Danish business organisations in Asia form new alliance

It is time for some really breaking news in this edition of the Baltics/Nordics-Asia Business Bulletin (BNABB): the formation of the brand new Danish Business Alliance in Asia – DABA!

And when learning more about what seems like something really promising also prompts the question what took this so long to materialise. However, as anyone being involved in a chamber of commerce knows, things of this nature are by no means easy to realise.

But now the first ever Asian-wide Danish partnership between national business associations is reality, including Beijing, Shanghai and South China in China; Cambodia; Indonesia; Malaysia; Philippines; Singapore; Thailand; Vietnam; and finally Japan! Also the first joint activity in the form of a webinar was held in early December.

DABA’s initial formation is as an alliance between 12 Danish chambers of commerce and councils across Asia with the aim of building a bridge across countries and chambers in the region for knowledge sharing and strengthening Danish business operations in Asia.

Trine Tveen Nielsen, Executive Director at Malaysian Danish Business Council, who is also the Co-Project Manager for the new alliance gives the background and shares insights about this new alliance.

11 (out of 12) Danish Chamber of Commerce and Business Associations in Asia in June 2019 met for the first time ever for a regional workshop. The purpose of the gathering in Bangkok was to discuss how to strengthen the regional cooperation between the organisations, and how to establish a formal regional Danish Business Alliance.

“The collaboration idea between the Danish chambers of commerce and business organisations in Southeast- and East Asia has been discussed for many years, but without a final structure. Then, only a few years ago Leon Ota Stokholm, Executive Director of the Danish Chamber of Commerce in Japan took the initiative to contact Asia House in Copenhagen. Owned by EAC Foundation it serves as a focal point for its work to preserve knowledge of the EAC’s history and importance and provide a meeting place for all those who have an interest in Asia today,” explains Trine.

Asia House, DanCham Japan and the Danish-Thai Chamber of Commerce facilitated the gathering, while EAC Foundation and Thai Airways International supported financially.

Prior to the workshop a comprehensive survey of the Danish Chambers of Commerce and Business Associations in the region had been conducted by Danish-led Decision Lab consultancy in Vietnam, including a questionnaire to the board members of the organizations (of which 57, almost all, had responded, followed up with in-depth interviews. This survey constituted a very strong baseline for the workshop that followed.

Following on that first regional meeting, DABA has now been formed.

“The alliance and cooperation have been concluded in the best diplomatic way to ensure we all pull in the same direction. Now we must first define our objectives, activities and mission. Then it is of course obvious to discuss the possibilities of creating an organization and define which form of organization is most appropriate,” says the Co-Project Manager.

She informs that as a starting point, DABA is established as a contact communication and a knowledge sharing portal. “How the structure for this will be, there is still no definitive strategy for. But the point is to create a bi-layer system where one layer connects the Danish chambers in the region and another layer connects stakeholders with key contacts and organisations. Once this is established, it can form a strong foundation for other layers of activities that are adapted to needs and demand.”

“There is no doubt that DABA has enormous potential and the alliance is likely to become more formally established as a legal entity over time,” believes Trine. “But like all member-based organisations, the strength and potential, as well as the risk, lies in the collaboration, which has the first priority and highest focus to get established and strengthened here at this early stage.”

Members of the respective alliance organisations naturally sit on highly valuable experience and knowledge when it comes to operating and setting up in the respective countries.

“Hundreds of Danish companies in the region will be able to benefit greatly from the fact that the chamber of which they are a member gets access to knowledge and insights in the surrounding markets. There are more than a few Danish companies in the region that look across borders for opportunities, whether it is production, logistics, trade, innovation or something completely different. Not to relocate but to expand.

The chambers can do business matchmaking, introduce key partners, acquire knowledge and over time also play a greater advocacy role for members regionally,” comments Trine.

“But again, I have to clearly state that DABA is still a new initiative, and we have decided that the alliance must grow organically as the collaboration develops and activities are tested. DABA is like a skyscraper with a potential to add countless floors of activities and opportunities. But as any architect knows, the building site must first mature and then the foundation must be laid. The more solid the foundation, the more floors can be added.”

As for potential outbound activities and possible support for internationalisation of Danish firms she responds: “There are no doubts that this will benefit our members first and foremost, secondly, we will look into opportunities for collaborating with trade and industry organisations in Denmark. We see DABA as what you could call the future ‘Gate to Asia’; a platform of key-contacts and knowledge sharing based on the Danish Chambers many decades of experience and network in the region. From the Danish side, good, strong and highly effective initiatives have been taken to promote exports and support international business development programs. Denmark ensures a solid international launch pad in Denmark. DABA constitutes a landing platform in Asia – a key point for local and regional knowledge, networking and influence.”

Their vision is that, over time, DABA–in collaboration with Danish organizations–can offer company delegations to Asia, arrange conferences and seminars online and offline.

“An important task is to map Danish companies and talents in the region. This has never been done, and it will be a great support for both Danish initiatives and for the Danish chambers in Asia to know what resources are present in the region. Therefore, in 2021, DABA will initiate a survey of the Danish chambers in Asia, in order to create transparency for which resources and Danish industries are represented in the region.”

“We are still in the initial phase of organising activities. Currently we–like the rest of the world– have encountered a barrier in the form of the pandemic which entails travel restrictions. Therefore, our first external activities will be based on virtual briefings and conferences, with regionally business relevant topics such as e.g. Transport and Logistics Europe - Asia, Financial Market Outlook for Asia 2021 and Asia Digitalisation and ‘Tech War’.

The inaugural webinar had the economy and ‘Asia Outlook for 2021’ as focal point, where Allan Von Merhen, Chief Macro Analyst for Danske Bank gave a financial overview of developments in the region and Jens Eskelund, Senior Director for Maersk China Ldt gave a market outlook from a corporate perspective.

“The chambers provided a country-by-country two-minute review of the state of the markets.

All speakers delivered a brilliant and well executed presentation. All materials were shared with the participants afterwards, which was in itself a valuable takeaway. The dialogue that followed the presentations revealed a great need for more knowledge and insight into Asian markets as well.”

“The first webinar is always the most difficult, because no one had heard of DABA, and we had to coordinate marketing across the region and also in Denmark. But we got 130 sign-ups and some extremely positive feedback from the participants. The chambers met on 8 December to evaluate this first external activity, and are greatly satisfied with the direction before, during and after the event” Trine sums up.

Preparations for the next event are already underway to be held towards the end of February 2021. The theme will be Transport & Logistics - Europe/Asia. “In general, for these events, we invite prominent Danish companies as speakers with subsequent dialogue with the participants where questions can be asked to both speakers and chambers.”

These business organisations are part of the new alliance: Danish Chamber of Commerce in China: Beijing, Shanghai and South China; Nordcham Cambodia; Danish Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong; Danish-Indonesian Business Chamber; Danish Business Association, Singapore; Danish-Thai Chamber of Commerce; Danish Chamber of Commerce in Japan; Malaysian Danish Business Council; Nordcham Philippines; and Nordic Chamber of Commerce, Vietnam.

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