CTC, Center for marine conservation, 28/10 My study visit to the Center for Marine Conservation provided me with a deeper and more nuanced understanding of the vulnerable coral reefs and the Coral Triangle, an area with the countries; Indonesia, Malaysia,…
My study visit to Rapid Asia in Bangkok provided a detailed look into the field of social research and development consulting, an industry I have never encountered before. I met with Daniel Lindgren, the company’s founder and CEO, and Dr.…
On December 5th seven CITO members together with several students from Linköping University packed their bags and headed for Tesla’s campus in Taipei for an introduction of the fascinating company and a walkthrough of the campus. Bruce Chao, Head of Marketing Taiwan, hosted the event and guide us through all the interesting details about Tesla. The event started of in Tesla’s showroom where we could have a look at several of their models. After the showroom introduction, Bruce presented what Tesla is doing and the purpose of the company. Also Tesla’s marketing strategy was introduced which was very interesting to hear about. Especially about the latest event where the Cybertruck was introduced, and if Tesla broke the glass on purpose or not. After the presentation, Bruce walked us through the campus showing us the service center and the office spaces. It was really amazing to see how clean the service center were compared to ordinary workshops. The tour ended with a test run with some Tesla cars. CITO and its members would like to take the opportunity to thank Tesla and Bruce for hosting this wonderful visit. We would like to address a sincere gratitude for the efforts made by our host. The visit was highly appreciated among all the CITO members and Linköping students, we all gained new insights.
On November 29th, the members off the Chalmers International Taiwan Office were invited to Ericsson’s office in Taipei for some presentations and a Q&A session. Seven out of the ten CITO members joined the meeting with one of Sweden’s most interesting companies. The meeting started of with a presentation by Chafic Nassif, CEO at Ericsson Taiwan, about Ericsson and their view on communication, now and in the future. Then the technical details of Ericsson’s technology were introduced and we learned a lot about the base stations and 5G. Also the opportunities for young talent at Ericsson were introduced and discussed which was motivating. The visit ended with some pizza and a Q&A session which invited to lively discussions about communication, 5G and work experience in different countries. Ericsson shared their insights and also gained the perspective from the CITO members which was really appreciated. CITO and its members would like to take the opportunity to thank Ericsson Taiwan for hosting this wonderful evening. We would like to address a sincere gratitude for the efforts made by our hosts. The visit was highly appreciated amongst all the CITO members and we all gained new insights.
On the 22nd of November, the CITO members were invited to Atlas Copco’s new facility in Taoyuan for a study visit followed by a case competition, together with the Young Professionals of the Swedish Chamber of Commerce Taipei. Atlas Copco is a Swedish industrial company that was founded 1873 in Stockholm and has been serving the Taiwan market for nearly 60 years. As a world-leading provider of sustainable productivity solutions, Atlas Copco offers innovative compressors, vacuum solutions and air treatment systems, construction and mining excavation equipment, power tools and assembly systems. During the evening, Atlas Copco presented the business and the different technologies they are developing. Also, the purpose and future of the company were explained. Later on, we were shown around the new facility in Taoyuan and the FIKA-area was introduced. The evening ended with a case competition regarding expansion in Malaysia and an Q&A where you could ask questions to multiple people from the staff. Snacks and drinks were served throughout the evening as well. We would like to thank Atlas Copco and the Swedish Chamber of Commerce for this fantastic evening. We learned a lot and had a great time! Thank you!
On May 24th CITO headed to the newly opened IKEA in Xindian, excited to meet with Hugo Asplund, the Deputy General Manager of IKEA Taiwan. IKEA was founded 76 years ago and is today present in 37 countries and divided into 10 franchises. The IKEA Group is by far the largest one while the franchise operating in Taiwan, Dairy Farm, is the second largest. Dairy Farm is a retail company that owns more than 100 brands spanning over several industries. Hugo has spent all of his professional carrier within IKEA and has been working at IKEA in Taiwan for around two years. During our visit, we talked about IKEA and specifically about working with franchising as business format. Today almost all IKEA stores operate under franchise agreements. A choice made to enable their global expansion, whilst at the same time live up to the vision to create a better everyday life for the many people. For a long time, the IKEA Group was equated with IKEA, until the IKEA concept was opened up for other franchises in recent years. This enables testing of new formats and allowance to find own solutions that works in particular domestic markets. In Taiwan, where space is limited, many of the IKEA stores are smaller and more city-centered compared to what we are used to in Sweden. For example, a 100-NT$ store opened up in 2018 in Taipei. We got insight in the differences you encounter when selling furniture in Taiwan compared to Sweden. E-commerce is increasing in Taiwan but is lagging significantly compared to the tremendous increase in Chinese market, and people are still willing to visit the physical stores to a high degree. Taiwanese people are generally quite price sensitive when it comes to buying furniture, which makes IKEA a great choice. The […]
On May 16th, the Swedish Chamber of Commerce Taipei arranged a wonderful evening event at Tesla’s office and showroom in Taipei. Six members of CITO tagged along and joined the many other Swedes and Taiwanese attending the event. Tesla was founded in 2003, and has grown to become one of the most hyped and recognized car brands in the world. With the world-famous Elon Musk as CEO, Tesla stands out by only offering electric cars. Many people might see them as only a car company, but they are much more than that. Tesla is all about energy , technology and sustainability. By offering both solar panels and energy storage, they are the only complete solution provider of personal transport. The panels convert sunlight to energy, batteries store it in your house, and finally that is used to charge the car during the night. The main goal of the company is to accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy. They still consider themselves a startup, able to adjust their operations to achieve their goal. In the impressive complex in Taipei’s Neihu district, we got a presentation containing the technologies and goals of the company, as well as a walkthrough of the different buildings on the grounds. Of course, we were also allowed to explore both the Model S and X in the showroom and were in the end treated to a demonstration of the technical capabilities of the cars. The evening ended with a mingle where we could ask questions to the employees and enjoy some snacks and refreshments. We would like to thank the Swedish Chamber of Commerce and Bruce Chao, the Head of Taiwan marketing, for arranging the evening. It was very informative and fun, we had a great time!
Company Visit to SHL Group 2019 On friday the 29th of March, Young Professionals of the Swedish Chamber of Commerce Taipeiorganised a company visit to SHL (Scandinavian Health Ltd), one of the largest Taiwanese companies founded by foreign nationals, at their new facility in Taoyuan in Taiwan. Five CITO representatives as well as other swedish students in Taiwan took part in this visit. SHL was established in 1989 by the two swedes Roger Samuelsson and Martin Jelf who wanted to combine manufacturing in Asia with Western management practices. The company is very diverse and employs more than 4000 people world wide. The SHL Group primarily designs, develops and manufactures drug delivery systems such as auto injectors, pen injectors and inhalers as well as many other medical devices. The company is involved in the whole production line of their products, including design, manufacturing and testing. Since SHL produces life saving devices, the quality and precision of the products manufactured are of utmost importance. Therefore thorough quality tests are carried out at their own facilities to ensure that the products meet the set standards. At SHL we got to tour their new building, hear about their company and also get a demo of a selection of their products. CITO would like to thank the SHL Group and the Swedish Chamber of Commerce for an interesting visit.
Company Visit Handelsbanken (瑞典商业银行) 2018 On the afternoon of the 7th of December the representatives of CITO made a visit at Handelsbanken’s Taipei Office. Handelsbanken is a Swedish bank with presence in large parts of the world, in order to help their customers with financial services outside their home markets. As host for our visit at Handelsbanken we were delighted to have Amy Chen, which serves as Chief Representative at the Taipei Office. Amy happily guided us through the history of Handelsbanken and continued with providing us new insights about both the operations at the Taipei office and also generally about the banking industry in Taiwan. Handelsbanken was established in Sweden 1871 and has since developed into a full-service bank with a nationwide branch network in Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Norway, United Kingdom and in the Netherlands. Today, Handelsbanken is one of Sweden’s leading banks and offers 822 branches in 24 countries with more than 11500. Amy especially focused on the Asian sector which have branches in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Singapore, further offering additional representative offices in Beijing, Taipei, Kuala Lumpur and Mumbai. Amy continued with describing the operations at the Taipei office, which is a so called representative office. Handelsbankens representative offices does not handle domestic clients, rather is helps existing clients with financial matters related to their business in Taiwan. Examples of services is related to acting as a middlemen between the client and local customers and banks, solving problems related to financial situations and also providing helpful guidance of the Taiwanese legal system. Since Handelsbanken is a full service bank, Amy pointed out how important it is for them to be able to help their customers wherever they run their businesses, and therefore the representative offices is a very important part of their services. In addition to […]
On December 3rd 2018, eight of the representatives from CITO got the opportunity to visit Atlas Copcos office in Tayouan, Taiwan. Atlas Copco is a world-leading provider of sustainable productivity solutions. Atlas Copco offers innovative compressors, vacuum solutions and air treatment systems, construction and mining excavation equipment, power tools and assembly systems. Atlas Copco focused on sustainable productivity with energy efficiency, safety and comfort. The company was founded in Stockholm, Sweden in 1873. Now the business area reaches over 180 countries with 43,000 employees and a revenue of BSEK102 in 2015. During our visit we sat down in one of their meeting rooms and was lucky enough to have nearly all the managers of the Taiwanese office attend our visit. The first half of the visit started off by us getting an introduction to the company’s products, its global structure and brand portfolio by General Manager, John Demers. The Taiwanese office of Atlas Copco is primarily a sales office where no production or development of their products are made. Instead its aim is to sell and/or service products to the Taiwanese businesses interested in their products. In the second half all the managers attending introduced their particular field that they were responsible of. Atlas Copco has been serving the Taiwan market nearly 60 years. The business scope includes four categories: air compressors, mining and rock excavation, construction technique and vacuum solutions. Air compressors have been their main area of operation here in Taiwan with customers all across the country. MR won good global reputation in construction and mining. Faced with a mature market environment, MR business area still continues sustainable productivity in terms of quality, credibility, efficiency, service, environmental protection and ergonomic design to keep being the world leading provider. The vacuum solutions business area is relatively new for the […]
