scandasia southeast asia - february 2012

How TTA Group Turned Baconco Around

Vietnam Is Under My Skin

Crown Prince Frederik:

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LaosMalaysia

PhilippinesVietnam

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2012

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Outstanding student support services including university advising, counseling and guardianship programs.

Esteemed faculty members with a significant number of IB workshop leaders, examiners, moderators and authors.

1st International School in Singapore with a 1 to 1 Apple Macbook laptop program.

Multicultural environment with students from more than 50 countries – no dominant group.

ISS INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL

Elementary & Middle School Campus25 Paterson Road, Singapore 238510

Tel: (65) 6235 5844 Fax: (65) 6732 5701

High School Campus21 Preston Road, Singapore 109355

Tel: (65) 6475 4188 Fax: (65) 6273 7065

Website www.iss.edu.sg

[email protected]

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Accrediting Commissionfor

Schools

Focusing on Personal & Social Development, Maximizing Academic Excellence

TheSpecializing ONLY in the IB curriculum

in Singapore! IB World School

An authorized IB World School specializing only in the IB Primary Years, Middle Years and Diploma programs for ages 3 to18. Extensive range of IB Diploma subject options.

ISS is registered by the CPE • Registration no: 198104012C • Registration period: 16 June 2011 to 15 June 2015

Established in 1981

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Coming Events

SSPAnnual General MeetingDate: 7 March 2012

Year 2011 was the successful beginning for Scan-dinavian Society Philippines. Let’s make 2012 even better. The first step could be to participate in AGM on 7 March 2012. Come and share your opinion about future activities to make sure that member will be enjoyed. Please save the date and stay tuned for more information at www.ssp.org.ph.

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LONGINGA Multi-Media ConcertDate: 18 February 2012Location: Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Center

Nordlandia / Southeast Asia Art Company will stage Longing in Malaysia at the Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Center (KLPAC) on 18 Febru-ary 2012. It is a performance that features an amazing fusion of the art forms - combining new music written for classical string quartet set in a digital environment. It explicitly creates a platform where the North and South (East) meet; displaying digital set design, music com-position, contemporary dance and musicians from different backgrounds. More information and ticket: www.klpac.org/?p=5359

SSMAnnual General MeetingDate: 18 February 2012, 6:30pmLocation: Tropicana Golf & Country Resort

The Scandinavian Society Malaysia invites all mem-bers to The 47th Annual General Meeting 2012 on 18 February at Tropicana Golf & Country Resort. If you are Scandinavian living in Malaysia, you should be member so you can join an interesting event with your Scandinavian friends. Please contact [email protected].

Fastelavnsfestin JakartaDate: 19 February 2012

Nordic Club in Jakarta will organize a tradition-al Danish Fastelavnsfest on 19 February 2012. It will be a great fun event for a whole family. Interesting to be member and more informa-tion, please visit www.nordicclubjakarta.org or contact [email protected].

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6 ScandAsia.South East Asia • February 2012

Nordcham HCMC's Christ-mas Party on Friday 2 December 2011 was yet

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ScandAsia News Brief

Mermaid Maritime Vietnam JSC inaugurated on Friday 25th November 2011 its new office and workshop in Dong Xuyen Industrial Park in Vung Tau, Vietnam.

The opening marked the start of a new era for Mermaid Maritime Vietnam JSC as it also introduced the two new inves-tors, A/S Lauritzen’s Eftf. and their subsidiary JUTLANDIA Ter-minal A/S, both from Denmark. Mermaid Maritime Vietnam JSC is providing quality service of lifesaving appliances, firefighting equipment and other safety equipment for the Shipping Industry and the Offshore Industry (oil and gas) in Vietnam and our safety services are all regulated by IMO (International Maritime Organization) under the United Nations. The company was established by Mr. Jorgen Lundbaek, in Vung Tau in 2004 using his long experience from Thailand in similar business which is going back to 1982. Mermaid is today the only company in Vietnam that holds all major manufacturers approvals as well as most of the recognized Classification Societies under IACS (International Association of Classification Societies Ltd.) and we do therefore see ourselves as a leader and trendsetter within the safety service market in Vietnam. The new investors have come to Mermaid partly as a result of the work during the last 7 years, but also because of the Viet-namese Oil & Gas Industry which is in a very positive develop-ment that is expected to continue in the years to come. "Our new investors have extensive experience in servicing the offshore industry in the North Sea and they have well es-tablished connections to most of the international players in the offshore industry working here in Vung Tau / Ho Chi Minh City," General Director Mr Klaus Vikkelsoe said. "We are recognizing the many similarities between the North Sea off the Danish coast and the East Sea off the Vietnamese coast. It is therefore only natural to transfer this long proven knowhow from Denmark and Europe to Vietnam to the benefit of us all.” “As most jobs offshore is a matter of urgency, our setup for loading and packing offshore equipment, mixing of chemicals, purchasing etc. is based on flexibility and high level of service - we are flexible so our customers can concentrate on the things they are best at,” he said. To control the business Mermaid Maritme Vietnam JSC is cur-rently implementing ISO 9001, ISO 14001, OHSAS 18001 in 2012. "We are proud of what we are doing and customers are therefore always welcome to visit us and follow and witness our service and work," General Director Mr. Klaus Vikkelsoe said.

Mermaid Safety Vietnam Opens New Office and Warehouse

Suriya Hoffman, a 32 year old singer who par-ticipated in the Danish Melody Grand Prix on 21 January 2012, brought Malaysia into the Danish part of the Eurovision song contest. Suriya has a Malaysian-Indian mother and a Danish father and was born in Perak, Malaysia. In Denmark, Suriya was the older sister in the pop duo S.O.A.P that hit the music charts in the late 90’s with among others “This Is How We Party” and “S.O.A.P. Is In The Air”. In Melodi Grand Prix, Suriya performed “For-ever I B Young” written by Thomas Hoffmann, Jakob Winge and herself. The Eurovision Song Contest will be held in Baku, Azerbaijan on May 26 - for the first time in Asia because of Azerbaijan winning last year’s contest.

Malaysian in Denmark’s Eurovision Song Contest

Celebrating the opening. From left, Kaare Vagner, Chairman of the Board, together with Hang and Klaus Vikkelsoe.


ScandAsia News Brief Great Party and Norwegian ColorsThoresen Vinama Logistic inaugurates a bonded warehouse near Phu My in the province of Baria Vung Tau near Ho Chi Minh City.

By Indius Pedersen

Thoresen Vinama Logistic with its foreign share-holders Thoresen Thai Agencies, Elkem Char-tering and Preco Nor-

way as well as Japanese Maritime24, affirmed its desire to invest in Viet-nam by inaugurating a 16,000 sqm warehouse near the deep sea port that has Thoresen Thai Agencies as co-owner. The new warehouse, built in record time, will in future be used to store 64,000 mtgs. cargo. And yet another warehouse is underway from the option of warehouses at Thoresen Vinama’s disposal. It all started when Thoresen Thai Agencies bought the then-deficit given Baconco Fertilizer Factory. The com-pany then made a thumping deficit. In just two years, Thoresen Thai Agen-cies changed the scene. From a turn-over of 197 million THB a tidy profit of just over five million was made - after taxes. No debt to the bank, and only bright prospect for the future. Behind all this is the daily man-agement headed by Sigmund Strom-me. Among several hundred partici-pants he was the proud participant at the feast when the new warehouse in Phu My in the province of Baria

Vung Tau was inaugurated. “The good reputation we have established with our many clients is demonstrated by the fact that the new bonded warehouse facility, in which we are today, is in fact al-ready filled up with cargo from the day of opening. The open storage is filled with steel oil from BP, and bulk cargo will arrive to fill up the new warehouses this evening, right after the opening ceremony is over. This only show that we want to continue investing in further projects here in Phu My,” Sigmund Stromme says. Sigmund Stromme stressed that all this had been no success if not the local authorities had been very coop-erative. Both political and technical wise and from customs authorities. Through the entire process they have given us highly professional advice. It was party all day. First the opening ceremony followed by lunch. Then the inspection of Thoresen’s latest investment in the Baria Serece deep-sea port. The investment that was completed in 2010 has furnished Thoresen with a 20 percent of the share capital. Finally, there was a great celebration with dinner at the Grand Hotel in Vung Tau.

Sigmund Stromme joined the Thoresen Thai Agencies Group in

2003 as Managing Director of Thorsen Indochina and Thoresen Vinama. In 2009 he took on the added responsibility of Chairman of Baconco which the TTA Group that year acquired full ownership of. In 2010 he became a Board Member of Baria Serece, TTA’s

port investment in Vietnam.


“I have a special relationship to Vietnam. My father grew up here. For years, Vietnam was the big topic of conversation in my home,” Crown Prince Frederik says about why his recent visit to Vietnam was so special. By Indius Pedersen


Crown Prince Frederik impressed all dur-ing his recent visit to Vietnam with his vast knowledge about

Vietnam and genuine interest in learning more. “If I ask a lot of questions to the Vietnamese I meet - I return a whole lot wiser,” he explained his keen interest. The Crown Prince Frederik was in Vietnam to take part in the cel-ebrations of the 40 year anniver-sary of diplomatic relations between Vietnam and Denmark.

“I have a special relationship to Vietnam. My father grew up here. When I was young, Vietnam was the big topic of conversation in my home,” Crown Prince Frederik says. “I have a pleasant feeling of walking in my father's footsteps when I am in Vietnam,. I have a good knowledge of Vietnamese food through him. I like the Vietnamese culture. The Vietnamese philosophy has crept under my skin.” “I was here two years ago with my parents and the Crown Princess and it's nice again to meet those people I met at that time. Sev-eral public figures have retired, but that is how things are,” the Crown Prince added.

Back for vacation?Crown Prince Frederik could very well be coming back to Vietnam on vacation with Crown Princess Mary and their children, Prince Christian, Princesse Isabella, Prince Vincent and Princesse Josephine. “I think the country is beautiful and it is not unlikely that I will go on vacation to Vietnam. There are many splendid sites for the children. Vietnam is becoming an excellent tourist destination and a proper place for families.”

Taking over more dutiesThe Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary seem to take over still more duties of Queen Mar-grethe and The Prince Consort. In 2011, the Crown Prince participated in three business promotions and played the head figure in two of them. In September 2011, Queen Margrethe and The Prince Consort together with Crown Prince visited Russia on a large business promo-tion. In fact the largest ever with more than 90 participating compa-nies. During the business promotion the royal family divided their duties and reached out as wide as possible. A few weeks ago the Crown Prince and Crown Princess partici-pated in a big promotion to Australia, and the royal couple got everybody’s attention. Crown Princess Mary was the big attraction in the media. After the visit, Crown Princess Mary went to Tasmania with all four children while Crown Prince Frederik went on his week long visit to Viet-nam on the occasion of celebrating 40 years of diplomatic relation be-tween Vietnam and Denmark. “I like to travel on behalf of Den-mark promoting our exports, and the Crown Princess and I are able to take over more assignments from

I have participated in business

promotion since I was 19. The first one was to Japan. But

ever since I feel the task has

become more concentrated,

and the focus is on from all sides.



my parents. We are a numerous family so we are able to participate in many assignments and to do more for Denmark when we disperse our tasks,” says Crown Prince Frederik.

Modernizing the monarchyWhile taking over more of the Queen's duties, the Crown Prince has also become more open mind-ed. Together with Crown Princess Mary he is slowly but surely in the process of creating a new style of a more modern, open and different monarchy. During the last two export pro-motions to Australia and lastly dur-ing his visit to Vietnam the Crown Prince was talking much with the participating the Danish companies then previously. The conversations also took place in a more leisurely fashion which consequently made the Danish business leaders more relaxed. “And I get a lot of input by talk-ing to business leaders and a good sense of what is happening abroad seen from a Danish perspective. To head a Danish business promotion is a great motivation for me.” “After all it is our exports we all live from,” Crown Prince Frederik adds.


Baconco is today a fast growing fertilizer and crop care company in Vietnam, Since 2009, it has been chaired by the

Norwegian businessman Mr. Sig-mund Stromme. Last year, the com-pany produced its best result ever, delivering a profit of THB 197.16 million or 242% above the perfor-mance in 2009. Baconco’s core business is the production and sales of NPK chemi-cal fertilizers, including imports and sales of single fertilizers and crop care products viz. insecticides, pesticides, herbicides, and spraying fertilizers. Related businesses areas are warehousing, logistics and bagging of fertilizers for client companies. “Today, 70% of our income comes from NPK fertilizers, another

Norwegian businessman Sigmund Stromme is a legend among Nordic businessmen in Vietnam. In 2009, Sigmund Stromme became the Chairman of the 15 year old fertilizer company Bacono. Last year, only two years later, the company produced a profit 242 percent above the performance the year he took over. In this article, Sigmund Stromme shares his strategy for successfully turning the company around.

By Indius Pedersen

20% is from single fertilizers and crop care products, and the remain-ing 10% is from warehousing and lo-gistics,” Sigmund Stromme explains.

First the staffWhen Thoresen Thai Agencies Group took over and Sigmund Stromme came on board as the Chairman, Baconco had been for sale for several years. The company had been taking fairly large losses during the financial crisis and staff moral was very low. Something had to be done. “The first thing we did was to make an interview with managers and supervisors. Then we reorga-nized the company, re-assigning to suit skill sets and to increase respon-sibilities and accountability. All this made the work much more inter-

esting,” Sigmund Stromme explains. “We then gathered up all the supervisors and staff for English les-sons and organized leadership skill sessions for department heads. We also provided a good health insur-ance for everyone. At the same time we established a transparent promotion, remuneration, and mer-it system, and were able to provide our employees with 2-3 months bo-nuses in the first profitable year.” “We have focused on develop-ment and growth of the company, giving the employees confidence in the future. Prior to this, our staff had no opportunity for training, nor were there any HR personnel look-ing after personnel development. All this we are doing for our staff, so that it can develop and grow with the Company.”

How TTA Turned Baconco Fertilizer Company Around


A recent staff survey indicated that of the current 365 people working in the company, around 80 percent have been there for the past 8 years and the staff turnover rate remains below 1%.

More turn-around tools“Baconco’s extraordinary sales and profits last year come from first of all from our employees. They are loyal and motivated, driving perfor-mance in the truest sense,” Sigmund Strommme modestly says. But several other factors have clearly also contributed to the high-er profits. “We switched from leasing to owing the production machinery and at the same time we took over our own machinery maintenance and terminated third party contracts for such services,” Sigmund Strom-me explains. “As for procurement, we have particularly focused on centralizing

purchasing and inventory manage-ment, reducing raw material re-serves from 4-5 months to less than three weeks. The purchasing policy was changed to reflect more fre-quent but smaller volume purchase. Raw material sourcing has also been reoriented from 90% imported to 60% local sourcing. This sharply re-duced previous high financial cost.” “Furthermore, our cash only policy also provides us with a stable cash buffer,” Sigmund Stromme adds.

Future growthThere are six large fertilizer produc-ers in Vietnam, four of which are government owned. The remaining two, including Baconco, are foreign owned. Sigmund Stromme esti-mates Baconco’s market share to be currently 10 percent. Although the year 2011 was a year of high growth, Sigmund Stromme is confident there is room

for great market growth in future. “Demand will remain strong as Vietnam is 2nd largest exporter of rice and coffee,” he says. “Baconco’s strength lies in the quality of our products,” Sigmund Stromme explains. “Baconco’s “Conco” brand is well known as good quality fertil-izers and the farmers are willing to pay a premium for our products.” “Our fertilizers come in 60 for-mulations, meeting the individual needs of the farmers. Although the niche market is small, we have few competitors. Furthermore, we have a flexible production system that al-lows us to adapt our products to changes in market needs very quick-ly.” “Our strategy is to provide products that meet high standards, to continually innovate and pro-vide new products, and to focus on niche market products to keep our competition at a minimum.

The BossSigmund Stromme NorwegianChairman of Nordcham

Residing in Vietnam for 19 years, a shipping executive with more

than 30 years working shipping industry. Worked for T.Klaveness Group, Oslo, Norway from 1980 to 1993. Arrived in Vietnam in 1993 and established Thoresen-Vinama Co - Joint Venture and currently holds the following positions:

•Managing Director, Thoresen - Vinama Co - Joint Venture Company, largest none container ship agent in HCMC - Baria Vung Tau Area, active in Maritime Logistic for Offshore sector, forwarding/logistic/warehousing as well as chartering/operation of Vietnamese vessels.

•Chairman of the board of Thoresen-Vinama Logistic, 32.000m2 bonded warehouse complex in Phu My industrial zone.

•Chairman of the Board of Baconco Co fertilizer company, 100% foreign invested company acquired by Thoresen in July 2009, 410 employees, producing 200.000 mts per year.

•Board Member of Baria Serece Phu My Port J/S Co, where Thoresen acquired 20 % of the shares in 2010.

The TeamsFactory: 310 workers, technicians, engineers and high rank managers Administration:30 financial, HR and general administration

Sales And Marketing: 50 sales engineers, sales administration and marketing

Haiphong Branch: 20 people


Over the past de-cade, the Cambo-dian government has made an effort to create a market-

friendly environment to facilitate foreign investment. Cambodia ranks alongside with Hong Kong, Japan and Singapore as one of the easi-est countries in Asia in which to do business. Corporate income tax is set at 9% and there are no laws pre-venting 100% foreign ownership of companies, although land can only be fully owned by Cambodians. Thlang Sikheng is Marketing Supervisor of Bonna Realty Group, a major player in the Cambodian real estate business. He encourages more people to consider relocating to Cambodia. “Cambodia is a good destina-tion for retirement, we have many different locations from the business hub of Phnom Penh to the many wonderful beaches and islands,” Th-lang Sikheng says. “The prices are lower here than in most of our neighbouring coun-tries,” he adds.

Foreign investors “key”Business Monitor International re-ports that they expect foreign in-vestment in Cambodia to continue to be a key driver of growth for the sector. According to the Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction, government tax

revenues from property-related transactions surged 60% from USD 12.2 million in 2009 to USD 19.5 million in 2010. However, over a longer term, the analysts of Business Monitor International are concerned about the weak enforcement of property rights, widespread corruption and risks of expropriation by the gov-ernment which remain impediments to the sector’s growth. In November 2009, the open-ing of Phnom Penh’s first Grade A office skyscraper, the 30-storey Canadia Tower, was a milestone for the city’s office market. A new law passed in May 2010 allows for-eigners to own property above the ground floor of a building that is not within 30km of the border, previ-ously foreigners were limited to 99-year leaseholds on any.

Boom town A few years prior to the economic downturn in mid-2008, the local real estate market was being widely recognized as Southeast Asia’s latest property hotspot and was booming with the opening of new hotels, res-taurants and bars. Foreign and lo-cal developers unveiled a series of modern and expansive residential complexes on the outskirts of the capital targeting the city’s growing population of Cambodians and ex-patriates. Small scale western-style shop-ping centres popped up while the growth of the banking and telecoms sector, mainly comprising new mar-ket entrants from overseas, led to increased requirements for quality office space, adding to long standing traditional demand from United Na-tions agencies, NGOS and embassies. The market for second homes is not yet developed says Bonna Re-alty Group’s Marketing Supervisor Thlang Sikheng “So far we sell mainly to for-eigners who wants to live here, the market for second homes is not yet developed. A condo on a good lo-cation in Pnom Penh will typical cost from 100.000 USD and up,” says Mr. Sikheng. The Financial CrisisCambodia’s economic growth slowed and property prices fell when the global financial crisis start-ed in mid-2008. Banks began to re-

strict loans for real estate projects in the country, says the Cambodian office of the real estate services firm CB Richard Ellis. The tightening of credit in global capital markets and difficulties faced by international financiers meant many projects were put on hold or cancelled altogether, although the market avoided total collapse as many projects were suspended before they were even constructed and most buyers paid in cash and did not require mortgages. In some respects the economic downturn acted as a correction as it prevented a large number of proj-ects from all coming on stream at the same time and over-saturating the market. New foreign ownership lawNew foreign-ownership laws in Cambodia have boosted condo sales at several developments in the capital Phnom Penh. In November 2011 the Phnom Penh Post asked the CB Richard Ellis country man-ager why investors are looking at Cambodia. “Growth,” he replied. “We could be looking at double-digit GDP growth again in 2013”, he added. In October 2011 the Japanese shopping mall developer Aeon Mall Co Ltd bought 6,7 hectares in Phnom Penh next to the recently opened Sofitel Phokeethra hotel. The exact details of the deal have not been disclosed but according to the Cambodia Valuers and Estate Agents Association the land is val-ued at circa US$1,500/sq.m. At that price the deal could potentially be worth US$100 million. Kheng Ser, assistant to the Proj-ect Management Team of World City, a South Korean developer behind the US$2 billion satellite city known as the Camko City develop-ment project, told the Phnom Penh Post that sales to foreigners were increasing every month. “Until now, we have sold 45 units to foreigners, from South Ko-rea, Australia, Singapore and China. We have sold better since the Na-tional Assembly approved the for-eign ownership law, and we strongly hope that we will get more and more foreigners to buy our condos this year,” he said to the Phnom Penh Post.

Cambodia’s Vibrant Real Estate Sector Activity in the Cambodian real estate sector has grown significantly over the past ten years with an influx of foreign and repatriated money being invested in projects around Phnom Penh.

By Steen Poulin Nielsen


He added that he thinks it’s a good idea to allow up to 70 percent of units to be owned by foreigners. The Camko City project started in December 2005 and is expected to be finished in 2018. The develop-ment lies on 119 hectares of land in Phnom Penh’s Russei Keo district that was reclaimed from Pong Peay Lake. Due to the financial crisis this project as well as other Luxury resi-dential projects has been both de-layed and downsized.

Cambodia’s Vibrant Real Estate Sector


Conveyor Belts for the Asian MarketEllegaard Gets Royal Promotion:

P. Ellegaard A/S is now established in HCMC, Vietnam with the company Polymax Co. Ltd. The new era of the Danish conveyor belt experts was sealed with a Royal handshake.

By Indius Pedersen

A handshake between Crown Prince Freder-ik of Denmark and Jesper Ellegaard of the Danish conveyor belt

company P. Ellegaard A/S marked the establishment of its subsidiary Polymax in Vietnam. The company is going to manu-facture conveyors of any conceiv-able kind meant for the transporta-tion industry, bulk and food industry. At the ultra-modern factory in the Saigon area the company will pro-duce for the Asian markets. P. Ellegaard A/S in Ringsted, Denmark, is thus fully engaged in the process of internationalizing its

business. The production consists of a wide assortment of conveyors, drum motors and rollers for special as well as ordinary use. In any event, every solution is both ergonomic and rational, not only providing improved operating results to the user, but also offers ergonomic so-lutions for employees. The conveyor belts are manufac-tured for airports, agriculture, slaugh-terhouses, supermarkets, businesses, coal mines and other mining, and vessels. Wherever there is a need to move goods. The company has slowly initi-ated its production in Vietnam and this was celebrated at a huge busi-


Conveyor Belts for the Asian MarketEllegaard Gets Royal Promotion:

ness promotion to Vietnam headed by Crown Prince Frederik in which Jesper Ellegaard and 36 other com-panies participated. “Our conveyors are used every-where. And now we have initiated our process to internationalize the company,” says the 49 year old Jesper Ellegaard, who along with CEO Tom-my Christensen leads the company. In Denmark, the P. Ellegaard A/S has addresses in Ringsted, Frederi-cia, and Viborg. Outside Denmark, it is now established in Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam. “The company was founded in 1954 by my grandfather and father and has gradually evolved through

the years. In Denmark we have an ef-ficient system that provides regional service within two hours. We have an efficient service team which fixes troubles on the spot if customers are facing problems,” he explains. Now that P. Ellegaard A/S has started manufacturing in Vietnam, a new era begins. “We are ready for most chal-lenges and we are ready to develop solutions with our customers in Asia too,” says Jesper Ellegaard. “Currently we are testing a special conveyor belt at Aalborg Airport. In this case it is not enough that the con-veyor belt is high quality - the design must also be in order. It has to be okay

to look at. And of course the function-ality should also be optimal,” he adds. Within the food processing in-dustry, P. Ellegaard supplies a wide range of conveyor belts, that at one end of the scale covers processing and handling of meat, poultry and fish. At the other end are manufac-tured conveyors for chocolates and sweets, and bakeries. “We have more than 40 years of experience. Through all the years our market has been nationwide, but now we have decided to go abroad. We have gradually started up the production in Vietnam and the increased production from Viet-nam will be exported to European

as well as Asian markets, that need our expertise,” says Jesper Ellegaard who adds that the production that has taken place for many years in Viborg, Denmark, will continue. “Conveyor belts are used for everything. That could be for suit-cases, coal, shrimp, ham, gravel or pills. All kinds of food are moved on special conveyor belts without be-coming infected with bacteria. Turn-ing to a quite different matter we also manufacture conveyor belts for recycling of old cars. And uniquely, we also produce conveyor belt in connection with X-ray machines at airports and other places where your luggage has to be checked.”


Living to Make DifferencesBy Satirat Dam-ampai

A journey always begins with the first step. For Katrine Solhaug, 32 years, her first en-counter with racial

and religious differences started when she spent her early childhood with local black people under an apartheid, racial segregation system in South Africa in the 1980’s. The roads she has later travelled have also brought her to many different corners of the world and continually opened her horizon and interests in the world of global social con-science. Katrine Solhaug, who hails from Stavanger, cheerfully recalls her vivid memories of her first years in kin-dergarten with her missionary family in Port Natal of South Africa where she was so pure white and blonde in the middle of all her totally black Zulu friends and other people around her. “But the only difference be-tween us was just the colour. I remember well that we had great time together even though we were not allowed to,” she emphasizes. Katrine’s father, John-Daniel Sol-haug is a priest with the Norwegian Church and definitely the one who planted the seed of humanities in her, was there the day we met up with Katrine in Siem Reap. “We are different in tastes, ideas, and backgrounds. But if we get the same sort of opportunities, we will be not that different,” he says “Yes, I believe it started there in South Africa,” says Katrine.

Extensive travelingFor Katrine, to travel is to live and it has so far lead her to more than 50 countries over the past 12 years. After several years of educations in Norway, Thailand, Malawi, Spain, Mexico, and Nicaragua, with a spe-cial active role as a coordinator of the school programmes there, Ka-trine was in 2007 selected to man-age Earthwalkers guesthouse in Siem Reap, Cambodia. Until then, she had only heard of the place as the little town near the big religious complex called Angkor Wat. “They told me that I would fall in love with Cambodia and get stuck here,” Katrine laughs. At the time, she was not that convinced but now she admits that “yeah, they were ac-tually right.”

Cambodia to learn by doing and they could also contribute,” she adds. The 3-month course comprises of intensive lectures, social activities, practical lessons, and excursions which are the most important part of the programme. There seems to be no end to Katrine's creativity when it comes to social initiatives. Such as picking up the garbage on Siem Reap roads and get funded from Norway by the kilos they col-lect. They could raise 1,800 dollars at last and contributed it to build proper classroom floors in a pri-mary school outside of Siem Reap. The school is part of Teaching Cam-bodian, a project which teaches and empowers local teachers to be bet-ter in the long run. Moreover, all 15 Globalstud-ies students also have to run Babel guesthouse and make shifts in clean-ing the rooms, serving, presenting at the front desk, just as if they were real staffs. Babel, owned by Katrine and her partners, is the place where all students stay and have practical lessons how to operate the business and focus on responsible tourism projects.

What the students say“It's the experience,” comments Thoralf Utsi, a chef and student who murmurs an idea to open his own restaurant in the future. “For me, this course gives me an introduction to tourism and and an understanding of how the business works.” For another student Hilde Ma-rie Kvalösæter, she would like to be a teacher in responsible tourism, starting an organisation and a guest-house in Cambodia. But so far, what she has done is teaching English to Cambodians. Of course, people need to get education, she adds. Both Marie and her classmate, Stine Joakime Didriksen, agree that they would love to help Katrine if she needs, and that would be a great start for them. Being asked how to help making differences, Stine simply replies “look at what Katrine has done,”

Support the staffGlobalstudies is one of the dreams come true for Katrine, Three years of hard work has transformed the idea into a reality and it has been doing better than she ever expected.

The friendliness of the Cam-bodian people is one of the rea-sons that makes her stay and keep coming back to the country. She feels very motivated and willing to do something for the Cambodians among others because it takes so little to change so much and people really appreciate the help they get.

Dad, I will start a school!Katrine is known to have so many ideas and plans in her head, and eventually takes most of them along into her sleeping mode, even in her dreams. And in the middle of one night in February 2008, her father got a phone call from her saying “I have an idea, Dad, I'm going to start a school!” After one and a half years man-aging Earthwalkers, and when the time was ripe, she left to be on her way to pursue her own dreams. With educational background in

marketing, multicultural pedagogy, in-ternational social work, plus her core experience in the field of tourism, all form the ideas into practice. Katrine eventually recognised a big potential in the emerging trend of global re-sponsible tourism and founded Glo-balstudies, a hospitality management course which specially focuses on responsible tourism, as a sequel. “All of the big networks that we have got - from hotels, tour com-panies, bars & restaurants - make it a big opportunity for Norwegians to come and learn. We then have managed to build up a network and cooperation with the Norwegian School of Hotel Management, Uni-versity of Stavanger so we can offer students a different experience in their studying,” Katrine enthusiasti-cally explains the programme and almost every details of it. “So instead of reading only in theory at school, they can come to

Babel bar and restaurant atmosphere

Globalstudies students prepare for an exam - introduction to tourism - in the next morning.

Classroom atmosphere and the students can take a break at a swimming pool.

Working 18 hours a day doesn’t drain her energy from doing a good deed for people. Here, she is clearing bill and all administration papers before leaving to Phnom Penh.


Living to Make Differences “We have just started it, and we are going to make it grow,” she says. For Katrine, working 18 hours a day doesn't drain her energy from other possible actions. Next, it is Babel Educational Programme. It is a project that guests can contribute and it supports Babel's staffs for their better educations. So far, they already have two to three sponsors that would like to help one of the staffs for one year at Paul Dubrule, a hotel and tourism school in Siem Reap. The fortunate staff they spon-sor is a man who today works at the front office during the day time. Katrine explains that he used to live in the garbage dump in Phnom Penh for almost ten years before he struggled his way up to Siem Reap where he found work at the Sala Bai hotel for a year. During that time, he was sent to learn managing skills and later he moved to be with Babel. “We also want him to grow be-cause he has so much potential and Paul Dubrule would eventually give him more opportunities. Then he has to move on to the star hotel,” Katrine says. Some other staffs such as housekeeping girls can also ben-efit from English class three times

a week, then they could move step by step to better positions at the guesthouse. One former staff has also been supported and now studying Psychology in a university in Bangkok.

SolhaugfondIn addition, Katrine and her father also set up the Solhaugfond to sup-port projects that provide a brighter future for young Cambodians. They manage to collect 12,000 dollars on his 60th birthday in Norway which they later handed over to Sang-kheum Center for children to be used to prepare the young adults to advance in the real working world. “One of the important reasons that keeps me here is that we see how easy it is to make a difference in people's live,” says Katrine. “We are from Norway, one of the richest countries in the world. And I feel like at least we can con-tribute with our knowledge, money, and network. I think I wouldn't live properly if I couldn't do something with all the resources in my hands.” “The main goal is that we can make a difference here, and also open up eyes and minds to Norwe-gians. Yes, I want Norwegians to get out and make a difference,” she adds.


Norwegian Kjell Bot-tenvik landed in Bali more than six-teen years ago for a planned two month

vacation. “But I have never used my re-turn ticket,” he laughs. “I had a gut feeling that this was somewhere I should be. On the other hand, I didn’t think for a sec-ond I would stay here for the rest of my life,” says the 70 year old while sitting in his “Bali Pub” on the main street of Jalan Tamblingan in Sanur. The bar owner and wife Triana are a business team but both have never considered even going back to his old country for a holiday. “Oh my dear. Why should I go back there? Look around if you can’t understand me, compared with Norway this is clearly paradise. When we need a break from the wonderful madness here we head for Singapore or Malaysia. Definitely not for Norway,” says Kjell, who has a five-year-old daughter Anande, with a glint in his eye.

Bali...what?When the Norwegian came to Asia for the first time 54 years ago, he had never even heard of Bali much

less dreamed he’d end up residing there. “As a sailor my first Asian expe-riences were the Philippines, Japan, China and Taiwan. But it was fantas-tic for me as a boy to see so many different things and cultures. There is no doubt that visiting Asia planted a seed,” he says. Eventually, Kjell quit sailing and got a steady job working for Kvaern-er, the huge Norwegian engineering and construction company. Installa-tion of turbines became his forte for more than two years. Then in 1994 Kjell Bottenvik came to Bali for the very first time, his two month holiday turning into a little more than that.

The weather...“Why I decided to stay? I’d say the weather and the friendly people were a deciding factor. Balinese and other Indonesians are so nice that is impos-sible not to have a great time here.” Clearly, his future wife, Triana had also something to do with it as they have been together now for more than 16 years. Just 12 months after his arrival in the holiday island, he opened his first version of Bali Pub and it got off to a flier.

Two Month Vacation Turned Into 16 Years

There is a real calling for Scandinavians to Asia and once they come here don’t expect them home in a hurry. This was the case for sailor Kjell Bottenvik who came to Bali for a short vacation - 16 years ago. Firstly he fell in love with Bali and just when it was time to go home he fell in love with a girl from Java. Today, Bottenvik would never dream of going home to Norway.

By Bjarne Wildau

“Most of our guests were tour-ists who came here with Danish Larsen Travel. Most of the people we served were Danish or Nor-wegian, but there were very little Swedes,” Bottenvik says. Bottenvik seems to have the people touch and a gift of making customers feel welcome. His frank comments, his loud laughter and a good heart makes him a popular proprietor. Bottenvik made such an impres-sion on one of his regulars that he made a caricature of the Norwe-gian, ponytail and all.

The terror attackBefore the Bali terrorist attacks the Bottenvik’s enjoyed the good times and made some good money but it was downhill from there. Just when they started to rebuild their trade SARS hit hard putting them back to square one. “Now we are making ends meet every day. Three years ago the land-lord, who owned the first Bali Pub, turned greedy and increased the rent so we were forced to move up here. The kitchen is closed all day, there is far too much work for little money to keep it open”. Bottenvik insists there is a differ-

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Two Month Vacation Turned Into 16 Years

ent type of tourist in Bali these days. A view which is shared by many res-taurateurs and bar owners on the island. “We have a lot more peo-ple coming to Bali now but it’s a

changed market. The visitors spend money but not half as much as they did before. At the same time prices have increased by 800 percent since 1995 and it’s much cheaper in Bali now for westerner tourists if you

compare with the currencies then and now. It’s impossible to make money now, people who say that are wrong,” reckons Bottenvik. “We just try to have a nice time here - nothing more, nothing less.”

Now we are making ends

meet every day. Three years ago

the landlord, who owned the first

Bali Pub, turned greedy and

increased the rent so we were forced to move up here.

Evil

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Medium


FlæskestegRoast Pork

Nothing is as nice as a traditional Danish pork roast. You need to find a shoulder of pork with the fat rind on. If you can’t find pork roast with the rind attached then look for a fresh ham, remove 2/3 of the skin and you will get crackling with the rest.

Ingredients4½-6½ lbs of Shoulder of pork w/rind on2-3 spoons of course salt2 lbs small cold boiled potatoes4 spoons sugar1½ oz butter1 pint of water2 lbs canned red cabbage

The RoastPreheat oven to 350°F. Put the roast in a roasting pan with water with the rind facing downwards. Let the water cover the rind. Use as small a pan as possible to get good tasty gravy. Leave the roast in the bottom of the oven for 30 minutes. Using a sharp, heavy knife cut deeply through the rind and fat until you reach the meat, making the incisions 1/2” apart lengthwise and crosswise. Rub salt liberally into these gashes. It will make the crackling to bubble up and get crispy. Put the roast in bottom part of the owen for 1½-2 hours. Take it out and pour the gravy into a pot to make brown sauce from it. Put the roast back in the oven and set the temperature to 530°F. Watch the crackling, it may suddenly be overdone.

Brown sauceLet the gravy rest a while in the pot and remove the grease from the surface. The gravy is thickened by a mix of flour and cold water, add black gravy color, and salt and peper.

Red CabbageUse precooked red cabbage in a can or in a glas. If of German origin pour in two spoons of sugar. Add some water in the pot and let it cook at low or medium heat for 30 minutes. Alternatively, the cabbage can be heated in the microwave owen which will make the cabbage more crispy.

Candied Potatoes - Brunede KartoflerCaramelised Potatoes is delicious with almost all kind of roast meat, es-pecially pork. It is important to follow the recipe exactly for a good result. Run the cold tap over the cold boiled potatoes just before starting. Use new potatoes if possible and boil well in advance to ensure they are cold before use. Run cold water over potatoes before starting. Put the sugar on frying pan and heat until melted and golden. Add butter and mix well. Add potatoes and shake frying pan well. Add water carefully and stir lightly until water has evaporated.

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