredited before President Tharman, who secured an impressive 70.4 percent of the vote in the recent presidential election and took office as Singapore's 9th President on 14 September this year. Both Ambassador Sjöberg and the new President have dedicated their careers to public service, likely sparking a rich exchange during their cordial conversation and the formal exchange of letters at the Istana.
SwedCham extends its heartfelt best wishes to both our new Ambassador and Singapore's recently inaugurated President. We are looking forward to continued collaboration and enduring partnership between our two nations in the years ahead.
Please find below the latest news from our business community.
Your dedicated SwedCham team,
Lisa & Anna
Photo: Ministry of Communications and Information, Singapore. |
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| A new Ambassador in Singapore! |
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A huge welcome to Sweden's new Ambassador to Singapore, H.E. Mr Anders Sjöberg!
Ambassador Sjöberg and and wife Ylva arrived two weeks ago and will kick off a busy season on The Little Red Dot, with, among other things, the Sweden Indo-Pacific Summit just around the corner.
Ambassador Sjöberg has had a long and successful career in foreign service. Prior to his appointment in Singapore, Sjöberg oversaw the strategic affairs programme at the Department for Trade Promotion, Nation Branding & CSR at Swedish MFA. Sjöberg was previously the Ambassador to Tanzania and Burundi and the East African Community. He has also been posted as Ambassador to Afghanistan. In the diplomatic service, he held the positions Head of Section for South Asia and Deputy Head of Mission in New Delhi, as well as Deputy Director at the Department for Global Development. |
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SwedCham's Annual Awards were presented at our Midwinter Ball this past Saturday at Goodwood Park Hotel. For many years, SwedCham has been honouring outstanding Swedish individuals and companies who have made a remarkable footprint in Singapore, and we are honoured to present to you this year's winners.
Congratulations to the 2023 Award Winners: |
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Top, left to right: Tony Hurst, President, Anticimex Asia; Mikael Nachmanson, CFO, Anticimex Asia; Horst Wasel, President, SwedCham; Lisa Ferraton, General Manager, SwedCham.
Bottom, left to right: Pernilla Hjelm Danielsson, former Chair, Svenska Skolan; Tobias Engblom, Chair, Svenska Skolan; H.E. Anders Sjöberg, Sweden's Ambassador to Singapore; Lisa Ferraton, General Manager, SwedCham. |
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The jury's motivation, in brief:
🏆 Anticimex
Since its establishment in Singapore in 2016, starting from ground zero, Anticimex accomplished an astonishing feat of claiming the number one market share position in the country in just three years. To date, Anticimex has integrated 17 companies in the region under one unified roof and culture. Apart from a commitment to growth, Anticimex is also deeply dedicated to sustainability, undertaking bold initiatives to reshape their company and their industry towards sustainable pest control. Examples include:
1) Through the introduction of non-toxic digital pest control solution, over 4,000 smart devices have been installed across Singapore, significantly reducing biocide usage 2) Anticimex fleet of over 300 vehicles is currently 90% electric, with a full transition to 100% electric scheduled by early 2024.
The growth and achievements of Anticimex in the region constitute a truly remarkable Swedish success story and it is with great conviction that SwedCham declares Anticimex a highly deserving recipient of the Swedish Company of the Year Award for 2023.
🏆 Svenska Skolan i Singapore Since 1974 - for almost half a century - the Swedish Supplementary Education School has been a steadfast provider of supplementary Swedish education for the children of Sweden in Singapore. It has also been a vibrant platform for fostering Swedish cultural exchange and enriching experiences for its students.
Through tenacious engagement by its board and teachers, mainly on a voluntary basis, the organisation not only survived the pandemic and a tighter framework for employing teachers, but managed to continue and further grow its important work among Swedish children in Singapore. For this unrelenting commitment to its students and the Swedish language, SwedCham is delighted to bestow upon Svenska Skolan i Singapore the Swede of the Year Award for 2023.
Previous winners include: 2022 Swedish Company of the Year: Getinge 2019 Swedish Company of the Year: Scania 2019 Swede of the Year: Janek Schergen, Artistic Director, Singapore Ballet 2018 Swede of the Year: Annelie Nikou 2017 Swedish Company of the Year: IKEA 2015 Swedish Company of the Year: Envac 2014 Swede of the Year: Mikael Hartman, Associate Professor, NUS, and Head of General Surgery, NUHS 2013 Swede of the Year: Gunilla Daintry |
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A heartfelt THANK YOU to the 200 guests who graced the dazzling affair that was this year's Midwinter Ball. Special applause to our sponsors for their unwavering trust and support. What a tradition we have in place since 1985... Let's keep it going. |
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| Last Connect this side Christmas |
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Let's kick off the holiday season with a double combo, as Hexagon and Electrolux Professional jointly host the last SwedCham Connect of the year!
There will be glögg, wine, food and an abundance of interesting people to mingle with as SwedCham ushers in Christmas together with office neighbours Hexagon and Electrolux Professional on 30 November.
Hexagon has gone out of their way to find the real deal when it comes to Swedish mulled wine, and Electrolux Professional have promised us an up-and-close hands-on experience with their expert chefs, creating delectable canapes – from concept to award-winning food equipment, right to your plate. Let's be merry! |
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The GIC wins EuroCham Award
Last week SwedCham and the GIC team won EuroCham's Green Initiative of the Year Award for its Green Innovation Centre. The award was presented to SwedCham's Treasurer Magnus Gustavsson, who initiated the GIC in 2018; Anna Håkansson, Head of the GIC Task Force; and Lisa Ferraton, SwedCham's General Manager, by Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat during EuroCham's Sustainability Awards Gala Dinner on 2 November.
We are proud of all the partners who came together to make this project happen - Swedish MNCs, Swedish and local SMEs, local authorities and grassroots organisations in Bukit Batok as well as a large number of volunteers committed to making Singapore a more sustainable society. This recognition is for all of us. |
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GIC community workshop on healthy eating
The 4th community workshop at the Green Innovation Centre was held on 28 October at Cosy Garden in Bukit Batok, hosted by Electrolux. 14 families from Princess Elizabeth Primary School got together with us to learn about healthy eating, sustainable eating and food waste. More details in this link.
Photo credit: Richard Ashworth |
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An exclusive offer from Levande by Electrolux
As a digital discovery gift for the SwedCham community, Levande by Electrolux will give a 15% reduction on all appliance subscriptions, including wine cabinets, air purifiers, robot vacuum & other major household appliances, until 28 Feb 2024. To redeem this offer, scan the QR code to the right to access the promo code MIDWINTER23. While stocks last.
Levande by Electrolux is Singapore's first appliance subscriptions platform. By subscribing, you can help reduce the growing mountains of e-waste and contribute to a more sustainable future. |
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The Green Innovation Centre in brief
Through this unique collaborative initiative, sponsored by 13 SwedCham companies, SwedCham has linked arms with a garden community in Bukit Batok as well as with South West CDC and the People's Association in Bukit Batok. Based on a collaborative bottom-up process, the project aims to support the local community in exploring a sustainable urban lifestyle with knowledge, solutions and services around the 3Rs (Reduce, Reuse & Recycle) and green living (gardening and connecting with nature). SwedCham's team is partnering with schools, sustainability-focused local SMEs and resident volunteers to create an agora at the Cosy Garden, which has been lovingly built by local volunteers over the past decade, where people of all ages can meet and learn about sustainable urban living. The initiative, which was launched on 8 June 2023, includes e.g. installations of a closed solar energy loop with a battery storage system, smart rodent traps, a therapeutic garden, smart security solutions, a rainwater harvesting system, low-carbon concrete pathways, and a net zero outdoor living room made of recycled scaffolding pipes and a PolyAl roof made out of recycled beverage cartons. SwedCham is also launching hands-on community workshops in Bukit Batok around sustainability topics such recycling of packaging material, circular fashion and healthy eating / food waste. You can visit the Green Innovation Centre at Blk 106 Bukit Batok Central or explore it virtually through our digital explorer trail where 10 students from Butik Batok Secondary School and Queenstown Secondary School will guide you around the different sustainability stations. Download susGain's app and use this link to access the trail.
The GIC launch video can be found here.
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| Innebandy VM i Singapore! |
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Sweden's national team in floorball - innebandy - is coming to Singapore for Women's World Championship 2023 in December.
If you would like to cheer on the Swedish team, we are pleased to extend an exclusive discount of 20% off all tickets & bundles for the Swedish community. You may make your purchase via the following links below:
Prices reflected in these links will already be at 20% off, so no additional promo codes are needed. Do note that there is a ticket purchase limit of 8 tickets per transaction, hence if you would like to purchase >8 tickets, you'd have to make multiple transactions via the link. |
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Thursday 25 January: Business Sweden will kick-start the year by hosting our first SwedCham Connect for 2024.
Tuesday 20 February: Remote work - does it work? Join us for this breakfast talk where Nellie Wartoft, Founder and CEO of SwedCham Member Tigerhall will give her view on the remote office.
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Friday 3 November: YP arranged a special Student AW with the theme "Living and working in Singapore".
Thursday 5 October: Our Young Professionals network met up at The Exchange for an AW. |
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