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PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
 Dear Member
Happy New Year to you all although I’m not quite sure whether this is January or April with the unusual weather we have been having. I hope you are fully refreshed and batteries recharged after the Christmas break. I would like to extend my very best wishes to you all for a happy and successful 2010.
This month’s message is brief because the Christmas and New Year break has overshadowed business activities. I must say it has been difficult getting back into the routine again.
This year the committee will be building on the work that was started last year and developing a few new initiatives to provide greater benefits to our members. Last year we started a new community program with schools in the Kanchanburi area. The projects we initiated have now moved into implementation phase and there will be opportunities for members to participate during the first quarter of this year.
Last year we saw how effective the JFCCT sub-committees were in providing a coordinated and focused approach to working with various government ministries and departments. The number of sub-committees has now grown to seven: Immigration & Labour, ICT, Taxation, Property, Customs, Tourism and Legal. These groups do a lot of excellent work behind the scenes and I would encourage any member who has a special interest or background in any of these areas to consider joining them; this is your opportunity to influence direction and changes in these key areas.
This month is a busy networking month starting with the Tri-Nations BBQ on 19th January held outdoors in the scenic grounds of the Sukothai Hotel. This is an annual event held in conjunction with the South African and Australian Chambers and is proving to be very popular with typically over 250 guests participating; I look forward to seeing you there. Many thanks to the NZTCC sponsor for this event, Bangkok Bank.
Our first Corporate Knight networking evening for 2010 is on Thursday 28th January at the Sheraton Grande. Long standing Chamber member Lang Suan House are kindly sponsoring this event and many thanks to Barry Peterson for his continuing support.
I would like to remind everyone of the up-coming NZI Black & White Ball which is being held on Saturday 6th March. Tickets will be on sale from 1st February but reservations can be made now; further details are in this newsletter. We are still open for additional sponsors for this event.
We look forward to seeing you all at the Sukothai on the 19th and the Sheraton on the 28th.
Kind regards,
Nikki Cox
President
JANUARY CHAMBER NETWORKING EVENTS
Corporate Knight Networking Event
Thursday, 28th January 2010 6.30pm
@ Sheraton Grande
Kindly sponsored by
Lang Suan House Co. Ltd is a Thai limited company which was registered in 1995. Since 1959, the company's Managing Director Barry Petersen has lived and worked with locals throughout Southeast Asia for a total of 30 years.
Lang Suan House Co. Ltd can provide full and cost-effective administrative and accounting support for companies not wishing to go to the expense of setting up and maintaining their own office facilities. Such support includes:
- Provision of registered office for foreign firms.
- Setting up and registering business entities in Thailand, including obtaining Thai work permits for expatriate employees.
- Full secretarial support (including the preparation of correspondence, invoices, receipts, cheques and the maintenance of a filing system).
- Full accounting (including preparation of correspondence, invoices, receipts, cheques and the maintenance of a filing system).
- Banking and full payroll support for client's employees.
Other Events
Tri-Chamber - Southern Hemisphere Networking
19th January @ Sukothai Hotel 6:00pm
 NZTCC together with AustCham and The South African
Chamber invite you to attend the 4th Annual South African Barbecue (Braai).
Date/Time: Tuesday 19th January, from 6:00pm.
Venue: Garden of Sukhothai Hotel
Cost : Baht 800 - includes lots of wonderful food, Australian, New Zealand and
South African wines, San Miguel beer and soft drinks includes
This event is kindly co-sponsored by:
Bangkok Bank PLC
MBMG International
The Ayudhya Insurance PLC
& San Miguel Brewery
Saturday 6th March 2010 @ 6.30pm
Amari Watergate Hotel
Ticket Price: 3,600 baht Black Tie
KIWI CORNER
Some recent Kiwi Snippets and Kiwis in the news:
New Zealand's first wine in plastic bottles
In its quest to become the world’s most sustainable winery, Yealands Estate will become the first New Zealand winery to sell a range of wines in environmentally friendly plastic bottles something founder Peter Yealands believes consumers will be seeing much more of.
The new Full Circle plastic-bottled Sauvignon Blanc wines are 89% lighter, generate 54% less green house gas emissions and use 19% less energy to produce than traditional 750ml glass bottles.
Hitting a golf ball around the world
Two Wellington amateur golfers are living their sporting heaven – playing golf every day of the year, at courses around the world.
Jamie Patton and Michael Goldstein are trading life as corporate lawyers for the golfing marathon.
The men, both 24, were on an end-of-year hockey trip for their Victoria University premier team to Hawke's Bay in August when the idea came over a hangover and a trip to Cape Kidnappers.
Though they ran out of time to play golf at the course that day, they began talking about what it would be like to chuck in their desk jobs and just play golf.
The first 50 days will be spent at courses around New Zealand, before travelling to Australia, the United States, Britain, Europe and Asia. They will come back to Cape Kidnappers – where it all began – for their last round on December 31.
Kiwi team aims to colonise Britain with bumblebees
A busy group of conservationists has been buzzing around the South Island capturing bees to re-establish a species now extinct in Britain.
The operation has been called an "international rescue mission" by conservation group Natural England and aims to repopulate British meadows with the short-haired bumblebee. Short-haired bumblebees became extinct in the United Kingdom in 2000, but have taken hold in New Zealand since being transported here in connection with the frozen meat trade over 100 years ago.
The bees play an important part in pollinating crops and other plants.
Over the last 60 years Britain had lost about 98 per cent of its wildflower meadows, said Dr Nikki Gammans, who is project officer for the joint scheme.
Since mid-November, Gammans and five volunteers have been scouring South Canterbury and Otago, netting 65 bees which will be bred in captivity in Christchurch with their offspring going back to the UK.
All in the family for Footrot Flats
Until now it has been a little-known fact that the inspiration for one of the country's favourite cartoon characters lives near the end of a dusty metal road in northern Wairarapa. Arthur Waugh, 66, was the inspiration behind Wal in Footrot Flats, the long-running cartoon series by Mr Waugh's cousin, Murray Ball.
Mr Waugh and Ball grew up together in Feilding and were close friends in the sixties after Ball, a budding cartoonist and All Black triallist, returned from South Africa.
Mr Waugh was a top shearer at the time and confesses to having a few similarities to Wal. Both poke their tongue out the corner of their mouths when concentrating, both hate being in helicopters and both like Muscovy ducks.
Ball said Mr Waugh "always seemed like a typical farmer to me and filled all the requirements of a character".
NEW ZEALAND TOPS GLOBAL FISHERIES RESEARCH
A comprehensive international fisheries science assessment has rated New Zealand the world’s top performing country for managing its marine and fishery resources, Fisheries Minister Phil Heatley announced.
Mr Heatley applauded New Zealand receiving the highest aggregate score in research that evaluated 53 maritime countries on their performance against 14 indicators of marine resource management. These countries account for over 95 per cent of the world’s fisheries landed catch.
The research has just been published in the leading ocean studies journal Marine Policy and follows other recent research published in the respected journal Science, which also rated New Zealand as having world-leading fisheries management practices.
The news comes as many of the countries that feature prominently in the findings have just finished gathering in Auckland at the eighth international meeting to negotiate a South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organisation. The meeting succeeded in concluding a treaty to manage non-highly-migratory fish resources of the high seas.
AIR NEW ZEALAND GAINS AIRLINE 'OSCAR'
Air New Zealand has been named in a leading international industry publication as ‘Airline of the Year’ for 2010.
Air Transport World magazine commended Air New Zealand for its innovative use of technology, cutting edge customer service and commitment to environmental research and protection.
The judges acknowledged the Auckland - New Zealand based carrier for its sound financial performance during what has been a difficult year for the industry.
They were also impressed with the airline's leadership in addressing environmental challenges, including conducting the world's first sustainable biofuel flight.
Air New Zealand chief executive Rob Fyfe described the ATW awards - established in 1974 - as the Oscars of the airline industry. It is the first time Air New Zealand has won the top prize. In 2005, Air NZ won the ATW Phoenix award in recognition of its recovery from near collapse in 2001.
New Zealand Prime Minister John Key congratulated Air New Zealand on the award.
The Air Transport World awards will be presented on 1 February in Singapore.
US-based Air Transport World is the leading monthly magazine serving the airline and commercial aircraft manufacturing and support industries. It launched its awards program in 1974. Air Transport World is published by Penton Media which publishes trade magazines and 145 websites monthly serving more than six million business professionals.
CHAMBER UPDATES
We would like to welcome the following members to the Chamber .
Phachara Suites Sukhumvit
 Representative: Majinder Kaur
Business Type: Hospitality
Samitivej Hospitals
 Chamber Representatives: Mr Pete Cheah and Ms Julie Chabra
Business Type: Hospital
Kea – New Zealand’s global talent network – exists to help you to connect with more than 25,000 talented New Zealanders around the world. Check out whats going on around the region HERE
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Chamber News 
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