June 2010

Letter of the President

Dear Members and Friends

I am pleased to report about the successful celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Swiss-Japanese Chamber of Commerce (SJCC) which took place on June 8, 2010 at the Zunfthaus zur Meisen in Zurich. With over 100 persons in attendance  this event marks a further milestone in the history of our organization.

Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, Chairman of the Board of Directors, Nestlé, S.A., delivered the keynote speech titled „CSV – Creating Shared Value – The new concept of Corporate Social Responsibility.“ The gist of his speech was that Nestlé places top emphasis on the environment and sustainability while not compromising on delivering respectable returns for its shareholders. The board and the members of the SJCC  are very honored by the fact that Nestlé has always strongly supported our goals and activities.

In my address I thanked the distinguished Japanese Ambassadors to Switzerland who graciously accepted to serve as our Honorary Chairmen as well as their capable staff for their support. Also, special thanks were extended to our founding President, Mr. Rudolf Bosshard, to his successor, Mr. René Jaccoud from Nestlé, as well as to the many Managing Directors, Board Members, and luncheon speakers. Needless to say, that the support and patronage of our well over 300 members - half corporate, half individual – was and will be vital for the existence of the SJCC.

Our new Yearbook, edited by Roger Mottini, was issued just in time for our anniversary. All members will recieve it as a gift in due course. Elisabeth Borner-Mouer, Executive Board member, wrote a very interesting and comprehensive  article about the history of our chamber during the past 25 years. I trust that  the Yearbook will be well recevied by you.

We will have another opportunity to celebrate our 25th anniversary, namely at the Gala Event scheduled for Saturday evening, October 23, 2010, at the Dolder Grand Hotel in Zurich. I invite you to mark this date in your calenders. Toyota has offerd a free pick-up and return-back-to-home service as well as a small car as top price for our Tombola. An exquisite dinner menu and very exciting performances are waiting for you, too.

In closing, I would like to stress that I am very confident that  the SJCC will continue to be a useful platform for all Japanese and Swiss related matters. Last year’s signing of the Free Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement between the two countries  is a sound and solid base to further expand our ties. Even though both Japan and Switzerland have many walls to climb in order to maintain and expand their outstanding reputation in the global context, we have many reasons to optimistically look forward to our future challenges.

Sincerely,

Henry Wegmann

President