Category Archives: Past Events

BeLuxCham 2024 Annual General Meeting Recap

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BeluxCham Vietnam held its Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Thursday, March 28, 2024, at Baron Bier (80 Nguyen Dinh Chieu, District 1), attended by esteemed guests including H.E. Mr. Karl VAN DEN BOSSCHE – Ambassador of Belgium in Vietnam, and Mr. Jean-Pierre Muller – Trade and Investment Counsellor for the Wallonia Region (AWEX). The meeting comprised a general assembly followed by a networking session.

Mr. Bart Verheyen, the Chairman of BeluxCham, and Kim Francois, Executive Director, delivered insights into the achievements of 2023 and outlined forthcoming events for 2024, along with presenting the financial report for 2023 and the budget proposal for 2024. Subsequently, new board members were elected under the supervision of Mrs. Evelyne Kestelyn, the Secretary-General.

The newly appointed board members for the upcoming term are as follows:

🌟 Chairman: Bart Verheyen

🌟 Vice-chair HCMC: Guy Balza

🌟 Vice-chair HN: Ludo Drijbooms

🌟 Eurocham delegate: Michel Bertsch

🌟 Secretary-General: Evelyne Kestelyn

🌟 Treasurer: Laurenz Mestdagh

🌟 Board Member: Kim Francois

🌟 Board Member: Dirk Boydens

🌟 Board Member: Koen Soenens

🌟 Board Member: Mimi Vu

🌟 Board Member: Tran Nhung

🌟 Board Member: Yukie Binh Dam

🌟 Board Member: Roger Chantillon

The AGM also served as an introduction of Victor Dulait, the newly appointed Executive Director of BeLuxCham. Victor brings extensive experience in trade and business development from both Europe and Asia, having previously served with hub.brussels and Enterprise Singapore. Concurrently, the departure of Kim as Executive Director was acknowledged, with gratitude extended for her contributions in making the 20th-anniversary celebration of BeLuxCham a resounding success. Kim will continue to serve as a Board Member of BeLuxCham.

Please see pictures of the event here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1CjFHKiYBEp_Jg6FNYUwzIf7ATpwAwcEc?usp=share_link

Photographer team: B9 Media – Corporate & Diplomatic 

D&I Seminar: Redrawing the Balance! 

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On the afternoon of April 27th, 2024 BeLuxCham, HAWEE HCMC Business Women Association, NordCham Vietnam and Women In Business SC of EuroCham Vietnam gathered 80 participants to discuss and put a spotlight on the importance of D&I.
The event started with an opening welcome by co-chair of WIB SC EuroCham Zaida de Jager, followed by the first keynote speech of Grant Thornton Vietnam on the latest numbers on female empowerment globally and in Vietnam and the 3 ways of the road to parity. The first panel discussed the different aspects of D&I across industries. Highlighting the challenges of recruitment, mobility and policies regarding respect in the workplace in its broader meaning, as well as how to go from diversity as a first step to inclusion through different pathways.


The second part of the seminar focused on the future strategy, kicked off by Mimi Vu from Raise Partners on the impactful speech on Vietnamese culture, the behaviour and expectations towards women, as well as the impact of D&I on the economic growth in Vietnam. The second panel continued this discussion, highlighting the experience from the educational, banking, media and tech point of view and the consequences this brings into Vietnamese society and what still needs to be enabled.
The event was closed by an impactful speech of H.E. Mr. Karl Van den Bossche, Ambassador of Belgium to Vietnam, on the policies of D&I in Belgium, and Europe, linking it with the current status of Vietnam, and the road that has been walked until today and what are the takeaways from this.

We inspired people to hashtag#walkthetalk, spread the word and put more focus on D&I and the next steps still to come.

A big thank you to our partners and sponsors for enabling this event!
HDBank Conservation Vietnam Grant Thornton Vietnam Allianz Partners MEDiCARE VIETNAM Hilton Hotels & Resorts

hashtag#strongertogether hashtag#Diversity hashtag#diversityandinclusion hashtag#womenleadership hashtag#ESG

To see more pictures: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/18xFYkslvxpXfBjj4caToB8_PHUe_N5eZ

Photographer team: B9 Media – Corporate & Diplomatic 

Recap Day 2 Breakout sessions “ESG: Evolving to the Next Level” – Afternoon

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Exactly one week ago, in the afternoon of December 1st, BeLuxCham had its last 4 breakout sessions of its biggest #esgconference ever.

#transparency and #disclosure, moderated by the Vice-Chairman of EuroCham Vietnam, brought together speakers of Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry VCCI HCMC Branch, who discussed how Vietnamese companies are tackling the lack of transparency on #esgdata, followed by PNJ‘s example on how they apply ESG and #dataprotection, and Fair Finance Vietnam who presented the initial progress towards #sustainability through disclosure of #ESGcommitments in the banking sector.

#greenhousegasemissionsreduction, moderated by BeluxCham Vietnam’s Chairman, discussed #greenlogisitics with ITL (In Do Trans Logistics Corporation), the practical approach of #carbonemissionsreduction across buildings by Teraoasia, and ERM provided an overview of what it means on a corporate level.

#diversityandinclusion discussed the #genderwagegap and #paternityleave by Women In Business SC of EuroCham Vietnam, #diversityandinclusion in child’s rights and business by UNICEF Viet Nam – Quỹ Nhi Đồng Liên Hợp Quốc, how to leverage the #womenleaders in business network to promote D&I in Vietnam by HAWEE – Hội Nữ Doanh Nhân HCM, and gave clear examples on how Merck Vietnam fosters #diversity, #equality, and #diversion.

#leadershipdevelopment discussed the fact that #leading has different angles: your business, others and yourself, that #resilience is a key skill in today’s world, that #feedback has to happen on a regular basis, and that #leadershipdevelopment is #relevant for all and should not be mixed up with career development. The active discussion was moderated by Televic Conference‘s APAC Business Development Director, who gave the floor to DEEP C Industrial Zones – Khu công nghiệp DEEP C’s CEO, Starbucks Vietnam’s GM, BOSCH VIET NAM‘s Managing Director, and Managing Director of Dynamic Consulting Co., Ltd

#ESG#ESGconference#20yearsBeLuxCham#50yearsBelgiumVietnam#innovation#sustainability #childrenareourfuture #makingadifference #strongertogether

Recap Day 2 Breakout sessions “ESG: Evolving to the Next Level”

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On the morning of December 1st, BeluxCham Vietnam continued its #esgconference with another 4 breakout sessions going on simultaneously, #engaging and #interacting with participants on specific topics related to the E, the S and the G.

#circulareconomy, moderated by the Sustainability Strategist and Advisor of Ameln & CO., brought together speakers of CL2B, who presented #challengesandopportunities in establishing #circularsystems in Vietnam, followed by #casestudies regarding #sustainablepackaging by HRK Group, and a #collaboration example of which De Heus Vietnam, Heineken Vietnam, and Entobel each showed how they apply #sustainability and #circulareconomy within their companies and the collaboration between them.

Throughout the workshop of Christa Stienen on #humancapitalmanagement, she showed and discussed the #HRlifecycle with the participants and engaged them, together with the Chairman of BeluxCham Vietnam as moderator, in clear examples how to #apply and #implement the S in ESG within their company.

#corporategovernance brought together speakers of Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management – Vietnam, Puratos Grand-Place Vietnam, Grant Thornton Vietnam & Thailand and The Purpose Business, who discussed together with EuroCham Vietnam‘s board member as moderator, the #roleofboard in the #integration of ESG, the power of #effective governance, #impact weighted value review, and #purpose as the answer to good governance.

#innovationinhealthcare discussed new #innovativesolutions in Vietnam and what the Vietnamese market needs to continue its #innovativejourney. Case studies were presented by GSK, B Medical Systems, Oxford University Clinical Research Unit – OUCRU and Hanh Phuc International Hospital, moderated by BeluxCham Vietnam’s board member.

#ESG#ESGconference#20yearsBeLuxCham#50yearsBelgiumVietnam#innovation#sustainability #childrenareourfuture #makingadifference #strongertogether

Recap Day 1 Breakout sessions “ESG: Evolving to the Next Level”

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On the afternoon of November 30th, the conference continued with 4 breakout sessions going on simultaneously, and focusing on specific topics related to the E, the S and the G.

#sustainableagriculture brought together speakers of TDL Solutions, DRD Vietnam (Disability Research and Capacity Development Center), Ngồi Cafe Workspace, and Buy By Heart to discuss a complete integrated #ecosystem in #agriculture and share their #sustainable#partnership model in #impactfulbusiness, moderated by DEEP C Industrial Zones – Khu công nghiệp DEEP C‘s Head of Sustainability and Environment.

#labormanagement and #development presented by Ipsos, Raise Partners, and Pizza 4P’s　‘s discussed, together with the Country HR Manager of Pierre Fabre Group as moderator, how to improve #workforcedevelopment in the #supplychain through ESG, what are the Vietnamese sentiments and impacts on labor management, and Pizza 4P’s presented a case study on how they develop #modelleadership.

#Industry40 brought clear examples of #digitalization by FPT Digital which introduced the audience to #DESG, how #evcharger can accelerate the ESG journey by EBOOST, and clear examples of #digitalization and #sustainability through #façadeengineering were brought by Van Aelst – Nguyen & Partners Architecture Consulting, moderated by BeluxCham Vietnam’s board member.

#mentalhealthintheworkforce engaged their audience with #interactive#awareness exercises on #emotionalintelligene and providing clear #casestudies from ESI Institute, UNICEF Viet Nam – Quỹ Nhi Đồng Liên Hợp Quốc, @Viet Ideas and Care & Training Center, and Trạm tâm lý Tâm Nhung (Tam Nhung Social Enterprise).

#ESG#ESGconference#20yearsBeLuxCham#50yearsBelgiumVietnam#innovation#sustainability#childrenareourfuture #makingadifference #strongertogether

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