First female executive member

The new executive committee now consists of nine members, one more than before as one seat had remained vacant since December 2011. Isao Ohhashi of Novartis Japan, who served as Vice-President Kanto, and Hajime Endo of Lonza Japan, left  the board for personal reasons. Mr. Endo headed the sub-committee for relationship management. Mr. Thomas Hauser of Nestlé, meanwhile, was confirmed as Vice-President Kansai.  

Mr. Andreas Bernhard of UBS continues his work as Treasurer and as head of the sub-committee for PR and media. The position of Vice-President Kanto will be filled at the next board meeting on March 8, together with the subcommittee appointments. Newly elected committee members are Hidetake Inagaki of Novartis Japan, Max Weber of Credit Suisse and Yuriko Akiyama of USM. Ms. Akiyama is the first female executive board member in SCCIJ history.  

Positive review

President Stricker presented a positive review of the last two years. The biggest organizational change of the last 12 months had been the retirement of Ms. Kinoshita as Executive Secretary in April 2011. "We were fortunate enough to find two suitable successors to carry on the good work performed by Kinoshita-san," Stricker noted. Because of a higher workload, the SCCIJ now employs an office manager, Ms. Yui Tawa, as well as an executive secretary, Ms. Mariko Tateno.  

One reason for the increased workload of the SCCIJ office is the new subcommittee structure, which has proven very effective. Each executive committee member is assigned to one of four functions: 1) PR/Media, 2) Kanto Events, 3) Kansai Events, 4) Relationship Management. "Thanks to a highly committed and motivated team, these subcommittees operate quickly and make the best use of all the know-how and experience available in the Board," Stricker explained.  

Increased membership

The SCCIJ was able to increase its company membership from 92 to 98. "This is very encouraging considering the background of 3/11," the SCCIJ President emphasized. The number of entrepreneur members went up from 13 to 19. Two of the new corporate members were former individual members. Student membership has gone up from 2 to 5.  

"They may be future corporate members. It’s important to nurture our future members," Stricker emphasized. Another piece of good news was that income increased by about 6 percent, whereas expenses only grew by 3 percent despite of employing one more person in the office and donating 500,000 JPY to the Japanese Red Cross for disaster aid.  

Media and events

During its term the board improved PR and media services considerably. A new modern website was launched which can be changed and updated at any time without extra cost. 44 newsletter were dispatched in 2011, and 87 articles on Swiss-Japan related topics exclusively produced. However, the cost of media services decreased by 9 percent compared to 2010. Almost half of the costs could be covered by income from logo placements and ads on the homepage.  

In 2012, a search functionality will be introduced for the website to increase the benefit of the 120-plus articles now available on www.sccij.jp. The distribution frequency of the newsletter will be changed from weekｌy to biweekly. This change is is based on results of a member survey conducted last autumn.

Multiple events

Members were very positive in general about the quality of the newsletter and news articles compiled by an experienced journalist. At the same time, they felt that a newsletter twice a month would be more suitable, considering their time constraints. The board encourages more companies and members to place their logo on the homepage and newsletter.  

The sub-committee for Kanto events organized 10 executive committee meetings and one briefing to the Swiss ambassador. Among the 16 events were eight luncheons, four joint events with other chambers, two special events, one year-end event and the annual general meeting. The sub-committee for Kansai organized 4 events throughout the year, including the Year Änd “Swiss Cheese Fondue Plausch” which became a sold-out event. 

In 2012, the event organizers will concentrate on the 30-year-anniversary of the SCCIJ which will be conducted under the slogan of "Committed to strengthening Swiss-Japan ties". The celebrations will start with a "Swiss Day in Kansai" on March 8. 

Photo: SCCIJ